As a designer, you know the tools get to freelance design done efficiently and effectively: you've got apps like Photoshop and Illustrator and specialty tools like FontLab installed and ready to go. But what about the business and administration apps? What do you use to deal with tasks involved with bookkeeping and client collaboration? Try these twenty apps on for size.

Backpack

Backpack is a great organizational tool, for yourself or for a small team including subcontractors. Manage documents, plan your schedule and more with Backpack.

Remember the Milk

Without a task manager, most freelancers get overwhelmed very quickly. There's just so much to do when you're running a business - and since you're the sole member of that business, barring any subcontractors who take on excess work, you can't afford to miss a thing. Remember the Milk is a great web-based task manager so you can access it from anywhere.

Paymo

Every freelancer needs to track time and issue invoices, and usually those invoices need to use time tracking data. Paymo has the best time tracking tools around and makes it ridiculously easy to transfer that data to the right invoice, so you get paid more.

Mint

Mint helps you manage your finances and see where money is coming in and going out, all for free. It's a great way to get an overview of your business' financial situation and keep on top of it.

Wunderlist

Wunderlist is a great to-do list app that has two main selling points: it's super simple when compared to apps like Remember the Milk, and it has really good (and really simple) sharing features. If you need to share task lists with others, such as subcontractors or clients, get Wunderlist.

Dropbox

Dropbox is an app that allows you to store several gigabytes worth of data in the cloud and have it synchronized and accessible between all your devices. And if you need to share large files with someone, Dropbox's sharing features make it the best way to handle those scenarios.

Echosign

Echosign is hands-down the easiest way to get contracts signed over the Internet. No need to print a contract, sign it and scan it again every time you start a new gig - manage the whole process online on both ends.

Basecamp

Basecamp is project management software on steroids. For most people the project management capabilities in an app like Paymo will do the trick without adding to your bills, but for planning junkies, a more in-depth app like Basecamp is worth a look.

Campfire

Campfire is a team chat application, designed to provide instant messaging like Skype does but with a focus on team collaboration, which means it includes attachment sharing and better transcript archival.

Trello

Trello is a collaboration tool that organises your projects into boards where 'to-do' list-makers can create and maintain a list of anything and share it with others. The tool is free and the Trello team share their work boards.

XE Universal Currency Converter

XE Universal Currency Converter is a quick and easy way to get an accurate conversion number between currencies - something most digital age freelancers need to do very frequently.

Wufoo

Wufoo is a form building application that makes it super easy to build everything from a lowly contact form to a new client questionnaire to get all the details you need before you begin a job.

Highrise

Highrise is a simple customer relationship management application, which allows you to store details of your clients and other contacts and keep notes on them - not to mention the all-important followup reminder.

MOO

Every freelancer needs business stationery, and if you've been doing what you're supposed to do with business cards (giving them out relentlessly) you'll need a reliable way to get more quickly. MOO is super affordable and ships quickly.

TextExpander

Field a lot of the same emails? Or just find yourself repeatedly typing certain things that could be made easier by an expander, such as a phone number you never quite get right? TextExpander is the best app in the game for Mac users.

LastPass

LastPass is a password manager with a range of perks. For one, clients who need to give you access to one of their accounts but don't want to divulge the password can do so. Secondly, you get access to every password you've ever had across all the devices you owned with no need to worry about remembering them all.

Alfred

In theory, Spotlight is a great launcher - until your hard drive gets cluttered and your machine starts to take the toll of everyday use. Enter Alfred, which is always fast for application launching and provides a range of Quicksilver-esque power features such as controlling iTunes, copying, moving and emailing files and folders and more.

Skype

Skype is a great VoIP app that allows you to claim a professional number, make cheap calls locally and abroad, and free calls to other users. It's also got great instant messaging features. No web worker should be without it.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is the best of the email marketing applications, giving you the tools you need to build an email list, send engaging newsletters and get useful analytics back after each campaign. If you're not using email marketing, you should start today.

Billdu

Billdu is a simple invoicing app perfect for freelance designers, helping you create professional invoices, quotes in seconds. It also tracks expenses and payments, so you can focus more on your design work.

Psono

Psono is a secure and flexible password manager designed for both personal and team use. It allows the team to share passwords and sensitive data, ensuring confidential information is accessible only to authorized members.

TextMate

Everyone needs a good old text editor, and these days, everyone who works online needs to be able to edit a HTML file or even dig into some CSS or WordPress files. TextMate is arguably the best Mac text editor in existence, used by just about every Mac developer who doesn't insist on using Vim for geek cred.

The apps you'll use will vary depending on your industry, business size, needs, and budget. For instance, learning how to do bookkeeping in Excel when you're just starting out will be different from when you already have a few clients under your belt. Still. the apps listed above are essential tools that almost any business needs such as chat software, password manager, project management tool, and CRM.

Got an app you love using in your freelance business? Let us know in the comments!

Written by Jo Sabin on Monday, July 2, 2012

Jo Sabin is Head of Designer Community at DesignCrowd. She's led the company's public relations and social media programs since 2012. With more than ten years' experience working with Australian and international tech startups in the creative industries, Jo has been instrumental in meeting DesignCrowd's objectives in Australia and abroad. Get in touch via Twitter.