To close out our week on taxes, we researched some apps to help you as you prepare to balance things out with Uncle Sam. There are many advantages to owning your own business but one disadvantage can be a more complicated tax structure. Having the right app can make all the difference, but choosing the right app for your needs can be a challenge.

I’ve installed- and uninstalled- many apps over the years. Sometimes, the description of a certain app makes it sound perfect but upon usage, it proves impractical or fails to measure up to its hype.

One of the main issues with entrepreneurs is taxes. Record keeping, deductions, and calculations. Ugh. It can be overwhelming. We’ve researched some apps to help with a few aspects of the tax challenge.

I’ll start with iOS apps:

Accounting/Record keeping Apps for iOS

Easy Books by Geode Software- Business News Daily lauds the Apple Apps Store as being the source for the best accounting and finance apps for mobile accounting available. One top rated app is Easy Books. This app has some cool features like syncing capabilities with your desktop. Another awesome feature is that instead of having to buy a full pro version, individual features can be purchased to customize your mobile accounting experience. This app can also create estimates and send invoices to new customers. Users can also click on a few options and get a full expense report. In-App help is available and up to 120 transactions are allowed for free to test the app before purchase. The individual features are offered from upwards of $40+ but are described as advanced in their capabilities.

Accounting/Recordkeeping Apps for Android

Book Keeper Accounting by Just Apps Pvt. Ltd.- This app is a simple, straight-forward accounting app for accurate reports and recordkeeping for small and medium-sized businesses. Records and financial accounting can be managed for an individual or a company. One nice feature is that many features are unlimited and users can enter as many accounts, inventories, transactions, and even companies as they wish. No online linking is required but logging in with an email allows data to be synced across devices and backed up to your online storage site. Reports, sales reports, and invoices can be generated automatically and easily and sent to customers if desired. In addition, tax features include vouchers, computation, and users can even file tax returns! This app is free for 60 days then a subscription is required to be purchased. Subscriptions start at $24.99/annually.

I’m ending this list with one of my favorite all-inclusive apps:

Expense Manager by Bishinews- This is a great app to help with expenses, payments, budgeting, calculations, and record keeping! Users can easily navigate through the app’s features and the many features aren’t confusing because the app is fairly simple and intuitive. The expense managing part can track multiple accounts in various currencies. Expenses can be tracked by weeks, months, or even years, and organized within categories. Like many apps, pictures of receipts can be taken and recorded easily and exported just as simply. As I mentioned, I love it when apps allow for easy customization. This app offers the ability to schedule and make recurring payments in different categories with a choice of backgrounds, too. The other cool thing about this app though is that the user can have all the records set to auto backup on Cloud sources like Dropbox and Google Drive or just on the phone’s SD Card. In addition to all these things, simple features in-app make the back and forth in and out of the app unnecessary for things like a calculator as well as tip and sales tax calculators and converters. As an impatient person, I always appreciate a good search option on any phone feature and this app has one! The very best feature of all? It’s Free!!

Awesome App for Both Platforms

Concur by Concur- This free app helps keep any and every record related to business expenses. Data from credit cards can be imported and even in Airplane mode, photos of receipts can be taken and Quick Expenses can be created. Photos of receipts can be taken in Airplane mode and recorded in the app’s Receipt Store and expense reports can be submitted and approved via synced apps. Meetings can be arranged, coordinated, and confirmed. The added bonus of detailed travel options like booking travel details, checking flights, and confirming itineraries make this quite the offering for Android and iPhone for FREE.