If you've decided to use an iPad for work, you'll need to treat it a little differently than if you were only going to use it for personal reasons. Take an organized approach to setting up and managing your iPad so that you can get the most business use from it.

How an iPad can be useful in a business setting varies drastically by occupation, and it doesn't make sense for all types of professionals. For example, I've heard of realtors who use iPads to not only show potential buyers additional information about a property, but also to communicate their location with other colleagues while they're out showing homes. I've even known social services agencies that equip their employees with iPads for taking notes when visiting clients because iPads are lighter to carry and generally less expensive than laptops, yet they still get the job done.

But using an iPad for work doesn't always make sense. If you spend most of your working hours in one fixed location, an iPad probably isn't what you need. If your job involves a lot of typing or managing large files for an extended period of time, you might be better off investing in a lightweight laptop or ultrabook for times when you need a portable device. But don't underestimate the iPad's capabilities either. It can handle some pretty intense work.

Once you've decided to use an iPad for work, here are some pointers for kitting it out.

The article text recommends some apps and accessories, while the video mentions a few simple settings you might want to enable.

What to Install on an iPad for Business Use The apps you'll need for your business-use iPad will largely depend on your line of work, but a few apply to most professionals across the board.

Office Files

If you don't need complete remote access to your desktop, a simpler solution is to use a file-syncing app such as Dropbox or SugarSync. These apps will let you get to your files so you can share them with others, but not necessarily edit them, depending on the file types you have saved.

To open and edit files, you'll need proper office apps, and, as of this writing, the 800-pound gorilla of office software, Microsoft, doesn't have an iPad suite (although word on the street is we could see one by November 2012). In lieu of Microsoft Office, you can use Apple's own Pages, Numbers, and Keynote ($9.99 each, sold separately), which together are known as iWork. Apple makes its office apps even more attractive by providing syncing services for you via iCloud, which means you wouldn't need to use Dropbox or SugarSync for any iWork files (unless you wanted to create an additional backup of all the files, which I highly recommend).

iWork is PCMag's Editors' Choice among iPad office suites, but two other options worth exploring are Quickoffice Pro HD ($19.99)—which integrates well with Google Docs/Drive, Dropbox, and Evernote—and the inexpensive Smart Office ($9.99), which works with Google Docs/Drive.

Notes Only

My personal favorite note-taking app is Evernote (free to $45 per year for Premium) because it has amazing search functionality, great syncing, and plenty of other apps so you can continue making more notes on your other devices. Evernote work best, in my opinion, for plain-text typed notes, photos, and audio memos. A better choice for sketched notes, like doodles and free-form diagrams, is Penultimate (99 cents) which happens to be owned by Evernote, too.

For more enhanced typed notes and the ability to markup PDFs, Note Taker HD ($4.99) is the app to download. It lets you change colors, typefaces, point sizes, and also supports finger-drawing input.

File and Database Management

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For a deeper dive with databases, you can spend a good deal more money for FileMaker Go (free as of version 12), which syncs with FileMaker Pro and thus is a must-have app if you rely on the latter to get your job done.

Need to access an FTP server from your iPad? Try Captain FTP ($9.99). Captain FTP is both an FTP client and a file manager that turns your iPad into a storage device.

Specialty Business Apps

Power.ME HD ($29.99) is a business task and project -management application designed to handle "all aspects of life," says its maker. That's a lofty statement for sure, but this iPad app (also available on the iPhone and iPod Touch for $19.99) does a decent job of living up to that claim by helping you manage workflow and share documents from Apple's mobile devices as well as a PC Web browsers.

Travelers who need to track their expenses for reimbursement might use the enterprise-level system Concur, which has its own iPad app so you can enter receipts as you collect them. Concur now also connects directly with TripIt, giving you even more ways to manage your business travel and the associated costs.

Some small business owners would rather give their employees money ahead of time, rather than reimburse them. A really neat way to manage how employees spend the company's money is with CSI globalVCard (free for apps; requires CSI Corporate Card, issued in this case by Regions Bank). CSI globalVCard is a virtual credit card service that lets you issue individual virtual credit card from the corporate account to specific employees. Each card has a specified amount, and can include restrictions such as types of purchases allowed and number of uses allowed.

Business Accessories for iPad

Case, Keyboard, and Stand

For more suggestions, see "Best iPad Business Apps."