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Mileage Tracking

  • 1.  Mileage Tracking

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-14-2015 14:48
    This message has been cross posted to the following Discussions: Software And Service and Pianotech .
    -------------------------------------------
    MileIQ is one of my favorite new tools to track Business vs. Personal mileage. I just thought I would share a new "tool" I found. They have one for iPhone too.

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobiledatalabs.mileiq

    Here is their propaganda from the app store...

    "MileIQ is the best app to automatically track qualifying business miles and put money back in your pocket. You can download it for free on iTunes and Google Play.

    MileIQ automatically logs your drives, syncs them securely to the cloud and helps you create reports. It does all the logging, calculating and record keeping so you can focus on what's important. It's easy to use and you'll never miss another mile"

    -------------------------------------------
    Timothy Barnes, RPT

    Owner at Barnes Piano, LLC
    Owner of PianoStringCovers.con
    Co-Founder of the GazelleNetwork.com

    www.BarnesPiano.com
    (704) 960-4129
    -------------------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-14-2015 15:19
    Tim,
    I have downloaded the iOS version to my iPhone. Looks good. FYI to others, there's a monthly fee of $5.99 if you need to track more than 40 "drives" per month. I haven't tested it yet, so will wait to subscribe ($4.99 per month if you pay as an annual lump sum).

    -------------------------------------------
    Patrick Draine
    Billerica MA
    978-663-9690
    -------------------------------------------




  • 3.  RE:Mileage Tracking

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-14-2015 16:07

    I have it on my iPhone but have not purchased it yet. I'm impressed so I am going to get it.
    Very accurate. Very automated.

    -------------------------------------------
    David Estey, RPT
    www.EsteyPiano.com
    Piano Tuners Sales Tips for the week. FREE! Sign up here:
    http://coolstuffformusicians.com/fine-tuning-your-salesmanship
    Creating Harmony in a World filled with Discord.
    1-800-ON A PIANO (662-7426)
    dave@esteypiano.com
    -------------------------------------------





  • 4.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-14-2015 16:24
    I don't really see why one needs an app for this -- I keep a little notebook in the car, and write down the date, a one-word description such as the customer name or the errand, a one or two letter description of the town with a circle around it, and the final miles off the odometer. If I went out of my way during a business trip for a non-business purpose, I put a minus sign and the estimated non-business miles next to the odometer reading.

    At the end of the year, I plug it all into a spreadsheet I built. It auto-totals the trip miles, and on the right hand side of the line I can type in the non-business miles, which are deducted from the total trip miles. Up in the right margin at the top I have an auto-total for all miles and another for all business miles, which automatically gives me a percentage. And I have a place to plug in the IRS business mile allowance for that tax year. The spread sheet even rounds the deduction to the nearest dollar. I follow a practice I've used elsewhere when building a form. If a field contains a formula I shade it. I'm less likely to mess up the form by trying to type data on top of a formula.

    In case the IRS ever took an interest (a very unlikely eventuality) I have the notebook and the computer file to show them. When everything has been entered, I just print out the file and put it with the rest of the data for my accountant.

    I found that once I recorded all the business miles with data entered after each trip that I had been cheating myself when I was just guessing the business percentage. It has sometimes been up in the 90's. I would not have dared to enter that in my taxes without real data to back it up.

    -------------------------------------------
    Susan Kline
    Philomath, Oregon

    -------------------------------------------




  • 5.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Posted 04-15-2015 13:22
    I used to do the same thing, but electronically by putting mileage into a Note on the iPhone. Then transferring that to a spreadsheet on the home computer.

    This year, I've gone to the Numbers app for iPhone and put in the mileage at the day's end. The spreadsheet is in "the Cloud" <sinister music playing here for Joe Garrett and Ron Nossaman--ha!> and I can modify it on the home computer. All changes synchronize. This should make calculation at tax time a non-event, since the mileage is already added up daily. My formula is in a field way down at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

    I'm guessing the MileIQ app works great, but I don't need another app running in the background. So I'll use Numbers. It's easy and 15 seconds per entry is quick enough.


    -------------------------------------------
    John Formsma, RPT
    New Albany MS
    -------------------------------------------




  • 6.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-15-2015 11:57
    Hmm, I do this by hand.  I use the Adams Vehicle Mileage booklet, entering each day where I'm going, and the starting and ending mileages.  When I've gone several places, mixing business and personal, I can use my GPS to see the mileages to where I've gone, and record the business mileage, and what's left is personal.  At the end of the year I total up the business vs personal miles, and I'm done.



