With tax season in full swing, getting your finances in order can be quite the headache. If you’re anything like most people, you’ve spent the entirety of the year putting off organizing your expenses, convincing yourself that you’ll deal with it in due time. While now might be the time, you don’t have to be punished by your procrastination. With a handful of apps for smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices available, the days of collecting receipts and bending over your calculator are over. Rather, in addition to working with an R&G Brenner tax professional, all of your statements can be easily summarized and prepared with the help of the following:
Mint is one of the absolute best resources for managing your money, tracking expenses, and watching your savings accounts. While the website is a fabulous tool, Mint also has an app that can be downloaded to your iOS or Andriod phone or tablet, which gives you updates on the go and allows you to track your financial habits in the blink of an eye. Mint also tracks deposits into your account, providing you with an easy look at exactly where your money is going. However, the greatest perk of Mint is that it’s completely free, giving you one more reason to download it today.
Another spectacular free app out there is Evernote, one of Apple’s “Hall of Fame” applications. While the app is only accessible from an iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod Touch, and through the internet, it is considered one of the best tools for organization. While it’s most typically known for note taking, to-do lists, or picture snapping, the app has also been recommended for tax time. Within the app, you can set up a tax file that allows you to easily categorize and access your income, expenditures, charitable contributions, deductions, and everything else. The app also has an image capture tool, allowing you to scan in documents, like receipts, that will then categorize and organize themselves.
Keeping track of every single expenditure you make has never been easier with Toshl, an app that tracks spending by synchronizing your entire spending history. Using Cloud technology (which is installed in most modern mobile devices) Toshl will make sure you haven’t missed a thing when tax season approaches. The app also has options to incorporate other applications, such as Excel, GoogleDocs, or PDF files. You can opt for the free version of the app, or upgrade for $19.99 per year.
If you’re self-employed, contract out individually, or simply can claim deductible expenses for business purposes, then the perfect app for you is Expensify. While it won’t handle all of your tax-filing, budget-setting, or money-managing needs, it’s a one-of-a-kind tool for what it does do: the app takes all of your receipts that can be deducted and converts them into e-receipts that are IRS-approved.
Alright, you’ve filed your taxes. Now what? Quell any post-filing worries by tracking your refund, getting updates, and requesting information concerning your taxes via the official (and free!) IRS2Go app.
Come tax season, the best way to make sure all of your bases are covered is to speak with an R&G Brenner tax professional; however, you can keep track of important finances and expenses throughout the year by downloading one of these helpful and easy-to-use apps.
