Whether you’re a freelancer setting up your side hustle or are a company with employees who use their personal vehicles for work, one of the questions you may have is whether using a mileage tracker app is necessary. 

Under both conditions, the advantages that an automatic mileage tracker can provide are numerous. From time and cost savings to enhanced security to ease of use, mileage tracker apps are the best way for drivers and companies to handle their mileage tracking needs.

Mileage Tracker App Benefits For Self-employed Workers

If you drive for Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, or any other gig economy service, mileage tracking is a must. The main advantage that self-employed workers can see is in tax deductions.

Related: Self-Employed Worker Mileage Deduction Guide

Your mileage can be deducted on your taxes, often saving drivers thousands of dollars every year. This requires accurate mileage tracking in order to maximize your savings.

How to Claim a Mileage Deduction

There are two main methods of claiming a mileage deduction. The first is to calculate the actual expenses that you incur related to your vehicle. 

This entails personally adding up things like your insurance costs, lease payments, fuel costs, etc. To make things simple, the IRS releases its standard mileage rate every year. 

This rate looks into all of the fixed-and-variable costs that come with owning and operating a motor vehicle. We recommend using the IRS mileage rate method. 

For example, let’s say you drove 1000 miles in a given period. Using the current IRS mileage rate of $0.655, you can deduct $655 from your taxes!

Should You Use a Mileage Tracker App?

Pulling out a notebook and pen for every single trip can be annoying, especially when you’ll often need to take the extra step to digitize your records. When using a mileage app like TripLog, all of your records are online.

Related: What To Do If You Forget To Track Your Mileage

Using a mileage tracker app streamlines every step of the mileage tracking process. For example, with TripLog, you don’t even need to open the app to start tracking! With several auto-start features, there’s simply no easier way to track your miles.

Mileage apps are also significantly more accurate than manual tracking methods. According to the Global Business Travel Association, 19% of all expense reports have errors. With an automatic mileage tracker, those errors go away.

Mileage Tracker App Benefits For Companies

Independent contractors aren’t the only ones who can see immediate benefits from using a company mileage tracker. Companies with mobile employees stand to save thousands of dollars and countless man-hours when switching to app-based methods of mileage reimbursement.

While there is no law requiring companies to reimburse their employee’s mileage (keep in mind, some states do require mileage reimbursement), there are many reasons why companies do. If you do reimburse, your drivers need to be tracking their mileage.

Related: Your Drivers May Be Overreporting Their Mileage By 28%. Here’s What You Need To Know.

Companies that make the switch from manual tracking and reimbursement methods to automatic ones see an immediate ROI, oftentimes in huge amounts. For example, one TripLog customer found they saved 3x what they spend on their TripLog contract.

Mileage Tracker App Company Benefits – Productivity

That same customer did an internal study and found that their 950+ drivers were spending eight hours per month just on manually entering their travel. That adds up to around 91,200 hours of labor lost each year.

By switching to a modern mileage tracking solution, that company got those hours back. Their employees were able to use that time doing their actual work.

Mileage tracker apps help back-end office workers, too. Payroll and HR workers can say goodbye to having to manually process stacks of receipts and mileage logs.

Related: TripLog Mileage Policy Handbook

With TripLog, everything is conveniently accessible with our online web dashboard. TripLog even integrates with many leading payroll systems like SAP Concur, ADP, and QuickBooks.

Choosing the Right Mileage Tracker App

There are many different mileage tracker apps on the market today. Some are more focused on self-employed workers and others are designed specifically for companies.

TripLog manages to be the perfect solution for both. Simply put, no other mileage tracking and reimbursement solution has the amount of features and integrations that TripLog offers. Check out our feature comparison chart on our pricing page to see for yourself!

Whether you’re a sole proprietor, an owner of an SMB, or a manager at an enterprise-scale organization, TripLog can develop a tailored solution to fit your needs. The best part? It all comes at an unbeatable price point.

To learn more, schedule a complimentary live web demo today or try our mileage reimbursement calculator. You can also download the app on iOS or Android and take advantage of our 15-day free trial.