The 4 Biggest Pains of Manual Mileage Reporting

Technology is constantly updating to meet our needs. Now more than ever, mobile applications make our lives infinitely easier. Why wait for a taxi when you can simply request a personal vehicle at a reasonable fare? Why worry about paying friends back when you can immediately send payments via phone? The same goes for people driving for work. Why waste time and risk accuracy with manual mileage reporting?

As more companies and 1099 employees move to automated mileage capture, hand-written mileage logs are becoming a thing of the past. There are hesitations. Transitioning to an automated process can seem intimidating. It’s a change to a routine system, one that’s likely been in place for years if not decades. But it is ultimately the best decision for any business operating with driving employees. Let’s consider the big picture, and the reasons manual mileage reporting should be replaced with something more efficient:

1. It’s extremely time consuming

There never seem to be enough hours in the day. Now add the manual process of writing down each stop driven, the associated mileage and the business purpose.  This requires an immense amount of time for drivers who need to dedicate time in their day to writing down stops, for managers who review the daily logs and the administrators who approve the reimbursement payment. Maintaining and reporting day-to-day stops can be frustrating and tedious. Whether it takes away time for business or pleasure, it’s time that can be used for more productive activities.

2. Gaps in IRS compliance

Consider the four IRS requirements: date, mileage, purpose, and the destination. These must be logged for each stop. Driving employees only noting odometer readings end up submitting mileage logs the IRS does not consider compliant. And most of them aren’t even aware of it. The IRS has noticed frequent inaccuracies in manual logs and monitors mileage deductions for potential audits.

3. Remembering to log stops

Driving employees often report their mileage at the end of the week as opposed to each day. That can make it very easy for a stop to slip through the cracks. Do you remember what you had for breakfast five days ago? Forgotting is natural. That doesn’t mean employees should lose out on reimbursements because they’re human. Manual mileage logs place an immense amount of pressure on driving employees, and those logs cannot be considered 100% accurate. Automated logs alleviate the strain of having to remember to document each stop with a pen and paper, as well as inputting the IRS-required detail fields.

4. There are inaccuracies

As we touched on above, inaccuracies happen. From commute deductions, to correct dates, to mileage driven, to personal stops made along the way, there are many inaccuracies to consider when using manual mileage reporting. These inaccuracies can ultimately have a financial impact on a company. Most mobile workers are unaware that their first stop from their home should be considered commute mileage, which results in inaccurate mileage reporting as well as over reimbursement from the employer.

Making the most of automated mileage capture

So we’ve reviewed the biggest pains associated with manual mileage reporting. This method may have served its purpose in a world of pencils and calculators, but it can’t keep up with the driving employees of today. To avoid wasting you and your employees time, potentially failing compliance audits, and reimbursing based off inaccurate reports, use technology to your advantage. Your workforce needs an automated mileage tracking solution to help them do their jobs more efficiently. Your business needs a more accurate way of tracking their mileage, so that you’re reimbursing exactly what they deserve.

What does the best mileage capture app look like? Find out what you should be looking for in our blog “What’s the Best Mileage Tracker App for the Mobile Workforce.”

Read the Blog