During the summer months, it seems there can never be enough time. We want to enjoy long days with friends and family while the sun is shining and the kids are out of school. But for most of us, work does not stop no matter how beautiful the weather is outside. Fortunately, as long as you have a smartphone and an internet connection, there are many ways to keep up with routine business tasks when you're on the go. Here are a few of our favorite mobile apps that you can use to keep your organization running smoothly even when you're not sitting at your desk.
Bill.com
Many of the nonprofit organizations that we work with use Bill.com, a cloud-based cash flow management tool for accounts payable and accounts receivable. One valuable (but often overlooked) feature of Bill.com is their mobile app. With the Bill.com app, you can perform routine or time-sensitive tasks such as approving and paying bills, all from your smartphone. This allows you to avoid late fees and stay on track even when you're traveling or out of the office. With the Bill.com mobile app, you can:
View tasks assigned to you
View a digital image of your invoices and and approve/deny payment
Leave comments for your bookkeeper or payment processor
Pay multiple bills at once
Review time-stamped payment tracking timelines for every invoice
Manage customers and vendors
Expensify
Expensify is a tool to help manage receipts, credit card expenses, expense reports and reimbursement requests. The mobile application allows you to keep track of receipts and expenses in real time by using your smartphone to photograph and sync purchase records. This prevents the all-too-common accounting headache of sorting through crumpled, coffee-stained receipts at the end of a long trip. Expensify can help track common expenses such as fuel purchases, travel expenses, and business meals. It also supports expense tracking for online purchases. Some of Expensify's mobile features include:
Automatic scanning and recording of details printed on a receipt (merchant name, date, cost)
Automatic account coding for common purchases
Real-time travel alerts, trip reminders, and flight information when traveling
Currency conversion assistance
Mileage tracking and reporting via GPS technology
QuickBooks Online
If your organization uses QuickBooks Online, you can also download the QBO mobile app to access your accounting software from your smartphone. This gives you the flexibility and convenience to get more work done while you're commuting or traveling. It's also pretty handy for pulling up specific transaction details or accounting information during a big meeting! You can use the QBO mobile app to do many of your everyday tasks, including:
Creating, viewing, and sending invoices
Managing customer or vendor information
Receiving payments
Tracking expenses
Downloading and reconciling bank transactions
Mobile applications may not always be as robust as the desktop or web-based version, but we think they're a valuable and time-saving tool. Think of all the time you spend waiting in line, commuting to work, or sitting in a chair at the airport. With these accounting apps at your fingertips, it's easy to turn wasted time into productive time. And who knows? With smart use of mobile apps, you just might be able to find an extra hour or two in your day to soak up that summer sunshine!