An edited version of this article first appeared on the John Hopkins Group website (read it here). The following article is as it was originally written.

Smartphones – a useful piece of technology that we’ve become so attached to, that some even argue that we can start to consider ourselves cyborgs.

At the touch of a piece of flat glass, you can find out  what the weather is, what your friends ate for breakfast and how the Australian dollar is fairing against the greenback. Information is quite literally, at your fingertips – but are you using this resource to its potential?

Apps come in many forms, from games to directories, but did you know that there are apps that can help you prepare for tax time, keep your budget and help you decide on an investment property?

When life gets busy and you’re starved for time, sometimes it’s nice to have a helping hand – and what’s better than help that comes quite literally, in your hand?

So, whether you want help keeping your finances in check, or want your accountant to love you, here are five apps to help keep you organised.

1. VehicleLog – ATO compliant logbook

If you use your car for business and intend to claim usage at tax time, then this is the app for you. On its website, VehicleLog claims that it ‘fully compliant with Australian Tax Office requirements where the logbook method is used to claim the percentage business use of a vehicle.’ With this app, you can even use your phone’s inbuilt GPS to automatically calculate the end odometer value, record start and end locations, as well as route information. The app also creates and audit report in both CSV and PDF format every time you publish. At this stage, the app is only available for iPhone iOS, and will set you back $9.49, however the website states that this is a tax deductible expense.

2. Tradefields

Have you ever wanted to know more about getting involved in stocks but didn’t know where to start? Tradefields is a free app that teaches in a game environment. Available for iOS, Android and Blackberry, the app is a simulation game that introduces beginners to the stock world by creating a virtual portfolio, which you track to reach the highest possible profit. You can even compete with friends, with an option to sync scores via Facebook

3. Commonwealth Bank’s Property Guide

Another free app, Commonwealth Bank’s Property Guide helps you keep on top of the property market. According to the press release unveiling the app back in 2010, it is designed to help would be investors ‘make smarter property decisions with ‘augmented reality’ insights in to almost any Australian home, anytime, anywhere.’  Available on iOS in the Apple App Store, the app is powered by rpdata.com and realestate.com.au, to provide up to date and reliable insights.

4. Sun Seeker – 3D Augmented Reality Viewer

It may seem odd that this app is on our list, but Sun Seeker is an out of the box contender for useful apps for property investors.  According to its description, Sun Seeker ‘provides a flat view compass and an augmented reality camera 3-D view showing the solar path, its hour intervals, its winter and summer solstice paths, rise and set times…and a map view showing solar direction for each daylight hour.’ Simply stand in a room and use the app to find where the sun is going to be at any point in time – it takes out some of the guess work for investors, because it helps you find the sun exposure of the properties you are considering. Available for iOS and Android.

5. Mint

A quick search of the internet of the best money management apps and you will find Mint in the top five, almost every time – and with good reason. Available for both Android and iOS, this free app packs a lot of punch. The app provides a central repository to keep track of all your checking accounts, saving accounts and credit cards – it can even warn you via email or text when you’re running low on funds. Mint also comes with a Web interface to help set up your profile (and to keep you updated when your phone and tablet batteries are drained).  Unfortunately, this app currently only supports US and Canadian Banks, however there are reports of some Australian banks working with the App. For a local equivalent, ANZ has a very similar web application that supports all Australian banks and Credit cards – not just those from ANZ. The ANZ MoneyManager site can be found here.

While this is by no means a comprehensive list, hopefully these apps can help make your life a little easier, and whet your appetite to do some app surfing of your own. With hundreds of new apps being added to the cyber world every day, if you ever needed help or wanted to know something, there is probably an app for that.