Apps Every Small Business Owner Needs

There are more than a million apps available to consumers, which makes it tough to sort the good from the bad. Luckily, we did a little digging to identify apps every small business owner should download.

Keynote This app is a must have for any small business owner that frequently makes presentations. Users can create slide shows for presentations using photos, movies, tables, charts and text on Keynote. And with the iPad’s touch-screen technology, making a presentation is as simple as clicking on a slide. The app works on a Mac or PC, which means a small business owner can send and receive files via e-mail. The app costs $9.99 at Apple’s App store. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/keynote/id361285480?mt=8

Bento Brought to you buy FileMaker, Bento for the iPad is a database app that lets small business owners manage contacts, track projects and plan events, making it much easier for users to organize any aspect of their business or personal life. The app, which sells for $4.99, comes with 25 pre-designed database templates, including inventory, contacts, customers, and to-do lists.  http://www.filemaker.com/products/bento/ipad.html

Instapaper Pro This app comes in handy for small business owners that want to save Web documents to be read later. The app, which also costs $4.99 at the Apple app store, lets users save Web pages directly to the iPad to read offline. The app even lets you e-mail links or forward long e-mail messages directly to your Instapaper account or send them directly from Google Reader. All a small business owner has to do is click the Instapaper Read Later bookmarker when an item is selected. http://www.instapaper.com/iphone

Time Master This time tracking app is a must have for consultants, attorneys, contractors or anybody else that needs to track their billable hours. The app can track users’ start and stop time, duration spent on a project, and even supports over and double time. The time management entries can be sub categorized by project or task, and can apply billing rates to the time. The app also lets a small business owner track expenses like car mileage or meals, and displays reports right on the iPad that can be viewed and e-mailed. The app costs $9.99 at Apple’s app store.

Square Any small business owner that has to accept credit card payments will find the Square app very handy. With the app, and the free card reader, small business owners can accept credit card payments on their iPad. Square, which is available on a host of mobile devices, lets users accept all types of credit cards and charges 2.75% plus 15 cents for swiped transactions and 3.5% plus 15 cents for keyed in transactions. Every credit card, whether it’s a Visa or Discover, has the same flat rate fee. And here’s the best part: Since there is no contract required, you don’t get charged when you don’t use it. https://squareup.com/