expenses
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Kickstarter wants projects to be more transparent about their budget
Crowdfunding is great in theory, but many projects fail to meet their fundraising goals, end up asking for more money or fall apart entirely. In an attempt to help creators avoid those fates, Kickstarter is launching a new tool called Project Budget.
Lyft auto-expenses your work rides
Ride-hailing apps aren't just convenient for consumers -- companies have embraced the services, too. Lyft enabled business profiles back in April 2016 to help customers differentiate between work and personal trips, but the onus was on the individual to file their rides. Today, Lyft is making it easier for individual clients to square rides with their companies by enabling auto-invoicing through any of seven additional services, including Concur and Expensify.
AP: Lawmaker's Instagram account proves he's misusing taxpayer money
Rep. Aaron Schock (R) from Illinois has been spending taxpayer money on renting private jets, getting massages and taking his staff to sold out concerts, according to the Associated Press. And, get this: AP says it has confirmed all those times he rented a private jet, thanks in part to his Instagram posts. AP extracted location data from his photos and compared it with the records for each flight billed against his office. Current rules state that lawmakers can use taxpayer money to pay for their share of the cost for private flights (other passengers would have to pay for their share), but that was only approved in January 2013.
Sumptus: Using natural language input to easily track expenses
The best way to stay on a budget is to keep a running log of your expenses; that (and taxation entities like the IRS) is why so many companies require their employees to keep detailed records of exactly what they spend. But many of the expense tracker apps on the market make it difficult and time-consuming to enter information, resulting in the bad tendency for people to just stuff receipts in an envelope until it's time to get the expense report sent out. Sumptus (US$3.99) from Wesix hopes to change that by using natural language entry to ease the entry of expenses. What do the developers mean by natural language entry? Probably the best way to describe it is to show the process of entering an expense. Rather than tediously enter information into a bunch of different fields as with other expense apps, Sumptus simply requires a short note - something like "Lunch 10" - which is then stored by Sumptus as a note for a lunch costing US$10. Sumptus can handle multiple budgets, so it's possible to keep track of expenses associated with different projects as well as personal home budgets. Expenses can be saved in different currencies as well, perfect for those who travel extensively for work or pleasure. If you want to do some simple analytics of your expenses, Sumptus will grab your data, then present you with a pie diagram showing those areas that may need your attention. One feature I really liked was being able to easily break out expenses with simple math. For example, let's say you bought admission to a museum - two adults at $31 each. Just type in "Museum admission 2x31" and you'll get the correct entry of $62. However, this doesn't work properly if you try adding two more entries for children admissions. Try "Museum admission 2x31 + 2x10", and you won't get the right answer of $82 - instead, it parses the expression as (((2x31)+2)x2) or $640. Just keep your expressions simple and you won't have any problems. Exporting reports is as simple as tapping a share button, which generates a budget report ready for printing or sending to others. That report is in HTML format - I'd like to see Wesix add the ability to export as PDF or a CSV file, which are infinitely more useful in business. All in all, though, Wesix has done a top-notch job with the first release of an easy-to-use budgeting and expense app. I look forward to seeing how Sumptus evolves in the future.
Make sense of expenses and spending habits with MonSense
If you want a money management app that's a step above basic, but not overly complicated, Monsense is a great choice. Available on all iOS devices, Monsense gives you a lot of room for customization, but also lays the groundwork for tracking expenses. You have the option to create multiple accounts, though you probably won't need that many. The term "accounts" can be a bit misleading, because Monsense does not connect directly with your bank account. Instead, these accounts refer to how you categorize your funds. You can have accounts for work, home, travel or anything else you'd like. Within each account, there are preexisting categories such as beverage, bills, food, fuel, groceries, home, etc... Click on a category and then add the corresponding transaction. This keeps things organized and helps you to track where you spend your money. To add an expense, tap the plus sign at the top of the home screen. Choose your account, your category, enter a name for your expense, the amount and you're done. Y For recurring expenses, select the weekly, monthly or yearly option and then key in the due date. Future expenses show up in the red pending bar at the top of the screen. Click on the bar to view all of your pending expenses. Swipe left to edit, delete or mark the expense as paid. To make sure that you don't forget to pay a bill, Monsense syncs with your calendar and notifies you when an item is due. The only comment I have regarding recurring expenses is that it would be nice if there was a daily option – especially for those of us with a predictable coffee habit. The best part about Monsense is how it tracks your spending habits. Click on "patterns" in the menu bar and you'll see a weekly, monthly or yearly pie chart showing you where you spend your money. View all of your transactions in one chart, or scroll through each category to see its specific percentage. Here's where things don't make a lot of sense: Monsense lets you export beautifully detailed charts and graphs to a pdf file (there is an Excel option, as well). However, you need to flip over to the export screen to view them. Only the pie chart is available in the patterns section. Really, all of the charts and graphs should be available in one place from which you can easily export the information. Another thing, unless you are using an iPad, you can't read anything but the pie chart. All of the other graphs are too small to decipher. There really should be a way to view these in-app without having to export them. Monsense is more of an expense app than a budget app, but you can enter your income, the same way that you would an expense, and then easily determine how much money you have left to spend. I like Monsense, but it does need a few improvements. Still, for US$0.99, it's simple approach to money management might be just what you need.