    -------------------------------------------
    Virginia Bear
    Seattle WA
    425-765-3514
    -------------------------------------------




  • 7.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Posted 04-15-2015 13:59
    All,

    After reading the responses thus far, it seems to me that the issue is not what you use to keep track of business miles as the best way, but understanding the differences of which is business, and which is personal.

    Surely everyone knows what mileage constitutes business, and what does not.

    And if, for some reason, that is not the case, it's would be wise to learn, and forget about the methods of how to keep track, just know which is which.

    Keith McGavern, RPT
    Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA
    http://www.cokptg.org
    -------------------------------------------


  • 8.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-16-2015 01:32
      |   view attached
    Attached is an empty but ready to use Excel spreadsheet for keeping track of business mileage. The formulas are already in place. This is the spreadsheet I use. Here are the instructions:

    Excel spreadsheet to log and calculate business and personal miles.

    NOTE: Log ONLY business miles. By default, personal miles will be all miles not included on this spreadsheet. 

    Initialization Steps
    Line 3, Col B "date" : Put in January 1, 2015, or whatever year you want.
    Line 3, Col C "start": Put in the complete odometer reading as of January 1
    Line 3, Col D "end" : leave empty
    Line 3, Col's E "totals", F "business", G "personal" : Ignore for now

    How to use
    Col A - Purpose : Brief description of trip. eg: Jones - tune
    Col B - Date : Enter the month and day of your trip. eg 4/27 (April 27)
    Col C - Start : Enter odometer reading at beginning of business trip
    Col D - End : Enter odometer reading at end of business trip.
    Col E : Will automatically show total business miles for that trip
    Col F : (at top) will automatically show running total for all business miles entered.

    At end of year, Dec 31, enter complete odometer reading in Row 3, Col D. 
    Row 3, Col G will update to show total personal miles for year.

    This sheet will automatically separate business from personal miles as well as document the date and purpose of the trip. Your tax person will love it. Mine does.

    When I leave in the morning I just jot down the last three digits of the odometer. When I'm done with business travel, I jot down the last three digits of the odometer. When I get home I enter those numbers, plus the purpose of the trip, into the spreadsheet. Voila. All the documentation you could ever possibly need. 

    Enjoy --



    -------------------------------------------
    Geoff Sykes, RPT
    Los Angeles CA
    -------------------------------------------


    Attachment(s)

    xlsx
    Mileage.xlsx   12 KB 1 version


  • 9.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-16-2015 13:04
      |   view attached
    And this is mine, empty except for a beginning mileage. Replace it with yours, play with the form a little to see how it works, and you're ready to enter miles from whatever notebook or digital device you use in the car. I've included some hints in the description the attachment software prompted me to write.

    A little more elaboration: if you want to keep track of out of town multi-day trips to claim a meal allowance, you can type an asterisk before the date, and it will stand out in the list. Dates are formatted for month/day. I like to put the first day of the month in bold. To enter data quickly, enter the day, double tab, enter the end miles, double tab, enter the customer name or the errand (i.e. "P.O."), tab, enter a one or two letter location ("su" = Summit, "mcm" = McMinnville, etc.), double tab, then enter any personal miles (how far you went out of your way to do shopping, etc.) For a non-business trip, enter the whole trip miles from the "business miles" shaded column, which will self-total to zero as soon as you leave the "personal" field..

    To get back for the next line, after entering "personal" (if any), press the down arrow and then "home" and you'll be ready for the next line. One can get quite quick at making entries, especially if the car notebook is set up in the same order as the form.

    Until you finish the year, the self-totals in the upper right won't make sense. At the end of the year when you've entered your last trip, where the form offers a new "start mileage" figure on a new line, delete it, and the totals will appear correctly in the upper right. Insert the current year's IRS per mile allowance, and the form will give you an amount for your deduction, along with total miles, business miles, and the percentage of business miles.

    I keep an empty version of the form, which I "save as" using the new year's date in the filename. Type in the year (in blue, could be black) and your beginning odometer reading, and you're ready to go. To empty a filled form, delete only the unshaded fields. The shaded fields are formulas, which must not be disturbed.

