Accurate business mileage tracking is necessary for any company that utilizes personal vehicles. In addition, the IRS requires that all business trips be documented for tax purposes.
Historically, manual mileage logs have been the primary way companies track their mobile workers’ mileage. However, this process is often time-consuming and inaccurate.
Compliance
Accurate business mileage tracking is essential for several reasons, including IRS compliance and minimizing audit risk. However, this can be time-consuming and tedious, especially using manual methods like spreadsheets or log books.
The IRS requires that business mileage be logged within a reasonable amount of time after the trip has occurred. If a business does not record its miles promptly, it could face serious tax consequences.
One solution is to find an app to track your mileage, it removes the risks associated with human error and intentional fraud. When employees round up their trips, it’s easy to overspend on fuel and get into trouble with internal travel and expense rules.
This makes it easy to comply with the IRS’s mileage report requirement and ensures drivers do not overpay for fuel costs.
An app can help eliminate this issue and simplify the mileage reporting process for employees and administrators. Digital systems push the data from employee smartphones into the cloud or web-based mileage tracking and accounting software, eliminating a significant burden on both sides. This improves accuracy, decreases the risk of overpaying for fuel, and allows companies to see their travel and expense spending in one place, giving them more insights into employee reimbursement rates, expenses, and other critical business data.
Accuracy
Accuracy is the key to a successful business mileage tracking program. With it, your organization can avoid compliance with IRS regulations and avoid facing a costly audit.
When an employee is required to record their miles manually, there is a high likelihood that they will underestimate or overestimate their mileage. Even if these errors are minor, they can add up over time.
To avoid this, employers should develop a company policy on the exact method of mileage tracking and ensure that all employees understand it. This will reduce the risk of fraud and allow your business to make more money.
In addition, a company policy can help you prevent employees from using the same app to record mileage for different trips. This will contain your mileage data that needs to be updated and accurate.
Another way to increase accuracy is by using a GPS-based mileage tracking app. A GPS-based tracker will ensure that all your miles are recorded accurately and in line with IRS guidelines.
Another benefit of using a GPS-based mileage tracker is that it can automatically classify the miles you drive during work hours as business trips. This can significantly reduce the number of reclassifications you must worry about and save you time at tax time.
Time Saving
Accurate mileage tracking is essential to business expense deductions. With it, your company could pay less or even penalize you for missing out on potential tax breaks.
There are various ways to track mileage, from odometers and spreadsheets to paper logbooks. If you’re looking for an efficient, easy-to-use way to record and track your business miles, an app is a great choice.
With the best mileage tracker, it’s easier than ever to capture business trips accurately and submit them on time. This means less time spent on administrative work for employees, reducing overtime costs.
The right mileage tracker also helps you avoid overestimating your business miles, which can be costly to your company in the long run. It can also help you reduce the risk of a fraudulent claim.
It should be able to automatically classify trips as personal or business and set working hours so that mobile workers only capture journeys when they’re doing work.
While this is a relatively low-priority feature, it can save you and your drivers time by eliminating the need to enter mileage on every trip manually.
The most accurate and efficient mileage trackers use GPS and smartphone technology to track your location and calculate mileage automatically. They also streamline data entry, invoicing, reporting, and accounting, ensuring that your business mileage is accurately recorded and you can claim the correct deductions at tax time.
Security
A GPS app might not seem like the most secure option for tracking business travel, but several measures can be taken to ensure your mobile team’s security and travel data. Some of these include geofencing, clock-in and out reminders, and geocoding, which enables you to send alerts when a vehicle enters and exits a specific location.
A business mileage tracker can be a game-changer for any mobile workforce that relies on driving for commuting, meetings, or client appointments. It can help prevent fraud by ensuring that mileage and other expense data is submitted most accurately.
The best mileage tracker is also the most user-friendly, enabling employees to input travel data and submit it in a way that makes sense for them. It can even be set up to notify managers when an employee arrives late or departs early, saving them time and money in the long run.
