Nobody likes leaving easy money on the table, but sometimes you don’t even realize how much you’re missing. One of the biggest deductions available to any business owner is the mileage you rack up on your personal vehicle traveling back and forth between offices and to client meetings. It’s all too easy to forget to jot down a trip between two destinations – and if that happens multiple times throughout the week, month, or year, you could be missing out on hundreds or even thousands of dollars of deductible expenses.
But don’t worry – if you’ve had trouble forming the habit of keeping a logbook with pen and paper, there may be a better option available. With the ongoing flood of new devices, nearly everyone has a smartphone in their pocket or a tablet in their briefcase. So why not put that technology to work for you?
Today we’ll be taking a look at how to do just that, by reviewing three different mobile apps that can simplify your life by helping you track your business mileage.
MileIQ
Cost: $5 per month or $59.99 annually*
*Promo codes are regularly available for 20-25% off the annual plan; also, MileIQ has a friendly referral program that lets you give friends a discount and get cash back for yourself
Features
- Automatic GPS mileage tracking
- Easy-to-use drive classification
- Available manual input
- IRS-compliant reporting
- Weekly/monthly summary emails
Summary
MileIQ is the gold standard for easy-to-use, set and forget type mileage trackers. Once you’ve installed MileIQ and registered your account to create your dashboard (which is where you’ll go to get your mileage reports, classify drives in bulk, etc.), you can simply go about your business and occasionally revisit the mobile or web interface to classify your drives. Speaking of classifying drives, one of MileIQ’s best features is the simple drive classification – for every drive, MileIQ pops up with a date/time and map. To classify that drive as personal, swipe left, or swipe right for business (think Tinder for driving). You can also set time periods for automatic classification, so all drives between 9am-5pm will be classified as business.
The only downside to MileIQ is the price. The intuitive interface and nifty features come at a bit of a steep price ($59.99 annually), but if you’re sold after the free trial, you can refer your friends to the app to receive a discounted rate. And don’t forget that the subscription is tax deductible as a business expense!
TripLog
Cost: $2.50 per month or $25 annually
Features
- Automatic & semi-automatic GPS mileage tracking
- Optional manual trip input
- IRS-compliant reporting
- Weekly/monthly summary emails
- Bonus expense tracking features (with picture capability for receipt storage)
Summary
TripLog is a fairly versatile mileage tracker, which even goes so far as to include an optional expense tracker with receipt storage. This app offers a robust automatic tracking system that utilizes your phone’s GPS and customizable settings to determine when you’re driving – for example, if your vehicle has been moving at more than 5mph for greater than three minutes, TripLog will start recording and will backtrack to the point of origin so that your entire drive is tracked.
The biggest negative about TripLog is that its features can be extremely battery intensive. To get the most accurate driving records, you’ll want to use the customizable settings to increase how often the GPS refreshes, at the cost of increased battery usage. Additionally, TripLog’s user interface can be a bit clumsy and isn’t necessarily intuitive for new or tech-challenged users.
Quickbooks Self-Employed
Cost: $5 per month (for the first six months)*
*Note: After the first six months, the price of QB Self-Employed returns to the undiscounted rate of $10 per month
Features
- Automatic & semi-automatic GPS mileage tracking
- IRS-compliant reporting
- Automatically syncs with your Quickbooks Self-Employed account
Summary
Quickbooks Self-Employed is a powerful app for the new business owner that is just getting their feet wet when it comes to managing financial reports. In addition to the robust record-keeping software for tracking business income and expenses, the QB Self-Employed mobile app has GPS-powered automatic tracking. Once you classify your drives as business or personal, the app creates IRS-compliant reports of all your business mileage. Additionally, QB Self-Employed is the only automatic mileage tracker that connects directly to your Quickbooks account for easier record keeping.
The chief disadvantage to QB Self-Employed is the cost. At $10 per month (after a free 30 day trial and six months of discounted pricing), this app is by far the most expensive major mileage tracker on the market. The question becomes whether the convenience of the automatic syncing features are worth the added expense.
Expensify
Cost: Free*
Note: Premium version is available for additional features
Features
- Mileage tracking using GPS or manual entries
- Expense reporting and SmartScans
- Extensive options to streamline reimbursements for employees & contractors
Summary
Expensify is recognized by many large companies as the gold standard for expense tracking apps. In terms of mobile apps, Expensify is remarkable in its clean design, intuitive interface, and rich list of features. With dozens of big name clients (Yahoo, Uber and Snapchat to name a few), there’s no doubt that Expensify’s offerings are fairly polished compared to other startup apps. And alongside the free basic app for individual users, the premium version includes bonus features like Quickbooks integration, which may make the cost worthwhile.
The downside to Expensify is that the mileage tracker – while highly functional – is not automated. You can enter data manually or use GPS to track your miles, but you have to remember to stop and start the tracker with every trip. So if you’ve already created the habit and are just looking for an app to simplify your workflow, Expensify is a great option. But if you regularly find holes in your mileage log because you forgot to record a trip, you may want to explore an automated tracker.
Conclusion
There are plenty of mileage trackers out there that take advantage of mobile technology to make your life easier. Variations in price are unavoidable, but almost all of these apps are affordable when considering the convenience they provide. Each of these apps offers a trial version, so it may be worthwhile to explore which one will meet your needs so that you can make an informed decision. Regardless of which app you choose, the biggest thing is to make sure that you’re not missing out on valuable deductions that can save you money