    To print out your data, use the print preview to determine how many pages you have filled, and then print only that number of pages. The self-total formula in the upper right has been set arbitrarily to 371 lines. I've never used anywhere near that number, but if you make lots of trips, click on the shaded "business miles" and "total miles" fields and put in a larger second number. i.e.=SUM(G3:G371) could be turned to =SUM(G3:G450)

    I don't know how this compares with "apps" and so forth, but this form has served me well through the years -- and for some Luddite reason, I like keeping my data OUT OF the "CLOUD".

    -------------------------------------------
    Susan Kline
    Philomath, Oregon

    -------------------------------------------


    Attachment(s)

    xlr
    empty miles.xlr   81 KB 1 version


  • 10.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Posted 04-16-2015 14:01
    I truly appreciate the efforts and the forms that everyone has posted and taken the time to explain. It's important to keep track of this information for tax time and other needs.

    However, taking the time to collect, sit down and enter all this information, takes time. If you add it up, I bet you'll spend about 15 mins a week keeping track of your mileage in a spreadsheet or paper log. That's only 3 mins a day. Not much. Except when you figure that on an annual basis it comes to 12.5 hours a year. (50 weeks, you have to have some vacation!) That's just the record keeping part.

    For me the appeal in the MileIQ app is that it takes about 30 seconds each day to figure your business miles. All the tracking and reporting is automatically done. You simply swipe left or right for business or personal. Done. That adds up to about 2 hours a year of record keeping.

    So at an arbitrary rate of $80 an hour, I would spend about $1,000 worth of my time keeping a paper or spreadsheet record. It would cost me $160 plus the $60 annual fee for a total of $220 a year for the app.

    So I gain 10 hours of free time or opportunity time, and I save almost $800. Or I'm free to generate $800 worth of work during what would've been lost time doing record keeping.

    This is the real value of having an app like this. Efficiency and productivity. If you're not that busy then I suppose it doesn't matter.

    As for the cloud, I'm all in favor of having access to my info anywhere I want. We're talking numbers here. If someone wants to steal my driving log and use it for their own taxes or some other inconceivable nefarious thing, then let them have it. :-)

    Rob McCall
    Oceanside CA

    Sent from my iPhone




  • 11.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Posted 04-16-2015 14:07
    > I don't know how this compares with "apps" and so forth, but this
    > form has served me well through the years -- and for some Luddite
    > reason, I like keeping my data OUT OF the "CLOUD".

    There's nothing Luddite about choosing to not leave your groceries on
    the picnic table overnight in bear country, even though the suppliers of
    picnic tables assure you it's perfectly safe, and these are the newest
    and shiniest picnic tables available anywhere. Simply everyone who is
    anyone has one. Huge capacity hard drives have never been cheaper, and
    an external that's only plugged in for backups, restores, or archival
    retrieval is a fair backup and storage option, and you know where it's
    been.
    Ron N




  • 12.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-16-2015 14:48
    I totally agree, Ron. It's why I keep a "business computer" which has no web access. If it has nothing which can "phone home" and no way to hang out at the local internet bar, it's less likely to end up with a social disease.

    -------------------------------------------
    Susan Kline
    Philomath, Oregon

    -------------------------------------------




  • 13.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Posted 04-16-2015 20:57
    Do you keep your money at a bank?  Do you shop outside the home and pay with a debit or credit card? Do you have utilities hooked up at your home? 

    Then your most prized information is already in the cloud. All of it. If you truly want to be out of the cloud, only pay by cash and keep it all in a locked safe or stuffed in your mattress.  Otherwise, your information is already out there.

    My car mileage is the least of my worries when it comes to having stuff on the cloud. And most banks and internet companies have a "picnic bench" that resembles a bear proof locker.  For 99.999% of the bears, they can't get in.  But every now and then, an extra smart one figures it out and gets some of the food until the picnic bench people figure out how he did it and cut off his access again.

    Much more personal information about you than you're probably comfortable with is already out there in the cloud. Just because you don't know about it doesn't mean it's not there. I've had stuff in the cloud for years and I've never had a problem.  But I have had access to what I need, where I need it, and when I need it, from anywhere in the world.

    Take necessary precautions and be cautious and alert for phishing expeditions. But it's a lot safer than you think.