Uber for Business now automatically expenses taxis in 45 countries
The nice thing about traveling for work is that you can hop in a taxi without worrying about the cost since, after all, you're not picking up the tab. The downside of that privilege is that, about a week or two after that, you'll have to sit down and tediously justify your expenditure to your boss. That's not a problem, however, if your company has signed up with Uber for Business, which sends the bills straight to the firm instead of piling on your own credit card. Until now, however, that service was only available in the US and Canada, with a few trials taking place in the UK and France. As you might have guessed from the headline, today's the day that the company opens up Uber for Business to all of the 45 countries in which it operates. Now all we have to do is work out if we can pretend that our hand slipped and we hit the Uber Lux button by mistake.
Uber for Business bills companies directly for employee's rides
Airbnb has realized the next step is to start heavily targeting business users. Uber has clearly come to the same conclusion, and just like the subletting startup, it's bringing direct billing to business customers. The centralized system would not only cover payments, but would eliminate the need to track receipts. Companies would automatically receive all the necessary trip details after their employee finished a ride. Even if your company doesn't choose to do direct billing, you can still connect your Uber and Concur accounts to have e-receipts automatically filed on your behalf. We won't lie and say Uber for Business is the most exciting development in the world, but it certainly makes managing your expenses a lot easier.
Indie sandbox Embers of Caerus needs your support
Play MMOs long enough and chances are you'll become something of an armchair developer. I could make a better game than that, you might say, or why the heck are they doing it this way? While most of us don't have the programming chops to make the transition from imagined prototype to working code, Forsaken Studios is offering the next best thing. Call it an armchair supporter opportunity. The indie devs behind Embers of Caerus are asking for your donations, as the fantasy title is in need of a bit of capital to offset the fact that the team is working for free. What exactly is Forsaken Studios working on? It's a safe bet that it isn't your average fantasy themepark clone if the prose on the game's official forum is any indication. Forsaken is "made up of gamers who are tired of companies not quite getting it right, or worse, selling out in order to earn more money from what producers deem to be the more lucrative markets (easier content, real money item shops, etc)." What will become of your donations? The EoC support plan page lists everything from software and licensing costs to hosting, technical equipment, and various legal/company expenses. "Even when you don't have to pay anyone, it's still not a cheap business," Forsaken says. You can get a look at a nine-minute engine test in the video after the cut.
Microsoft to spend one billion dollars advertising Kinect and Windows Phone 7
Microsoft's serious about making Kinect a success. A $500 million kind of serious. That's the latest report, courtesy of the New York Post, on the change Steve Ballmer and company intend to drop to make sure that every living and breathing creature in the US knows about the controller-free controller this holiday season. That mirrors earlier analyst estimates placing the Windows Phone 7 marketing budget at a similar figure, which in total would amount to a cool billion dollars in advertising expenditure. We already know Microsoft's scooped the Old Spice Guy for WP7, but Kinect is getting the extra special carpet bombing treatment with Burger King, Pepsi, YouTube, Nickelodeon, Disney, Glee, Dancing with the Stars, People and InStyle magazines, and even Times Square all having a role to play in spreading the word. Yup, it's gonna be pretty hard to miss it.
Ce-Oh no he didn't!: Larry Ellison likens HP board to 'idiots' at Apple
Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO and regular tennis buddy of the disgraced (and now former) chief of HP Mark Hurd, has decided to share his thoughts on the matter of Hurd's departure in an impassioned email to the New York Times: "The H.P. board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago. That decision nearly destroyed Apple and would have if Steve hadn't come back and saved them." The communique, also obtained by the Mercury News, included other tasty tidbits such as Ellison describing HP's disclosure of the apparently unfounded sexual harassment claim against Hurd as "cowardly corporate political correctness," and dismissing the financial irregularities that forced the former CEO's resignation as "petty expenses report errors." So, in short, the world according to Larry is populated by messianic CEOs who shouldn't be held up to the same petty standards as the rest of us.
TUAW's Daily App: Expenditure
Expenditure is another great-looking app found via the excellent Well-Placed Pixels blog. It's an expense tracker -- you can add transactions into the app with just a few taps (and even attach a photo, note, or category to each debit or credit), and then browse your collected budget. Obviously, you could use it to just see how much you're spending each month, but it can also be used for things like traveling (the app will automatically calculate currencies for you) or keeping track of business expenses. It's not a super full-featured business application, but it will do the basics smoothly and beautifully. You can find it on the App Store for US$1.99, and as an iTunes commenter points out, using it will probably save you the $2 you spend on it. There is a lite version that only allows eight transactions (enough to see the app in action, though not enough to actually put it to use), so if you're not sure about spending a couple of bucks, you can check it out that way as well. Excellent app -- the functionality is a little limited (by design -- the developers just wanted a simple expense tracker), but the great aesthetic and design elements make up for the simplicity.
