Keeping track of expenses can be challenging for freelancers and small business owners because one person may be wearing many hats. Using a notepad to track your mileage can lead to inaccuracies, and you might forget to make notes of some of your work-related trips.
Some mileage trackers will automatically start tracking your mileage once you start driving when you connect your phone to your vehicle’s Bluetooth. Many apps allow you to categorize your trips as personal or work-related, making it easier to calculate your mileage expenses for your taxes.
Everlance is a mileage-tracking app that can track your trips automatically. You can leave the app to detect your travels automatically, or you can add or stop a trip manually and classify whether the trip is for work or personal. You can download your mileage reports to PDF or Microsoft Excel from your phone, and the platform provides IRS-compliant downloads you can use at tax time.
If you invest in Everlance for Business, you can reimburse mileage to employees efficiently, and Everlance also has a feature to track expenses. If you’re starting your business, you may be interested in learning how to create a monthly spending tracker in Google Sheets.
Download: Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
TripLog is a mileage-tracking platform for small businesses and self-employed individuals. The platform addresses the unique needs of the following industries: ride-share/delivery, accountants, sales representatives, IT/technology, public sector & non-profits, construction, and healthcare. There are two versions of the platform: business and self-employed.
The business platform offers users a GPS-based solution to track team mileage. It also has a shared company address book, easy trip classification, and route planning features. You can create custom mileage policies, and all trips are compared to Google Maps automatically.
The self-employed version of the platform provides users with a mileage tax deduction calculator. The app, available on iOS and Android, has six different ways to track mileage automatically. You get a daily trip view at the end of each day and can plan the day with the route planning feature.
You can easily classify your trips and set frequent trip rules to categorize ordinary trips you make in advance. The fields in the platform meet the requirements of the IRS, the UK’s HMRC, and Canada’s CRA. The app also allows you to track fuel purchases. If you’re looking for tips on managing your finances, you might be interested in checking out some money-saving blogs and podcasts to learn about personal financial planning.
Download: Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
Hurdlr is an automatic expense and mileage tracker. The company has tracked over eight billion transactions and has saved users more than $300 million in taxes. The app appears user-friendly, with an average rating of 4.7 stars.
The developers of Hurdlr have designed the app to track mileage to maximize your tax deductions automatically. Professions with presets in Hurdlr include consultant, sales, e-commerce, retail, host, freelancer, insurance agent, real estate agent, and driver.
Uber and Lyft drivers can use the app running in the background while working on comparing the mileage they have driven after each job. All users of Hurdlr benefit from the reports the platform generates, which you can use at tax time. The app calculates your deductible expenses when you classify a trip as work-related.
Download: Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
MileIQ is another mileage tracker app that tracks your mileage by running in the background on your phone to track your work-related trips. You can categorize your drives with one swipe on your phone as business or personal. Reports are available on the app; however, you can access advanced reports using the web portal.
MileIQ is the best solution for small businesses with teams. You can onboard team members easily with just a few clicks, and if you run into any trouble, you can contact their support team. The platform can handle multiple vehicles, you can set up the app to automatically classify frequent trips, and you can name locations you visit frequently.
When working with teams, you can add and remove drivers when necessary, create consolidated reports, create multiple admins, and create custom reimbursement rates. You can manage all of these features via MileIQ’s reporting dashboard.
You receive weekly, and monthly mileage reports from the app automatically. You don’t have to worry if your data is secure on MileIQ since they boast bank-grade security to protect your information.
Download: Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
SherpaShare is a technology company that creates tools to empower independent workers and claims to be the ultimate ride-share driver assistant. The platform provides tools and features to manage your finances and reduce taxes. SherpaShare offers affordable health insurance, exclusive discounts, and access to real-time AI to help its users maximize their income and tax savings.
The platform offers smart driver tools, which include a feature where you chart your hourly revenue and profit, point out revenue-maximizing intersections, and locate underserved areas. In addition to these tools, the platform helps you track your mileage and expenses.
SherpaShare automatically starts tracking your mileage once you start driving. The app will allow you to end a trip manually; however, you cannot start it that way. If, for some reason, your trip didn’t track automatically, you can submit the details in the app, and the app will calculate your mileage expense.
Download: Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
Stride helps you track expenses and collect the information you’ll need at tax time. You can automatically set the app to track your mileage when driving for work. The reports you have access to are IRS-compliant, so you can submit them to your accountant without worry.
Stride created its mileage and expense tracker because of the community they serve with tier other product offerings. The company provides health, dental, vision, and life insurance benefits to the world’s largest communities of freelancers, independent contractors, and employers of part-time employees. They knew their client base could benefit from an app that tracks their mileage and expenses.
Over 1.8 million people use Stride to get benefits, and Stride users have saved more than $1 billion. Stride claims that the average amount saved by a Stride user each year is $6,000. If you’re a freelancer struggling with establishing your fees, you may want to read some tips to set your freelance rates the right way.
Download: Android | iOS (Free)
Shoebox is an app for self-employed individuals and small business owners to scan and organize their receipts and create expense reports. The app uses your phone’s GPS to track your mileage accurately. The platform integrates with Xero, QuickBooks, Evernote, FreshBooks, and others to make your bookkeeping easier.
The app allows you to drop pins in your trip when you make stops along the way, so you can allocate your mileage correctly when making stops to different clients. Shoebox calculates your mileage reimbursement using standard rates in its receipts section. If you’re a freelancer and your money is tight, you might be interested in learning easy-to-use online tools for freelancers on a budget.
Download: Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
Organize Your Finances
Using an app to track your mileage and scan receipts is an excellent first step to better organizing your business finances. Instead of waiting until tax time, you could look at your finances weekly or monthly to get a clearer picture of where you are financially and make changes when needed.
The best way to get clear on your business finances is to use accounting software of some kind. You don’t need to be an expert, and most platforms have technical support and accounting support if you need it. You should consider investing if you aren’t already using accounting software in your business.
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