    Regards,

    Rob McCall

    McCall Piano Service, LLC
    www.mccallpiano.com
    Oceanside, CA
    951-698-1875







  • 14.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Posted 04-16-2015 21:40
    > Much more personal information about you than you're probably
    > comfortable with is already out there in the cloud. Just because you
    > don't know about it doesn't mean it's not there.

    Yea, I know. Rob, What's your social security number? We can't get paid
    by any organization we do work for, or receive any medical treatment
    without giving it to them, so it's okay, right? Lots of people already
    have it, so there can't possibly be a problem. As long as it's a purely
    binary thing, all or nothing as so many are so fond of arguing, you
    should have no problem at all with publishing this with your Visa,
    Master Card, or whatever number. You give these out regularly to a
    number of people, so the plus of the binary condition is already met.
    You're over center. Just as well fill it out a bit to meet the all or
    nothing argument. Or would you like to make a call?

    At any given instant, we all are at the mercy of the random whim of any
    sociopathic bureaucrat out there (sorry, redundant), so there's probably
    no real point in passwords, or any attempt we may make to try to defend
    ourselves enough to remain alive and functional. We can continue to try,
    or hand it over and pack it in. It's a binary thing, you know?
    Ron N




  • 15.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-17-2015 16:07
    I would say that it's a lot less safe than anyone thinks.

    Make a mental experiment. Imagine a sudden catastrophic failure of every cyber device, like from a big solar flare such as we recently missed by only a week. The grid and servers and satellites are fried, as are many Wifi sources for mobile devices, and the cell phone towers. It will take months to get even a minimal communications system back up. The task is made much worse by the difficulty of coordinating the manufacturing and delivery of materials. Forget flying, with no air traffic control and no "just in time" supplies of parts.

    Can you eat? Can you heat your house or fill the gas tank of a vehicle? Do you have any money other than bits of data in a fried server? Can you even find out what has happened? Where is your data? Do you even own a physical date book?

    Some people call this "doomer porn", but I think it is much safer to have some fall back primitive technology in place. A wood stove. Local food sources. A cargo bicycle, if only my knees were better. A really good water filter. Some stored staple foods. And records and data on paper. And hope we never need to depend on them.

    The world has moved on from analog everything in the last 40 years, dismantling the old financial, supply, and communications systems as it went, and we've barely considered the risks of that. It's ironic, considering that our profession is the service and repair of analog devices.

    I really ought to get around to generating a report from my main customer file, with at least the names, addresses, phone numbers, and the date of the last visit. Printed. On paper.
    -------------------------------------------
    Susan Kline
    Philomath, Oregon

    -------------------------------------------




  • 16.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Posted 04-17-2015 16:33
    That's interesting. It's easy to get caught up in the "possibility" instead of the much more plausible "probability" of events.

    If the world is really sent back to the dark ages by this hypothetical situation, I really doubt that any of my clients are going to want their piano tuned right then. They'll wait. I'll wait.

    Anything is possible. Very few things are probable. I choose to live in a world of probability.

    "Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world."
    -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

    Rob McCall 

    Sent from my iPhone





  • 17.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-17-2015 17:48
    People buy insurance for things like house fires which never happen to them.

    We grew up in a world of paper. Books, file cabinets full of paper. Photographs in silver on paper. Our music was recorded on vinyl.

    We may know theoretically that the entire net can crash, and all the data on it will disappear in a microsecond, Cloud and all, but it is not a real possibility in our minds.

    If one wants something to worry about, look anywhere. Or, it might be more pleasing to just allow yourself to be distracted by all the brightly wrapped toys (just ignore the conditions under which they were made), and assume that a world stressed to breaking point in every respect will never break.

    I think that a lot can be gained in resilience and peace of mind by going simple. Not that I'm all that good at it.

    -------------------------------------------
    Susan Kline
    Philomath, Oregon

    -------------------------------------------




  • 18.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Posted 04-17-2015 20:41
    It doesn't take the collapse of civilization and a zombie apocalypse.
    One lone creep with the right skills and access can do a lot of damage,
    and that can happen in a whole lot of different ways we can't possibly
    guard against or even anticipate. I happen to prefer to at least try to
    minimize the opportunities to whatever degree I can without going
    totally nuts about it either way. My father used to say a lock just
    keeps an honest man honest. That's absolutely right, but I can at least
    bother to lock up on the way out as he did.

    That's all.
    Ron N




  • 19.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Posted 04-16-2015 14:14
    All,

    Going further, and simply put.

