Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of posts on apps or topics in the Google Apps Marketplace that have caught our eye here at Google. We’ll do this every so often as we see things we'd like to share. Look for the label "marketplace highlights" and subscribe to the series if you'd like to stay tuned.

As we work our way into the new year, we recognize that tax season can be very difficult for businesses. Face this tax season with ease and confidence by attending a live webinar and Q&A on using integrated finance apps from the Google Apps Marketplace - featuring Shoeboxed, Harvest, and Outright.

   Using applications from the Google Apps Marketplace to conquer tax season
   Wednesday, January 26, 2011
   11:00 a.m. PST / 2:00 p.m. EST
   Register here

With dozens of Marketplace accounting and finance apps, you can customize solutions to your business’s specific needs. Each application integrates with Google Apps and provides single sign-on convenience and access through the Google universal navigation bar.

For example, here’s one way your business might cut down the work of tax season this year by using Marketplace apps to organize financial documents, streamline invoicing, and aggregate accounting information.

Digitize your important documents
If you’ve been putting off the tedious task of organizing your receipts, Shoeboxed can help. Send your receipts to them inside a provided postage-paid envelope and within a few days, Shoeboxed will transform your paper clutter into a secure, searchable, IRS-accepted online database. Shoeboxed also offers a variety of export options and integrates with various tax applications. By using Shoeboxed now, you can get your receipts in order before the April 15th tax deadline.

Simplify invoicing and billing to easily monitor cash flow
It’s also easy to seamlessly manage your accounts payables and receivables with the Apps Marketplace. For example, Harvest helps you create and track invoices and set up retainers for clients and projects. Other features such as multi-currency support, automated reminders and online payment help you get paid faster. Harvest also offers a contextual gadget in Gmail to streamline invoicing activities.

Prepare your finances for tax time
When it comes to aggregating your financials to prep for tax time, there are several options, including Outright. Outright automates the accounting process, provides key financial reports and tracks where your money is going by integrating with Google Apps, Shoeboxed, Harvest, your bank account and other sources. At tax time, Outright calculates any estimated taxes you owe and pre-populates your annual tax form, the IRS Schedule C. It also provides helpful alerts that integrate into your Google Calendar to keep you apprised of upcoming deadlines.

In addition to Shoeboxed, Harvest and Outright, the Apps Marketplace offers your business many other applications that can satisfy your accounting and finance needs.

Invoicing/Billing Freshbooks Zoho Invoice Invoicera Bill.com Invoic€xpress WorkingPoint Harvest

Accounting Yendo Accounts FreeAgent Rhino Accouting Kashoo.com Outright

ERP MyERP.com Brightpearl ERPLY

Expense Reporting Expensify Concur Breeze Yendo Expenses Shoeboxed

Try out these apps Google Apps Marketplace and make this tax season a breeze.

Posted by Harrison Shih, Product Marketing, Google Apps Marketplace

Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of posts on apps in the Google Apps Marketplace that have caught our eye here at Google. We’ll do this every so often as we see things we'd like to share. Look for the label "marketplace highlights" and subscribe to the series if you'd like to stay tuned.

Today, more than 3 million businesses and thousands of universities not only have access to Google’s core suite of applications, they also get easy access to 200+ of the best apps on the web through the Google Apps Marketplace. These installable Marketplace apps are easy to try and buy, and offer single sign-on and hassle-free access from the Google universal navigation bar. Beyond the convenience of single sign-on, many apps integrate with users’ Gmail inbox, Google Docs, Google contacts, and Google calendar to improve productivity even further.

Across these businesses and schools, there’s one thing all users likely have in common: they have projects to complete. The good news is whether you have a product to build or market, a research study to publish, or an internal project to deliver, there's likely an app in the Marketplace to help you and your type of project succeed.

And since projects come in all shapes and sizes, we’ve categorized the apps in to 5 groups based on their focus, and then further ordered them by most installed first. This should help you better understand which of these 30 apps are right for your projects.

We started the Google Apps Marketplace with the goal of helping businesses find even more value in the cloud. Universities and schools are also moving aggressively into cloud computing for both internal infrastructure applications and apps for students. We have seen excellent uptake by education edition users of a wide range of apps, including Aviary, Manymoon, SlideRocket, SurveyMonkey, TripIt, OffiSync, and Sherpatools, just to name a few.

