Apps to Keep in You the (Business) Loop
Technology: helping you get – and stay – ahead of business. As we continue through the month of new resolutions and big plans for the year, let’s take a look at some of my recommendations for interesting, useful and zany business apps that you can use to charge ahead in 2016.
Take the pulse of the U.S. economy instantly with real-time updates for 21 key economic indicators released from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Bureau of Economic Analysis. Get snapshots of key economic measures on employment, manufacturing, international trade, retail sales, and residential construction and sales, and track indicators and trends over time. Free app.
Nothing is as confident as an app with the tagline, “Expense Reports that Don’t Suck!” If you travel often or have stacks of receipts crammed in your George Costanza-esque wallet, Expensify may be for you. Either link your credit or debit card to your Expensify account so that charges are directly placed on an expense report, or snap photos of receipts and easily build a report on your own. $5-10 per active account for team and corporate users.
If your team is spread across offices – or even if you’re sitting just a few cubicles away – Slack can help keep your projects, communications and collateral in a shared location accessible no matter where you are. Free app.
Reputation management is everything, and Glassdoor can help you monitor what others are saying about your company. Looking for a new job? Glassdoor aggregates millions of jobs into one portal, and you can stay up-to-date on the latest company reviews, salary reports and interview questions – shared by those who know the company the best – the employees. Free app.
Think you’ve had a busy day, but really you’ve killed three hours playing Candy Crush? Rescue Time runs securely in the background to track time you’ve spent on applications and websites, giving you an accurate picture of how you spent your time during the day and – maybe – helping you be more efficient and productive with reports and data based on your activity. Sadly (or gratefully?) not yet available for iPhone. $72 per year with the first four months free.
Have any favorite business apps? Share in the comments!
Kathryn Hamilton, CAE, is Vice President for Marketing and Communications at NAIOP Corporate.
