The more I use my iPad and iPhone the less I use my computer. That’s not a good or bad thing, it’s just an observation. Many of the Apps out there in 2012 can do just about everything that I need to do and that I used to rely on my computer to do. I love having the flexibility of just carrying my iPad and getting lots of work done. So here in no particular order are 10 Must Have iPad Apps for Business that I rely on most.
Invoice2go
Invoice2go is my top pick for creating custom invoices right on your iPad. You can even set it up with a PayPal pay button so that when you email the invoice they can click the button to pay. Otherwise you just send a PDF. The App handles all the calculations and lets you know who has paid and who hasn’t.
FileMaker Go
I have used FileMaker Pro as my database manager for years. I have a database that I use all the time running on my Mac server at home. With FileMaker Go I can access that database, add, edit, delete records and of course look up information.
CardMunch
OK, you got me! This is not an iPad app. However, it’s so important to me that I had to list it here. When people hand me business cards I don’t want to have to enter them in manually to my contacts. While there are apps out there that will OCR the card and convert it to text, none are perfect. CardMuch uploads the picture of the card that you take and a human verifies all the data and sends it down back to App. Now you know the data is 100% correct.
Scanner Pro
I used to rely heavily on a document scanner on my desk and while I still use it when I’m in my office, I use Scanner Pro whenever I’m on the go. Just take a picture of the document and Scanner Pro will straighten it out so that it appears like a flat scanned document as well as save it to a PDF and send it to the cloud or via email.
PDF Expert
Hands down PDF Expert is my favorite overall PDF manager complete with PDF forms support, markup, highlighting, bookmarks and more. It also has cloud support for syncing with services like Dropbox. I use it store all of my manuals.
Documents To Go Premium
If you’re looking for an App to create/edit your Office files such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint files, Documents to Go Premium is one to have. It also integrates directly with your Outlook email and picks up attachments directly. I don’t do a lot with Office docs but when I do have to work with them I know that Documents to Go Premium is up to the task.
Contract Maker Elite
Above I talked about Invoice2go for creating custom invoices. Contract Maker Elite allows me to create all my other custom forms complete with photo fields and signature fields. If you want to create a custom contract, proposal, agreement or other document that your client will sign, this one has the most options and customization fields.
Keynote
I use Apple’s Keynote on the desktop when I need to do a slide presentation. There’s no better way to take those presentations mobile than with Keynote for iPad. Keynote supports many of the same transitions as the desktop version and you can now use iCloud to view and edit the presentations wirelessly. You can connect your iPad to the projector directly or use AirPlay and an Apple TV to present.
Square Register
I don’t take a ton of credit card payments. Therefore I don’t want to have to pay a monthly fee. Square has been my savior for a couple of years now and their new Square Register App turns your iPad into an elegant point of sale solution. You can setup your products as buttons and with the Square Adapter you can swipe credit cards and charge your clients directly. The money is automatically transferred to your bank account the next business day. I LOVE SQUARE!
Advanced Percentage Calculator
I struggle with percentages. I always have. If you want to figure out what a 25% discount off of $815.00 is, look no further. Advanced Percentage Calculator was designed for people like me. It has buttons for “%of”, “out of”, “Add %”, and “Deduct %” This takes the guess work out of percentages for me. You can customize the skins, and use it as a standard Arithmetic calculator too.
Bonus – Keyboard
Since were talking about business, you are probably going to be doing more than just a little text entry. I was never a fan of any of the keyboard solutions out there for iPad until I saw the Logitech UltraThin Keyboard Smart Cover. It’s now on my iPad 99% of the time because it’s so integrated. Some of you are morally opposed to using a keyboard with an iPad. I hear ya, but don’t knock this one until you’ve tried it.
Get the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover here.
Also my Stylus of choice is…
While it’s nice that your clients can sign your contracts and PDFs with their finger, they will be much more comfortable with something that feels like a pen. So I prefer this stylus for my overall use and this less expensive one for having people sign.
