The demand for finance contractors has risen dramatically over the last few years as, and research shows that this trend is set to continue. When they can not find the skills in-house, banks and financial institutions turn to freelance contractors for their specialist skills.
Finance contractors typically work some of the longest hours in the industry. At Cogent, we understand how busy your life is. To help make it a little easier and simpler, we give you our top apps and gadgets that every finance contractor should be using.
App for managing your time
For keeping track of your time, we recommend WAVE. Launched in 2014, it is quickly becoming the most popular calendar app on the market. There are far too many positives to include in this post, so we have listed just a few for you:
- simple, clean design
- easy to install and to use
- integrates with Google Maps (if you add an event, it will attach a map giving directions to the event)
- syncs with Google Tasks (it colour codes tasks which enables you to easy differentiate between them)
- has 6 different list styles
It integrates with Android and IOS devices and is currently free to download.
Visit http://www.wavecalendarapp.com/ for more information.
Gadget for keeping fit
Keep-fit gadgets have been around for a while now, but in the last year they have become smaller and better designed. Our favourite on the market is FitBit. They have different products on the market, depending on the style, size and budget you have.
Their latest product the FitBit is the FitBit Alta. It costs around £100.00 and enables you to track how many steps you have done, the distance you have covered, counts how many calories you have burned off. It syncs with Andriod and IOS devices, unfortunately, it is not compatible with Windows phones at the moment.
You can set yourself daily challenges, for example; challenge yourself to take 10,000 steps a day. You can even set up group challenges, so your whole team can keep fit.
Visit https://www.fitbit.com/uk for further details.
App for navigating your commute
Is your daily commute into the city dogged by delays? Do you frequently find you are running late because of problems with transport? If you answered “Yes” to both questions, then Citymapper, could be the app for you.
Available on Andriod and IOS devices, it maps out your journey, giving you the easiest and quickest route. But it does more than that, it gives you live updates on the tube, tells when your next bus is due and how much the journey costs, it also gives details on cycle routes (if you are brave enough to use this option) and tells you long it would take you to walk.
The best news is, you get all this for free.
Visit https://citymapper.com and try it out for yourself.
App for organising your travel documents
As a finance contractor, you may have to travel a lot for work. If so, keeping all your travel documents organised in one place is extremely important. You don’t want to get to check in and find you haven’t got a copy of your boarding pass.
If you have to travel frequently for work, then you need Tripit.
Tripit, is an app that organises all your travel documents in one place. The free version, allows you to access your documents on your tablet or smartphone, syncs with your calendar so you know when you are travelling and where you are staying and you can share your these documents with others, for instance, your boss. So he/she knows your where you are (we are not sure if this is a good or bad thing though!).
The paid for version, gives you more options, such as getting real-time flight alerts, so you know if your flight is on-time or not, and it also automatically gives you alternate flights if you need to rebook your seat.
If you are a frequent traveler, check out https://www.tripit.com/ to see what other features if offers.
App for keeping track of your business
If you are looking for a service that can handle all your business finances, we recommend FreeAgent.* It is extremely popular amongst freelance contractors (it was originally designed and developed by three IT contractors) as it was designed with contractors in mind.
In short, it enables you to control your finances on the move. You can create and send invoices, record your expenses and snap receipts with your phone on the go and upload them to FreeAgent wherever you are. Anything you do in the app is immediately updated in your FreeAgent account.
The most important aspect of FreeAgent is that you can share this access with your accountant as well.
Visit http://www.freeagent.com/ for more information.
*In order to use the FreeAgent app you do have to have a FreeAgent Account.
Here, at Cogent Accountants, our philosophy is to make your life as a finance contractor, simpler and easier. Using the latest technology and expert knowledge ‘we do the work, while you do the play’. Speak to us today to see how we can help you manage your finances.