In addition to the many apps that have been used to enhance learning experiences, we recently introduced the first education-focused app, Grockit, to the Marketplace. We are excited to see the demand for these types of apps grow and we hope to build on the momentum created by apps that have been helping schools move to the cloud. Here are just a few examples of how Marketplace apps are currently being used in the classroom:

SlideRocket - Platform for creating, managing, sharing and measuring presentations

“You can see the impact [of cloud-based learning] in a research project some students did with the Glacier National Park in Montana. Students started by gathering their data through “building tools” such as Google Docs. Then students used that cloud-based data to collaborate with peers inside of SlideRocket, building a coherent presentation from scattered sets of data. Finally, they used Google Earth to embed the SlideRocket presentation into a place marker within the park, giving everyone access to their work. With this advancement in edtech, students across the school can discover various geo-referenced SlideRocket presentations as they virtually fly around the globe, learning and providing feedback… teachers are constantly wow’ed by the new capabilities…”

- John Kuglin, Senior Tech Consultant & Former Associate Dean, Univ of Montana 

Manymoon - Team collaboration and project management application

“At Le Moyne College... class assignments, relevant media, documents, student discussions and papers are all posted on Manymoon... All e-mails, documents, links etc are in one place and easy to find... which saves lots of time for me and my students. Manymoon and Google Apps are useful for connecting my students with others in the wider community. This semester, for instance, my Le Moyne College students are using Manymoon to work with college and high school students on a Juvenile Justice Experiential Education collaboration which involves more than 200 students from local universities and high schools. This is made possible by Manymoon and the suite of Google Apps.”

-Jim Dessauer, Adjunct Associate Professor in Sociology at Le Moyne College

The introduction of Grockit is our most recent step to help schools and universities discover and deploy relevant applications from our Marketplace. Grockit is a social learning platform for students in K-12 and for college entrance exams. They were eager to join the Marketplace because of the 8 million students that currently use Google Apps. Through Grockit integrations with Apps, students can now easily access their Grockit account through the universal navigation bar, sync training sessions with Google Calendar and store critical documents in Google Docs.

"The response from School Administrators has been outstanding. Each day we are contacted by a new school that is thrilled Google has begun adding educational apps to the marketplace and they have access to Grockit’s learning platform through it. They are already asking how they can make Grockit available to their students beyond this school year. We are stoked that educators see the additional value they provide their students when they are able to combine the benefits of Google and Grockit together."

-Farb Nivi, Founder and CEO of Grockit

We are constantly seeking to bring applications that our customers want to the Marketplace, so help us out by suggesting apps you think would be good for the Marketplace. In the meantime, check out the Google Apps Marketplace and get your head in the cloud:

Aviary, Manymoon, SlideRocket, SurveyMonkey, TripIt, OffiSync, and Sherpatools

Posted by Harrison Shih, Google Apps Marketplace Team

Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of posts on apps in the Google Apps Marketplace that have caught our eye here at Google. We’ll do this every few weeks or as we see things that we'd like to share. Look for the label "marketplace highlights" and subscribe to the series if you'd like to stay tuned.

Businesses that use Google Apps not only get access to Google's applications, they also get easy access to some of the best business apps on the web through the Google Apps Marketplace. These Marketplace apps are easy to try and buy; once more, they integrate with Google Apps "out of the box," making it simpler for businesses to run more of their systems in the cloud. You can learn more about the Marketplace and watch a short video on how it works here.

For this highlights post, we decided to focus on the top seach term for installable apps in the Marketplace: CRM. The lifeblood of all businesses, customers come in all shapes and sizes, and have different needs when interacting with businesses. We’re excited to have 13 different installable CRM apps in the Marketplace that can integrate with Google Apps in just a few clicks, each with a unique approach to helping you manage customer relationships. And because things are easier to digest when they come in 3’s, we’ve taken the liberty to present them in 3 different groups: CRM, Social CRM, and Project-based CRM.

>> CRM: apps with a focus on internal processes around selling and serving customers.