    If I have a call that takes x amount of miles to go from point A to point B, then that amount is equal to 2x to get back to point B. If I deviate from returning to Point B to take care of personal activity, then that personal activity does not qualify for business miles.

    What could be more understood?

    Restated in another way:
    If I entertain another piano business call on the way back from the previous appointment that deviates from returning to Point B, that does constitute business miles.

    If I entertain going to personal shopping somewhere else on the way back from the previous appointment that deviates from returning to Point B, that does not constitute business miles.

    Keith McGavern, RPT
    Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA
    http://www.cokptg.org



  • 20.  RE:Mileage Tracking

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-16-2015 21:40
    Keith, since when does the IRS dictate your route? Can I not take a longer route because I consider it safer, more relaxing? If I stop for coffee, isn't that considered a coffee break?

    We need a real EA to answer these questions.

    -------------------------------------------
    Larry Messerly, RPT
    Bringing Harmony to Homes
    www.prescottpiano.com
    larry@prescottpiano.com
    928-445-3888
    -------------------------------------------





  • 21.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Posted 04-16-2015 22:10
    Hi Larry,

    I don't recall mentioning IRS dictating anything.

    I did specify, however, personal activity does not constitute business mileage.

    Taking a safer route, in my opinion of course, is a business decision. Taking a more relaxing route ... hmmm, that's on you, not me, to determine as business or personal.

    Stopping for coffee, on the way to the job, or returning from the job, is a no brainer. Unless your favorite coffee hang out is nowhere near the activity of conducted business. Once again, on you, not me.

    EA?

    Keith McGavern, RPT
    Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA
    http://www.cokptg.org



  • 22.  RE:Mileage Tracking

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-16-2015 22:51
    EA= enrolled agent, like a cpa but a higher level, able to represent you with the IRS.

    My business travel now includes flights between La Crosse, WI and Phoenix, AZ every month. Live in Wisconsin and work on Arizona!

    -------------------------------------------
    Larry Messerly, RPT
    Bringing Harmony to Homes
    www.prescottpiano.com
    larry@prescottpiano.com
    928-445-3888
    -------------------------------------------





  • 23.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-17-2015 21:28
    Hi,

    I'm trying out the app, which is good so far.  I have one question:  do our records not need to include odometer readings (not tracked by the app)?

    Thanks,
    Ben

    -------------------------------------------
    Benjamin Rocke
    Manchester CT
    860-533-0311
    -------------------------------------------




  • 24.  RE: Mileage Tracking

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-21-2015 12:27
    Ben (et al), Since the app can only generate reports based off your gps location you do not need starting/ending odometer readings to satisfy the IRS requirements. To all the other great points about data security and access in the event of a digital catastrophe. ... Use wisdom and keep hard copies of your data in a safe place. A print out once a year (or every few months) should be sufficient to keep you from needing to "rebuild from scratch" after the dust settles. I have a friend in the Special Forces and was asking him recently about his plans for food, water, shelter, transportation and protection for his family in the event of a large scale terrorist attack or natural disaster such as a solar flair knocking out the entire power grid. He talked about things in terms of 72 hr plans, two week - one month plans, and "long term plans". ... most of the things discussed on this thread as reasons to avoid using apps and "the cloud" would become more relevant in the event of a "long term disaster". I would hope that we all could survive a 3 day (or at worst a 2-4 week) business disruption due to economic hardship or civil unrest. However, in the event of a long term large scale disaster that lasts more than 4 weeks the power of social disruptuon and civil unrest that would follow would be so great that it would probably displace you and the vast majority of your clients from their homes. In which case even a printed client list in a fire proof safe would become worthless within short order. By all means make reasonable attempts to keep good records, use the cloud to your advantage when you find an app that is beneficial, print periodic hard copies "just in case" and don't loose sleep at night over the long term disaster that could destroy your livelihood and life. In the words of my friend when I asked him what his plans were for 4+ week disaster he said "Pray because you can only plan for so much uncertainty if you don't already have a self sustaining compound in the hills of Idaho that is already completely off the grid" ------------------------------------------- Timothy Barnes, RPT Owner at Barnes Piano, LLC Owner of PianoStringCovers.com Co-Founder of the GazelleNetwork.com www.BarnesPiano.com (704) 960-4129 -------------------------------------------