Yesterday, I announced the launch of my contest aimed at helping taxpayers stay up-to-date on tax and financial news by following me on Twitter or FaceBook. I will be giving away copies of my books, iTunes gift cards, and an Apple iPad grand prize. In addition to some of the standard features of the iPad, there are dozens of applications that have been developed to help users with their finances. Take a look at the ways an Apple iPad can help taxpayers manage their money:
1. iCal Bill Reminders
All iPads come with iCal preinstalled. If you have a MobileMe, account you can even sync your iCal between your computer, smart phone, and iPad. In addition to keeping track of your schedule, you can set monthly alarms to remind you about important bills and other important dates, such as paydays.
2. Expense Tablet
Expense Tablet was one of the first financial apps to arrive for the iPad, and remains one of the most useful. It helps users manage their expenses by linking up with their accounts. Expense Tablet will then provide you an easy-to-use expense report. It is available at the iTunes store for only $1.99.
3. Financial Advice eBooks
Now that Apple has launched a book store to complement the iPad’s eBook reader features, you can easily download a wide selection of financial advice and self-help books. Since you can store hundreds of books on your iPad, you can purchase a variety of financial topics, like financial organization and tax planning, and have them at your fingertips at all times.
4. Square
Square is a handy app that was created to help people easily accept and make payments through most Apple devices, including the iPad. Square also organizes your receipts, calculates tip options for customers, and allows business owners to set up virtual shelves of their products. With of all these great features you might think this app would be expensive, but it is actually a free download!
5. Mobile Access to Financial News
There are plenty of ways to use your iPad to stay in the know on tax and financial news. You can access news websites using Safari or subscribe to a financial podcast. Even some magazines are beginning to create iPad optimized versions of their content. For daily tax news and advice, you can even follow me at Twitter.com/RoniDeutch.
6. Box.net
Box.net is a free app helping users keep track of important financial documents by digitally storing them all in one place. Essentially, it acts like a virtual filing cabinet, storing all your documents, videos, images, and spreadsheets.
7. Emailed Bank Receipts and Statements
The iPad mail application comes preinstalled. Most banks allow customers to have their monthly statements and even ATM receipts emailed instead of arriving via snail mail. If your bank offers these services, you can have all of your banking documents sent to your iPad.
8. Market Scan
For stockholders, keeping track of the market can be very time consuming. Fortunately, Market Scan developer Michael Foster developed an iPad app that allows you to complete all your stock-related research quickly and easily. Market Scan lets you set up custom searches that can be updated instantly. For stockholders on the go, the application’s $3.99 price tag is very reasonable.
9. Bread and Milk
The simple, yet incredibly useful, Bread and Milk app helps users create grocery lists, and even estimates the costs of your groceries. You can email grocery lists to friends or family, and save money on food by only purchasing items on your list. The Bread and Milk app costs 99 cents, but will likely save you plenty of money in the long run.
10. E*Trade Mobile Pro
Thousands of Americans use E*Trade to create and handle their stock profiles, but not everyone has 24/7 access to a computer with Internet. Therefore E*Trade created a free iPad app offering financial news in addition to investment evaluation and quotes.