Many businesses and teams agree that mileage tracking can be challenging. A good place to begin for those still using mileage log books might be a free employee or company mileage log template. These templates, which can help you with calculations and enable electronic record keeping, come in many forms, such as Excel, Google Sheets, or PDF format. You can find the free mileage log template below in this article.
However, even though a mileage log template may be a good starting point, there is a much more efficient and reliable approach you should consider.
Using an automated mileage log app can help you keep track of mileage with no effort and get far more accurate reports. And if you are reimbursing your team or business employees for mileage, an automated tool like Timeero will make IRS-compliant logs and identify the shortest routes to ensure you are not overpaying.
The manual way of tracking mileage comes with many problems and can be quite costly. Even though using a mileage log template allows electronic record-keeping and automates the calculations, it is still time-consuming - your employees need to keep a separate log and enter their data regularly into the spreadsheet. A more accurate and cost-efficient method is to use an automated mileage log app like Timeero.
To be effective, mileage tracking needs to be accurate. However, entire manual mileage tracking is based on self-reporting.
When self-reporting, humans are prone to errors and not always honest in their actions. It is common to see employees round up their numbers or overestimate their miles in mileage reports. Even if you switch to a spreadsheet template, all the calculations will still depend on the accuracy of the data they enter, so the opportunity for errors remains high.
Overestimating mileage here and there starts to add up over time. It can harm the bottom line as it adds up to fuel costs in the long run.
A paper or Excel mileage sheet won't help improve accuracy, nor will it help you identify errors with the mileage to lower your expenses.
Reported mileage sometimes seems to go up and down, even when your employees travel between the same start and destination points. Sometimes they report fewer miles, and other times, far more than they did before. A spreadsheet mileage or paper-based mileage log template can not provide you with the insight you need to figure out the reasons for these mileage variations.
Let's face it, we all want to completely trust employees to do the right thing, but we have to admit over-reporting or underreporting mileage is all too common. As the adage goes, "Trust but verify" - will a paper or Excel mileage template help you verify data? Unfortunately, it won't.
Every mile counts if you are paying your team members per mile. But, would you know if your employees were taking a longer and more scenic route to their appointments? Or that they were making stops off their course and still billing you for their off-route mileage?
An Excel mileage log sheet will not tell you all the details needed to verify the distance through a service like Google Maps or Bing Maps.
Employees mostly turn in their mileage reports on a weekly or biweekly basis.
This is not ideal because you do not get to verify data immediately. In other words, you are getting data at the very last minute. Even worse, once you get data, the employee May not be readily available to answer your questions.
The truth is, after two weeks, most people do not remember where they drove or exactly which route they took. After all, their job is to focus on their primary tasks, and accurately tracking their mileage is probably not on the top of their list of priorities.
As inaccurate reporting can ultimately hinder your IRS compliance and affect your bottom line, switching to a mileage log app like Timeero can prove to be beneficial in numerous ways.
Record-keeping is essential in any business, so you will have to make much room for historical records if you use paper-based mileage logs.
An Excel spreadsheet also means that you will have to create many sheets or not have a clean or easy way to access records. Even worse, many people do not keep historical records at all when using a spreadsheet.
Also, these mileage logs can quickly get lost or ruined if they are not well managed or organized. You don't want to risk important records like mileage tracked or recorded.
The manual way of tracking mileage using a mileage log template might seem easy and cheap. But, in reality, it's incredibly tedious and can turn out to be very costly - in time, errors, and energy spent to get them right. It can cost you a fortune if there is some form of a lawsuit from a dissatisfied employee.
An automated mileage tracking system like Timeero is a great option to move away from manual mileage tracking, improve reporting accuracy, and reduce costs. Timeero gives you more insight into where your employees travel and how long they spend in different areas. The kind of insights you get with Timeero include:
You can check out the list of the best mileage tracker apps available on the market and their features. However, we assure you that Timeero provides much better insight into your team's mileage and field activities than any other mileage log app out there.
With Timeero, there is no need for self-reporting and manual mileage tracking. Employees can start the Timeero app in the background and log mileage driven. The entire mileage tracking and reporting process is made much easier for everyone.
Time and mileage are crucial for labor tracking, and that is why here at Timeero, we take these tasks very seriously. Our software has robust time tracking capabilities, which means you do not need two separate apps to track both time and distance.
Timeero, a GPS-based mileage log app, has robust reporting tools, making it easier to track lunch breaks, overtime, and many more. This means you get to have very accurate labor tracking capabilities within your business and organization.
Having insight into how your employees manage time and mileage is very important. You could run a mileage report to see the different trips driven for a particular employee. In addition to mileage tracking reports, you can run timesheets and get other insightful reports for your business. These reports can be exported as PDF or Excel or CSV format so that you can use them outside of the Timeero app as well.
Our software also plays well with popular accounting and payroll software such as QuickBooks, ADP, and Gusto. You can set up mileage reimbursement for your employees through our accounting software integrations.
Even though their miles and movements will be monitored, your employees' privacy won't be invaded while using a mileage log app, such as Timeero.
The mileage tracking feature is active only while your employees are at work. Furthermore, they need to activate this function for mileage tracking once they clock in, so they will be fully aware of when the app is monitoring their movements. Once they've clocked out, their activities will not be tracked.
We've gone through the manual and automated approaches to mileage tracking. You now have access to a mileage log template, and you are ready to get your employees to make the transition.
Here are a few things to successfully get your team to record the mileage on the template sheets.
1. You can upload a mileage log template to a file hosting service such as Dropbox or Google Drive and share it with your employees. Each employee can copy the template file and fill it out.
2. You could also email a printable mileage log template to your employees to print them out or fill them out online.
3. The last option will be to print out the mileage log template and mail them to your employees. You could ship them copies in bulk to save on cost.
4. Place mileage tracking reminders stickers around your office or work site such as this (Let us know if you want any reminder stickers) :
1. Establish a regular cadence for mileage tracker form collection. The best way to do it is by setting deadlines for employees to submit their mileage entries. The last thing you want is to chase employees for mileage logs.
2. Emphasize how your employees should turn in mileage entries. Do you want them to email it in, text a photo of the mileage log template, or even fax it in? A failure to clarify how your employees submit their mileage reports can quickly turn into a logistical nightmare.
Alternatively, you can forget about a mileage log template, cancel the steps above, and just let the software do the rest for your team on the go. Currently, Timeero is a top choice mileage log app in various industries, such as retail, home health and hospice, property management, sales reps, construction, general contractors, and many others.
Keeping the process as simple and accurate as possible is the key to success in tracking miles.
Even though using a mileage log template may seem simple enough, we've discussed above how many things can go wrong. And with all the daily tasks and problems that your employees need to tackle, tracking mileage is yet another burden on their shoulders.
A simple automated mileage log app will make it easier for your employees to embrace it.
Get Timeero, starting at $4 per user per month if you want an easy and efficient way to track company and business mileage. If you are unsure if Timeero is the right fit, use our free 14 days free trial (no credit card required) and take it on a test drive.
And if you are still adamant about using a paper mileage log template, you can download the template gifted above. For more information on why accurate mileage tracking is extremely important for your business success, you can check out our Mileage Tracker Guide.
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