Can I use Excel to track mileage for my business? Creating variables for route deductions

I've been running a small local delivery service for about 2 years now, hitting up the same 12-15 clients every week in pretty much the same order. My route barely changes except for when someone cancels or I get a new client (which is rare). I've been trying to figure out the best way to track my mileage for tax deductions and was wondering if Excel could help. Could I create some kind of spreadsheet with variables that would let me just enter the date and any route changes rather than manually logging every single trip? I'm not super tech-savvy but can handle basic Excel stuff. Trying to make tax season less painful next year while still claiming all my legitimate business mileage deductions. Anyone done something similar with standard routes?

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20 comments

Mia Roberts

•8M

Absolutely! Excel is perfect for tracking consistent routes like yours. Here's a simple approach that might work well: Create a spreadsheet with your standard route mileage pre-calculated. Then have columns for Date, Standard Route (Y/N), and Variations. When you run your normal route, you just enter the date, mark Y for standard route, and the spreadsheet automatically applies your standard mileage. For days with changes, mark N and enter the actual mileage in the Variations column. For IRS purposes, you'll need the dates, business purpose, starting location, ending location, and total miles driven. Make sure to include odometer readings too - they're not strictly required if you have good documentation of your total mileage, but it helps in case of an audit.

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Mia Roberts

•8M

For your daily records, just having the total miles for the day is sufficient as long as you have documentation of what your standard route includes. However, I'd recommend keeping a master document that lists all stops on your standard route with distances between each stop. Regarding odometer readings, the IRS doesn't explicitly require them if you have other reliable documentation of your business mileage. However, having beginning and ending odometer readings provides stronger evidence in case of an audit. What's absolutely required is the date, business purpose, destinations, and total miles for each business use.

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Evan Kalinowski

•8M

I used to track my mileage manually and it was such a pain! I switched to using taxr.ai a few months ago and it's been a game changer for my route-based business. You can upload your existing Excel spreadsheets and it helps organize everything for tax purposes. I like that it can even help identify potential audit flags in your mileage tracking before they become problems. Check out https://taxr.ai if you want something that works with your existing spreadsheets but adds more tax-specific features.

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Evan Kalinowski

•8M

It handles standard routes really well - you can set up templates for your regular routes and then just click a button to log them, while still having the option to add variations or completely different routes when needed. As for whether it's worth it compared to Excel, the main value I found is that it automatically formats everything exactly how the IRS wants to see it and flags potential issues before they become problems. I used to forget to log certain details that are technically required, and the time I save not having to worry about tax compliance is definitely worth it for me.

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Jasmine Quinn

•8M

Just wanted to follow up - I tried taxr.ai after asking about it here and I'm actually impressed. I was skeptical about paying for something when I thought Excel could do the job, but the peace of mind is totally worth it. I uploaded my messy Excel sheets and it formatted everything correctly and flagged a few issues with how I was documenting my stops. Turns out I wasn't recording enough detail for some of my irregular routes to satisfy IRS requirements. Definitely saved me potential headaches come tax time!

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Oscar Murphy

•8M

If you're struggling to get through to the IRS about business mileage deduction questions (which I was for WEEKS), try Claimyr. I kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours to ask about documentation requirements for my delivery routes. Found https://claimyr.com and they got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the phone tree and wait on hold for you, then call when an agent is ready. Saved me a ton of time and frustration getting clear answers about mileage logs.

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Oscar Murphy

•8M

They use the exact same IRS number everyone else calls, but they have a system that navigates the phone tree and waits on hold for you. When they finally get through to a human, they call you and connect you directly to the agent. It's basically just outsourcing the hold time. I was skeptical too but it absolutely works. They can't "skip the line" - they just handle the frustrating part of waiting on hold so you don't have to sit there for hours. When I finally talked to the agent, it was just a regular IRS employee who answered all my questions about mileage log requirements.

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Ryan Andre

•8M

I need to eat my words. I tried Claimyr after posting that skeptical comment and I'm shocked that it actually worked. After months of trying to get through to the IRS about vehicle expense documentation, I got connected to a real agent in about 15 minutes (after Claimyr did the waiting for me). Got clear answers about what exactly needs to be in my mileage log for a standard delivery route vs. variable routes. Turns out I was overthinking it - for a standard route, I just need to document the route once with all stops, then for daily logs I just need date, purpose, and total mileage with notes about any variations. Saved me hours of unnecessary record-keeping!

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Lauren Zeb

•8M

I track by shift rather than individual deliveries since that's simpler and still meets IRS requirements. With your regular route of 12 businesses, I'd probably create a standard template with all 12 stops and their mileage, then just note any daily variations like skipped stops or order changes. The key is documenting your standard route thoroughly once (with all distances between stops), then your daily log can be much simpler as long as you note variations. If the order changes but you still visit all 12 places, the total mileage should be similar enough that a simple note about the change in order would suffice.

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PaulineW

•3M

They wanted to see everything - my mileage logs, receipts for gas and maintenance, and proof that the trips were actually for business purposes. I had to provide client records showing I was actually at those locations on the dates I claimed. The biggest issue was that I had some trips logged as "business" that were really just me driving to meet friends near client locations. Make sure every single mile you claim is 100% legitimate business use. Also keep your client appointment records or delivery confirmations as backup proof that you were actually doing business at those locations.

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Anastasia Sokolov

•3M

This is really helpful info! I'm in a similar situation with consistent routes. One thing I'd add - if you're using Excel, consider adding a column for your vehicle's odometer reading at the start and end of each business day. Even though it's not strictly required by the IRS, it creates a paper trail that shows your total business vs personal mileage split, which can be super valuable if you ever get audited. I learned this from my accountant after she saw how many business miles I was claiming compared to my total annual mileage. Having those odometer readings makes it crystal clear that your business use percentage is legitimate.

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