CPA Practice Advisor - 19

APPS WE LOVE

By Gail Perry, CPA, Editor-in-Chief

Financial Planning
DO YOU TRUST your money to financial apps? I know many people who find
online banking risky and won't use online investing and planning services, but
others have gotten over the hump of trusting online financial services. As these
services constantly remind us, they wouldn't be in business for long if they didn't
have the utmost security.
According to survey results from The Financial Brand published in September, 2019, 41% of
U.S. banking customers use at least one financial
app, primarily in the areas of personal financial
services, budgeting and saving, investment advice
including robo-advisors, and lending services. We
surveyed members of the CPA Practice Advisor
community to find out what financial planning
apps they like best.
Samantha Mansfield, director of professional
development and community at CPA.com, told
us, "Part of financial planning is budgeting, and
I really like Every Dollar app. Simple to use, it
allows tracking of every dollar spent to give a
real record of actual spend. The customization
of categories is good, it's easy to roll your budget
from month to month and see totals at any given
time." Every Dollar is created by David Ramsey's
companies, The Lampo Group and Ramsey
Solutions.
Randy Johnston, executive vice president at
K2 Enterprises and CEO of Network Management
Group, Inc., recommends Wealthfront. Operated
by Wealthfront Advisors LLC and Wealthfront
Brokerage LLC, the app provides a high interest
savings account you can use to help meet your
savings goals. Are you setting aside money for
an emergency fund and want the funds to earn a
nice return but be very liquid? Wealthfront might
be the solution you're looking for. You can also
find planning advice, investment options, and
you can open a line of credit at Wealthfront. You
can start your savings account with as little as
$1. Once your funds reach $500, you can consider
opening an investment account.
If you're looking for a financial planning app
that incorporates investment analysis, the ability
to create personal financial profiles, comprehensive reports and charts, and tax computations all
in one place, Johnston recommends Planmode
Financial Planning. Produced by Sawhney Systems, a Princeton, NJ-based company that has

been developing financial planning software for
more than 30 years, Planmode allows you to set
up your own financial goals and then develop a
plan to achieve them. "It is an integrated financial
planner that incorporates income, expense, and
tax integration," said Johnston.
You can use U-Nest to help save and organize
funds for a college education. Also recommended by Johnston, U-Nest allows you to set
up a monthly contribution
plan, incorporate gifts
from friends and family
members, and manage a
529 college savings plan.
Do you have a global
portfolio? Pushkar Bhoopalam, head of the Tax
Practitioners Segment at
Thomson Reuters, recommends MoneyControl. "It
has all the information
required for markets trading in one place: historicals,
news, asset trends, industry
trends, etc. MoneyControl has helped me invest
without the need for a private wealth advisor."
With MoneyControl, you can track the latest
updates on global financial markets. A recent
upgrade has met with some negative reviews on
the user interface, but we expect these issues will
be addressed soon. Many reviewers claim this
is the best app available for tracking the Indian
markets.
Are you just getting started with investing?
Stacy Kildal, founder of Kildal Services LLC,
and co-creator and host of the QBOShow.com,
suggests you try Acorns and Stash. "We've been
using Acorns and Stash to do 'spare change'
investing since each came out. We won't be able
to retire with either, but both are no brainer ways
to do simple investing," said Kildal. Featured as
an Apple App of the Day this Spring, Acorns lets

you set up a monthly investment plan for as little
as $1 per month, similar to Stash. You can open
an account and begin investing at both Stash
and Acorns with as little as $5. Invest in ETFs
and stocks, and learn about the funds and how
to make investment decisions as you go.
Joshua Lance, CPA, CGMA, managing director
of Lance CPA Group, recommends Betterment.
"It's a great app to automatically transfer money
to an investment account. Simple easy to use
and I really like some of the automatic tax
features it has like tax loss harvesting." Lance
also recommends Personal Capital. "I love this
app because I can see my whole financial picture
at a glance and it's easy to understand how the
financial planning that I have done sets me up
for the future."

Caleb Jenkins, EA, CQP, leader of client
accounting services at RLJ Financial Services,
Inc., told us, "I use HD Vest eMoney to create
goals and plans for my financial future, and I can
track my spending and all my investments using
this app. It has some really helpful forecasting
reports to create accurate goals and plans for
the future."
If you'd like an app that provides a single view
of all of your assets and liabilities at a glance,
Sandra Wiley, president of Boomer Consulting, Inc., recommends Mint Personal Finance.
"It's still my favorite for aggregating all of my
accounts in one easy-to-see location." Michelle
Walsh, vice president of client services at XCM
Solutions, LLC agrees. "Mint is very easy to use
and allows you to see everything in once place!" ■

MAY 2019 ■

www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

http://www.CPA.com http://www.QBOShow.com http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

CPA Practice Advisor

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CPA Practice Advisor