Mileage Report for Your Accountant: A Practical Checklist

General US federal recordkeeping information, not individual tax advice. Tax treatment depends on your circumstances; consult a qualified adviser for your claim.

This checklist is for organizing US self-employed vehicle records. Your accountant still needs to decide which expenses qualify and which calculation method applies.

Agree on the period and vehicle first

Before exporting, confirm the year or reporting period, vehicle and distance unit. If you drove two cars, keep their records separately identifiable. Include the dates a vehicle entered or left business use where relevant.

Ask whether your accountant wants a PDF, a spreadsheet or both. A PDF is convenient for reading; a CSV makes row-by-row checks easier. Neither format makes a report automatically acceptable for tax purposes.

The IRS recordkeeping guidance calls for evidence of business use, including dates, destinations, purpose and mileage, along with total vehicle mileage for the year. The exact supporting records depend on the expense. IRS Publication 463, Recordkeeping

Review the rows before the total

Use these questions as a practical review:

Does every business trip have a date and enough location detail to identify the journey?
Does the purpose explain the work, rather than just say “business”?
Are any trips duplicated, missing or recorded in the wrong vehicle?
Have you separated personal detours and commuting from the trips submitted for review?
Are miles and kilometres clearly distinguished?
Can you explain any manually reconstructed entry and preserve the evidence behind it?

Keep unresolved trips in a separate questions list. Guessing a classification just to finish the report transfers the uncertainty into the total.

Check that the summary matches the detail

Here is a fictional distance-only example. It illustrates a reconciliation, not a deduction claim.

Entry	Business miles	Personal miles
Client appointment A	14.2	0
Supplier visit B	8.6	0
Personal errand	0	5.1
Client appointment C	19.7	0
Total	42.5	5.1

The report should show 42.5 business miles for these entries. A total of 47.6 labelled “business” would include the personal journey. A total of 85.0 might suggest a duplicate import, although you would need to inspect the rows to establish the cause.

If your app shows a calculated amount, check the selected rate basis, trip dates and rounding separately. For 2026 US standard mileage calculations, consult the dated IRS rate guide and its official sources. An amount in an app is not proof that every included journey qualifies.

Send a small, understandable package

A practical folder might contain:

2026-car-a-mileage-summary.pdf for reading.
2026-car-a-trip-detail.csv for checking individual entries.
A note recording the period, distance unit, vehicle and unresolved questions.
Relevant odometer evidence and supporting documents, shared in the format your accountant requests.

If you are considering the actual-expense method, ask which cost records are needed as well; a mileage export does not contain your entire vehicle expense history. Use your accountant’s agreed secure upload method instead of a publicly accessible link. Keep your own copy of exactly what you sent.

Inspect an example before exporting yours

FlatMile’s sample mileage report includes a PDF and matching CSV generated from fictional drives. Use it to see how a summary relates to the detail. It is an example of the output format, not an approved tax document.

FlatMile provides free automatic and manual drive logging. A subscription or eligible trial unlocks captured-drive details, business/personal classification, and PDF and CSV exports. Start with the free mileage-log template if you want to organize your records before choosing an app.

How to prepare a mileage report for your accountant