Rogers bumps BlackBerry prices skyward to help with "acquisition expenses"
As with any major company out there, Rogers Wireless has been burning through some cash in order to move its business forward. So far as we can tell, however, it's acquired nothing substantial enough to warrant a $30 million hole in the overall acquisition budget. According to a poorly scribed email that was allegedly whisked out by a Rogers bigwig, the senior executive team just realized that it was $30 million in the red when it came to acquisitions, and coincidentally (or not), the price of select BlackBerry handsets has crept up anywhere between $25 and $50 on a 3-year contract. Granted, there's no confirmed link between the price hikes and the budget fiasco, but simple logic could bring us to believe that one is definitely in reaction to the other. Who knows -- maybe those gigantic Bolds were way, way more expensive that anyone assumed.[Image courtesy of BlackBerry News]
iPhone app update: JetSet Expenses 1.2.1
TUAW did a first look of BriteMac Software's JetSet Expenses 1.1 for iPhone last September, and with time the app has added functionality and stability. JetSet Expenses 1.2.1 (click opens iTunes) has recently appeared in the App Store, and the changes look great: Expense type detail reports now have totals so that they have the same level of detail as summary reports Mileage totals are now in the detailed expense report Billable expenses are now broken out and totaled separately A report is now marked as submitted when it is emailed or sent to Google Docs Now supports up to 6 different payment types A personal balance shows the difference between the expenses you paid versus expenses allowed to you Can now mark expenses as either billable or reimbursable Mileage support for business, medical, charity, and one more user-defined type JetSet Expenses now follows local currency and date formatting An improved user interface; you can enter as much or as little data as needed for reporting I use JetSet Expenses to track my business travel expenses, and the latest version has improved an already good app. There's a two-week sale on JetSet right now -- the usual US$9.99 price has been halved to US$4.99. BriteMac has also released a free version for those who want to test-drive JetSet Expenses. Version 1.3 is forthcoming in the future, with support for multiple currencies.
The state of the Azerothian economy
Thermalnoise over on the WoW LJ thought of a great poll, and the results are interesting. He asked readers there what the average amount of gold they had on their characters was, and I thought the amounts were relatively high: between 2,000 and 10,000g for about 40% of those polled. The other big chunk is between 200 and 2,000g (a little under 30% of respondents), which is where I'd expect most of the player base to be, but no: apparently Blizzard's bigger rewards in Wrath of the Lich King (not to mention the higher gold sinks, requiring us to try and raise more gold if we want to fly around or ride a mammoth) have made us richer as a whole.Thermalnoise also asked how much your savings of gold fluctuates, and for most people it apparently stays pretty much the same, or generally increases (probably as they run professions, do quests, or sell off drops and pay repairs). I'd imagine Blizzard is keeping a pretty close eye on just how our gold moves around, and that "steadily increase" is what they'd want all of our money to do, just to keep the game's economy moving around.In fact, though I'm probably repeating myself here, it'd be nice to have them give us some insight on just what's happening with the ingame economy. We've gotten a few hints at what sells and doesn't on the realms, but it would be interesting to see some official numbers about the average amount of money that players have and keep at the various levels of the game. and exactly where it all goes when we spend it.
First Look: Pennies for iPhone
Pennies is a new iPhone application from the same people who brought you AppZapper and Disco. Pennies is a simple, yet beautifully designed, application to manage your monthly budget right from your iPhone or iPod touch. When you first launch the application you are presented with a "This Month" budget screen where you can set your monthly budget, see how much you've spent, see top expenses, and get some statistics. In the "Expenses" tab you can add, edit, or annotate your expenses. When you add an expense, you can select a category and enter an amount. You can choose between 10 categories including: general, food, electronics personal, and groceries. When you enter an amount and save the expense, it is automatically deducted from the budget and the "fuel gauge" moves towards the "empty" line on the month screen. Overall, this is a very nicely designed application that offers a handy solution for managing your budget on-the-go. However, it would be nice to have a desktop application on the Mac that this app could sync with. Perhaps via a WiFi link, like 1Password for iPhone -- maybe it could connect with ChaChing? Still, for $2.99, this application is definitely worth the price. Pennies (iTunes Link) is available right now via the App Store.%Gallery-29188%
NEAT Receipts for Mac Advance Release
Hey, slacker! You know who you are - the person who waited until 11:59 PM on April 15th to file your tax return. You've decided to get organized so you can file on April 14th next year. Windows users have had a leg up in the expense organizing world with a best-selling scanner/software combo called NEAT Receipts. Now Mac users are getting the love too.Consisting of a sleek little scanner and some proprietary software, NEAT Receipts for Mac Advance Release is a complete solution for capturing all of life's little expenses automatically. You scan a receipt, and OCR software captures the vendor, price, sales tax, and other data into a library along with an image of the receipt. NEAT Receipts for Mac Advance Release doesn't have all of the features of the PC version yet, but it will when the final version is released in January, 2009. For the time being, you can buy the scanner and software for $179.95 (a full $50 less than the PC version) and upgrade to the full Mac version for free when it ships.Thanks to Rachel for the tip!
