Xpenser + Jott = Expense Reporting Made Easy

Let’s be honest, filling out expense reports is horrible.  They are a necessary evil, often put off until the last possible minute.  When I finally get around to filling mine out, I usually find myself removing a mountain of crumpled receipts from my “George Costanza like” wallet and then trying in vein to make sense of it all.  Hours later I finally get the whole mess put in order, plugged into a spreadsheet, copied, and submitted - cursing all the while as I vow never to put this off until the last minute again.  Of course I do put it off, and monthly the process is repeated.

I believe that I have found the answer in the form of xpenser.com

Xpenser.com is a web based tool that allows you to easily track your expenses.  It features a very simple interface, and a few very powerful features.  There are four fields for entry of expenses - Type, Amount, Notes, and Date.  It is clean and easy.  It will convert miles into dollars automatically and the information can be downloaded in numerous spreadsheet formats.  For me, it took all of about 2 seconds for me to see the value of this tool, and hence it was added immediately to my firefox toolbar. It will email or text updates, and you can enter to it via email, text, twitter or directly through the site itself.   It could not be more easy… or could it?

As it turns out, xpenser.com integrates with another one of my favorite web based tools jott.com.  Thus, when it comes to expense reports you can now literally just phone it in.  Call Jott (number 9 on my speed dial), say the name of your expense, the amount, and any notes, and you are done.  Jott will plug everything into xpenser and send you a confirmation verifying your entry.  This is a great way to make windshield time more valueable - calling in the day’s expenses and mileage as you make the drive home.

This combination of free, web based tools is a simple way to make your life easier.   Give xpenser and jott a try and let me know what you think.

Xpenser - Mobile Expense Tracking and Reporting

3 Free Tech Tools You Need to Use

The internet is full of tools that can make your life easier. Here are 3 of my favorites. If you have not heard of these, please give them a look. They can empower you in ways you would never have imagined.

LinkedIn - If you work for a living, you should use LinkedIn. Plain and simple. LinkedIn is a social networking site that caters to business professionals. It is primarily used as a way to keep tabs on connections new and old, but has countless other applications. From personal branding to market research, to finding a job, to sales support, to ad-hoc help desk, the site’s usefulness grows daily. In 2004 the site had about 500 thousand users. As of 2008 it is estimated to have 21 million. How is that for growth? While there is a paid version of the site that adds functionality, you can do most of what you would need to in the free version. Creating a profile is easy and can be done pretty quickly. This one is a must.

Jott - What if you could call a phone number, speak, and have your words emailed to you in both transcribed text and audio form? What if you could do this for free? You can. Jott offers you the ability to send transcribed voice mail messages to yourself and others at no cost. This one is great for when you have those “great idea” or “damn I better not forget that” moments but don’t the ability to immediately write it down. I put Jott in my speed dial, and with the touch of one key, I can leave myself a message. Within minutes I get an email in my inbox capturing my message. The quality of the transcription is actually very good. Having used this hundreds of times, I can only think of one time that I actually had to play back the audio to understand what my message was. All you need to do to sign up for the service is to go to the site, enter your phone number, enter your email address, and viola - Jott at will. This service has come in handy for me more times than I can count. It is so simple, but so powerful at the same time.

Goog411 - Google on your phone. I am not talking about looking things up on an iPhone or Blackberry, I am talking about calling your search in and having it read back to you over the phone. Need Pizza in Dayton, Ohio? Call 1-800-Goog411 and have the Google search done for you for free. They will even connect you directly or email you a google map right to your chosen destination. It is so simple. This one is perfect for those in sales and other fields with lots of windshield time. Not sure exactly where that customer is? Goog411 can save the day. Need to grab some lunch or find a tow truck? Goog411. Again, this is free. This one is also embedded in my speed dial and used regularly.

These are 3 of my favorite freebies. What 3 free tech tools can’t you live without?