Zoho CRM is a complete customer relationship management solution for managing leads, contacts, customers, marketing activities and more. Integrations include:

• single sign on from Google Apps
• Gmail
• Google contacts import
• Google Docs attaching and sharing

Applane CRM is an enterprise grade CRM that supports complete sales cycle and customer relationship through an efficient user interface and advanced features. Integrations include:

• single sign on from Google Apps
• Google contacts import
• Gmail (contextual gadget)
• view actions in Google Calendar

Capsule CRM is a simple, flexible CRM for small businesses and sales teams that makes it easy to keep track of customers and other contacts, sales opportunities and follow-ups. Integrations include:

• single sign on from Google Apps
• Google contacts auto-update
• Google calendar sharing

TimetoNote is a simple, fast, elegant tool to collaborate and share contacts, emails, notes, tasks, projects and more with your co-workers. Integrations include:

• single sign on from Google Apps
• Gmail (contextual gadget)
• Google contacts synchronization
• Google Docs attaching and sharing

Tactile CRM is an easy to use CRM to track the people and companies you do business with, the opportunities in the pipeline, and what needs to be done next. Integrations include:

• single sign on from Google Apps
• Google contacts import

>> Social CRM: apps with a focus on collaborative customer conversations via social web sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz. (For more on Social CRM, see posts by Brent Leary, Paul Greenberg, and Michael Faucette)

Batchbook is a lightweight but powerful CRM that allows you to easily organize contacts, monitor social networks and track leads and deals. Integrations include:

• single sign on from Google Apps
• Google contacts synchronization

Bantam Live provides a social CRM workspace for business teams to collaborate internally and build relationships across the web. Integrations include:

• single sign on from Google Apps
• Google contacts import
• Google calendar sharing
• Google Docs attaching and sharing
• Google Buzz feeds in contact records

Gist provides the full view of the contacts in your professional network by creating a rich business profile for each one that includes news, status updates, and work details. Integrations include:

• Gmail (contextual gadget)

Rapportive searches the social web to find information which helps you establish rapport, grow your network, and be more productive.

• Gmail (contextual gadget)

Etacts is a complete customer relationship management solution for managing leads, contacts, customers, marketing activities and more. Integrations include:

• Gmail (contextual gadget)

>> Project-based CRM: apps with a focus on project collaboration before and after the sale.

Insightly lets you track leads, proposals, opportunities, projects and manage files, all through an easy to use interface.

• single sign on from Google Apps
• Google contacts import
• Google calendar sharing
• Google Docs attaching and sharing

Solve360 CRM is a modern CRM that integrates features to manage client projects that is ideal for small teams in service based companies that need a flexible solution.

• single sign on from Google Apps
• Google contacts synchronization
• Gmail

Smartsheet pipeline gives you the core features of a CRM built into a familiar Google Spreadsheet format or with one of their sales, service, and marketing templates.

• single sign on from Google Apps
• Google contacts import
• Google calendar sharing
• Google Docs attaching and importing

If you’re looking to improve the way you manage and converse with prospects and customers, we encourage you to evaluate these apps. But also know we’re adding new apps to the Marketplace all the time, so check back if these don’t suit your needs.

Posted by Kevin Gough, Sr. Product & Marketing Manager, Google Enterprise

• Build better customer relationships
• Reduce support costs
• Collect valuable market data

• Free applicant tracking system and careers site
• Easily post to multiple job boards with one click
• Unlimited users = more referrals & better feedback

• Expense reports created from credit card charges
• Built-in best practice setup
• 30-day free trial

• Identify and apply resources to projects
• Explore employees' activities
• Create time budgets and monitor progress

• Powerful yet simple survey creation
• Fast & flexible response gathering
• Intelligent reporting & analysis

• Eliminate paper filing and storage
• Automate approval process
• Pay anyone electronically

• Sync your desktop directly with Google Docs
• Continue to create and edit files on your desktop
• Offline access, backup, and sync for Google Docs

• See what changes have been made by whom
• Visualize the full revision history of a document
• Decide which changes to accept or reject

• Keep all team members and your clients in the loop
• Get paid for your work with controls over budgeting and overages
• Email digests keep everyone working together, with minimum noise

• See contact information and updates
• Request profiles to build a direct connection
• Search across all your contacts

Editor's note: This is the second in a series of posts on new apps in the Google Apps Marketplace that have caught our eye here at Google. We’ll do this every couple weeks or so. Look for the label "marketplace highlights" and subscribe to the series.

• Create ANY diagram: flowcharts, UI Mockups to UML
• Powerful project based collaboration
• Full featured, intuitive interface

• Track leads, proposals, opportunities and projects
• Full history of customer interaction
• Central shared contact list

• Always free
• Full double-entry bookkeeping
• Easily email invoices

• Manage tasks, files and conversations
• Easy to use and fun interface
• Inbox-driven collaboration

• Easily schedule meetings with anyone, anytime
• No more double bookings, or time zone mishaps
• End the back and forth of finding a time to meet