Do I need to upload mileage to QuickBooks?
Sole Proprietor or Single Member LLC
If you don’t have an employee other than yourself, you probably just need to claim mileage deductions on your personal tax return. In the US, this is on Form 1040 Schedule C. In this case, you do not need to upload mileage to QuickBooks. Instead, you would only need to run TripLog reports for the year and copy a few numbers to TurboTax, or an equivalent tax software, or give the reports to your tax preparer. You will still need to keep TripLog reports as supporting documents for this record.
Small Business with Employees
If you have employees and reimburse them for business use of their personal vehicles, you will need to upload TripLog data to QuickBooks as Expenses or Bills. Or, if you charge your clients for mileage, you would need to upload as Invoices. Please see below for more details.
Connect to QuickBooks Online
Using the TripLog web dashboard, you can connect and upload data to Intuit QuickBooks Online. You would need:
A QuickBooks Online Plus account
TripLog Premium or Enterprise Plan
To connect to QuickBooks Online, please follow these instructions:
Connecting to QuickBooks Online
Navigate to the Integrations Section and Click on the Elipsis
Once opened then complete the Connect to QuickBooks Online
Choose Your Connection Type
On the TripLog web dashboard, navigate to the Integrations Link for QuickBooks Online. Choose Expenses, Bills, or Invoices. These are explained in the specific section on how to set up the Mileage and Expense categories links.
Select the way you would like to connect your Mileage and Expenses and Complete the QuickBooks Setup as listed below.
Upload trips to QuickBooks as mileage reimbursement Expenses
Log in to your TripLog web account, click “Expenses” under the QuickBooks tab on the menu bar, then filter trips by date range, activity, and/or driver.
If this is your first time, click the “Connect to QuickBooks” button and then log in to your QuickBooks account (see ‘Connect to QuickBooks Online’ above).
You will also need to set up the connection between your employees on QuickBooks and your employees on TripLog. To do so, please click “Link TripLog Users to QuickBooks Employees” near the bottom of the page to review and link existing TripLog Users to QuickBooks Employees. Once you have paired each user on TripLog with the appropriate employee on QuickBooks, please press ‘close’.
Create a “Mileage” Bank/Credit Account on QuickBooks Online if you have not created one yet.
Create a “Mileage” Expense Account on QuickBooks Online if you have not created one yet.
Create a reimbursement Expense for each mileage line item and expense Account line item shown above payable to the Employee (only if that TripLog user has been linked to a QuickBooks Employee already).
On the TripLog QuickBooks Expense page, please scroll down and press ‘Upload to QuickBooks’ > Upload. This will upload the mileage as a reimbursement expense to QuickBooks.
You can then log in to QuickBooks Online to review the expenses.
Upload expenses to Quickbooks as reimbursement Expenses
Select the QuickBooks settings under QuickBooks Online > Expenses
Select the Link Vehicle Expenses Categories or Link Business Categories to open the menu to select the TripLog categories and match them to the relevant QuickBooksOnline categories. Note that you would need to link Vehicle-Related Expenses and Business Expenses separately.
Upload trips to QuickBooks as mileage reimbursement Bills
TripLog uploads trips as mileage reimbursement bills payable to your employees through QuickBooks. Here is the process:
Log in to your TripLog web account, click “Bills” under the QuickBooks tab on the menu bar, then filter trips by date range, activity, and/or driver.
If this is your first time, click the “Connect to QuickBooks” button and then log in to your QuickBooks account (see ‘Connect to QuickBooks Online’ above).
Review the mileage, rate, and total payment amount, then click “Upload to QuickBooks”.
TripLog sets up a “Mileage Reimbursement” expense account in the Chart of Accounts, a “Mileage” item in Products and Services, and a Vendor account for each driver/employee who receives reimbursement.
TripLog then creates a Bill for each driver (as a Vendor) with line items of the mileage, rate, and total amount.
You can then log in to QuickBooks Online to review the bills and complete the payment.
Upload Expenses to QuickBooks as reimbursement Bills
Select the QuickBooks settings under Connect > Bills
Select the Link Vehicle Expenses Categories or Link Business Categories to open the menu to select the TripLog categories and match them to the relevant QuickBooksOnline categories. Note that you would need to link Vehicle-Related Expenses and Business Expenses separately.
Upload trips to QuickBooks as Customer Invoices and/or Billable Expenses
Log in to your TripLog web account, click “Invoices” under the QuickBooks tab on the menu bar, then filter trips by date range, activity, and/or driver.
If this is your first time, click the “Connect to QuickBooks” button and then log in to your QuickBooks account (see ‘Connect to QuickBooks Online’ above).
You also need to set up the accounts. Step 1, Import QuickBooks Customers to TripLog as business activities. Step 2, Review and link existing activities to QuickBooks Customers.
Review the mileage, rate, and total payment amount, then click “Create Invoices”, “Create Billable Expenses”, or “Create Both”.
TripLog then sets up a “Mileage Service Income” Account and/or a “Mileage Invoice” Product/Service item for the Account, if either is not created yet.
TripLog then creates a Mileage Invoice for each customer.
You can then log in to QuickBooks Online to review the invoices.