Mileage Tracking in QuickBooks Online: A Step-by-Step Guide for
Approximately 5-minute read | For Canadian small-business owners
Driving to a client meeting, collecting supplies, or visiting a job site? Those trips are easy to forget when you are busy running your business. Recording them regularly gives your bookkeeper useful information and helps you keep your vehicle records organized.
QuickBooks Online can help you capture and review trips through its mobile app. This guide explains how to get started, record missing trips, and share your mileage log with your bookkeeper.
Why accurate mileage records matter
For Canadian businesses, mileage means tracking kilometres. Your records help establish how much you use a vehicle for business compared with personal driving.
For a self-employed business owner who regularly uses a vehicle for both purposes, eligible operating expenses are generally allocated using the business-use percentage. For example, 6,000 business kilometres out of 20,000 total kilometres equals 30% business use. Your accountant applies the relevant rules and limits when calculating the claim.
Keep your vehicle receipts as well as your mileage log. Fuel purchases alone do not show how much driving was for business. If you use multiple vehicles, maintain separate records and costs for each.
Step 1: Check your access and install the app
Install the QuickBooks Online mobile app from your phone’s app store. Sign in using the account connected to your business.
Intuit currently limits mileage tracking to Primary Admin and Company Admin users. If Mileage is missing, ask your bookkeeper to help check your access. For employees, agree on a suitable mileage-recording method rather than granting broad administrator access simply to track trips.
Menu names can vary as QuickBooks updates its layout.
Step 2: Add your vehicle
On a computer:
1. Open All apps → Expenses & Bills → Mileage.
2. Open the dropdown beside Add trip.
3. Select Manage vehicles → Add vehicle.
4. Enter the vehicle information and save.
If prompted during your first visit, choose Add a trip manually or Skip for now to reach the vehicle options.
Add each vehicle you use and check which one is set as primary. The primary vehicle is assigned to automatically recorded trips, so review the vehicle when switching cars.
Step 3: Enable automatic mileage tracking
On your phone:
1. Open QuickBooks.
2. Go to Menu → Expenses → Mileage.
3. Tap Auto-tracking and turn it on.
4. Allow the required phone permissions.
For iPhone, set QuickBooks location access to Always and enable Motion & Fitness permissions.
For Android, set location access to Allow all the time and allow Physical activity permissions.
Take your phone on trips and open the app before driving. Allow it to run in the background. After your first journey, check that it recorded correctly before relying on it for future trips.
Step 4: Review and categorize your trips
Once safely parked, open Mileage → Unreviewed. Swipe left for Business or right for Personal. For business trips, add the purpose, confirm the vehicle, and save.
A useful description explains why you travelled. For example:
- “Meeting with ABC Plumbing to discuss the new project.”
- “Collected materials from supplier for Smith renovation.”
- “Visited customer site to complete installation.”
Avoid descriptions such as “work” or “meeting” without further detail. A good test is whether someone reviewing the record next year could understand the trip.
Check the route and distance too. If you made a personal detour during a business outing, ensure that personal driving is excluded from the business distance.
Do not automatically classify every weekday trip as business. Ordinary home-to-work commuting is generally personal; ask your accountant about trips involving a home-based business or changing work locations.
Step 5: Add a missed trip manually
Forgot your phone or noticed a missing journey? On a computer, open Mileage → Add trip.
Enter the date, start point, end point, and distance in kilometres. Choose Business, describe the purpose, select the vehicle, and save.
Use reliable supporting information, such as your calendar, appointment details, or odometer notes. Record the return journey when applicable, and make sure the same trip has not already been captured automatically.
Correct missed trips promptly while the details are fresh. Waiting until year-end makes it harder to reconstruct an accurate record.
Step 6: Keep odometer readings and receipts
Record each vehicle’s odometer reading at the beginning and end of the year. Also record the date and reading when buying, selling, or changing vehicles.
A photo of the dashboard is a practical way to preserve the reading. Keep it with your vehicle records and send it to your bookkeeper when requested.
Continue submitting fuel, maintenance, insurance, registration, and other relevant vehicle documents through your usual bookkeeping process. Your mileage log supports the business-use calculation; it does not replace those documents.
Step 7: Download and share your mileage log
On a computer, go to Mileage, open the dropdown beside Add trip, and select Download my trips. QuickBooks downloads a CSV file.
Before sending it, check that business purposes are complete, the vehicles are correct, and all trips for the requested period have been reviewed.
Ask your bookkeeper how often they need the log. A regular monthly routine can help identify missing information early.
What if automatic tracking misses trips?
Check that auto-tracking remains enabled, location permissions are correct, and QuickBooks can operate in the background. Phone updates and battery-saving settings can affect tracking.
Use Intuit’s troubleshooting guidance if problems continue, and manually record missing trips while resolving the issue.
Make mileage tracking part of your weekly routine
Set aside a few minutes each week to review journeys, add clear descriptions, and correct gaps. You know the reason for each trip; your bookkeeper needs that information to work with your records.
Need help with mileage tracking in QuickBooks Online? We offer QuickBooks Online training for business owners and their teams, along with small business bookkeeping tailored to your needs. Contact us to get started.
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