How-to
How do I track mileage between service calls for taxes?
Quick answer
Record each business trip with its date, distance and business purpose, kept as you go rather than reconstructed at year end. Daily Invoice Maker's Mileage screen logs trips and applies the IRS standard mileage rate. Whether the deduction is allowed, and what records are required, is set by the IRS — not by any app.
Mileage is often the largest deduction a service business has and the one most likely to be disallowed, because the requirement is a contemporaneous record and most people write it up in April from memory.
Step by step
Decide standard mileage or actual expenses
These are two different methods with different record-keeping. Read the IRS guidance, and if you are unsure which suits your vehicle and mileage, ask a CPA before the year starts rather than after.
Log the trip the day it happens
Open Mileage and record the trip while you remember the purpose. A log built in April from a calendar is exactly the reconstruction the rules are written to exclude.
Record the business purpose, not just the miles
Distance alone is not a record. Which customer, which job — that is what makes the entry defensible.
Keep personal trips out
Commuting between home and a regular place of work is generally not deductible. Mixing it in weakens the whole log, not just that row.
Let the app apply the rate
Mileage applies the IRS standard rate rather than making you do the arithmetic, so the total stays consistent across the year.
Export with the rest of your year-end figures
At year end the mileage total goes to your accountant with your income and expenses via Tax Prep.
What usually goes wrong
Reconstructing at year end
The most common and most costly mistake. A log written months later is the weakest possible evidence and is exactly what gets questioned.
No business purpose recorded
A row that says only "47 miles" cannot be defended. Name the job.
Assuming an app makes it deductible
Software records the trip. Whether it is deductible is tax law, and it does not change because a tool logged it neatly.
Try it on your own jobs
The free demo unlocks every feature for your first 7 invoices, 7 customers and 7 expenses — no account, no card. It runs 100% offline on Windows and Mac. $149.95 once to keep it, no subscription. The Android app is a separate Google Play purchase.
Questions
What is the IRS standard mileage rate?
It is set annually by the IRS and changes most years, so check the current figure on the IRS Standard Mileage Rates page rather than relying on any article's number.
What records does the IRS require?
Broadly: the date, the mileage, the destination and the business purpose, recorded at or near the time of the trip. See IRS Publication 463 for the authoritative detail.
Can I deduct my drive from home to my first job?
Commuting is generally not deductible, but the rules around a home office or temporary work location are genuinely nuanced. This is a question for a CPA, not for software.
Does mileage tracking work offline?
Yes. Trips log and store locally with no connection needed.