Utility · updated 5 September 2026
Free mileage log template
CSV you can open in Excel, Numbers or Sheets. No email wall. This is a record-keeping aid, not a certified tax document.
US Publication 463 describes contemporaneous records that typically include the date, destination or route, business purpose and distance, plus enough annual context to show business versus total use. Read the IRS publication yourself. We have not had a tax professional certify this template as sufficient for every filer.
Fields
- date — the day you drove, ISO YYYY-MM-DD. In 2026 the US business rate changes on 1 July, so the date chooses the rate.
- start / end — places or a route you can explain later.
- business_purpose — why the trip was for work. Empty purpose is the usual weak row.
- miles — distance for that row. Do not mix kilometres in the same column without labeling it.
- classification — business or personal. Keep personal rows if you need a total-miles denominator.
- notes — optional; odometer start/end or job numbers belong here if you use them.
Worked example (synthetic)
These trips are invented. Business miles in the file: 237.0. Split: 128.9 mi in H1 × $0.725 = $93.45; 108.1 mi in H2 × $0.760 = $82.16; illustrated deduction $175.61. Personal grocery miles (8.0) are excluded from that total.
| Date | Route | Purpose | Miles | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-15 | Home office → Round Rock client | On-site estimate | 28.4 | business |
| 2026-01-15 | Round Rock client → home office | Return from estimate | 27.9 | business |
| 2026-04-18 | Home office → grocery | Personal shopping | 8.0 | personal |
| 2026-06-28 | Home office → AUS | Airport leg to client kickoff | 14.7 | business |
| 2026-07-02 | AUS → home office | Return from kickoff | 15.1 | business |
| 2026-09-09 | Home office → Georgetown inspection | Warranty inspection | 36.8 | business |
Full twelve-row file is in the example CSV. Apply the 2026 IRS rates to each half separately.
Browser-only check
Choose a CSV on this device. Nothing in the file is sent to FlatMile or to analytics.
The check looks for missing dates or purposes, invalid distances, duplicate-looking rows, kilometre-looking headers, and whether rows fall on both sides of the 2026 rate boundary. It cannot decide deductibility.
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