How do I calculate mileage for expenses?

Thanks Becky. I have left feedback, and will have to write up our user guides to work around this.

Did this ever get added as a feature? We're looking at whether we can include expenses through our QBOAP and, along with trying to figure out how an employee can claim an expense (is this something they can do through the Employee Portal / WorkZone app?), is whether or not mileage can be input as a claim.

I remember this being that you had to input the value (as per the question here), which is always going to be a problem for staff to get right - was anything done about adding the right functionality in the last 4 years?

Hi Su WM, thanks for adding to this thread. QuickBooks Payroll doesn't support mileage, but employees can apply for expense reimbursements on the WorkZone app. 

First, create an appropriate Expense Category defined for this expense. This can then be entered as an earnings line on the payroll, or the employee can submit an expense claim on the app to be approved on the next pay run.

Please note, the expense claim can only be entered as an amount, meaning the employee would need to calculate their mileage. 

To allow employees to apply for expense reimbursement, go to Payroll > Payroll settings > Employee portal settings > Tick Employees can apply for expense reimbursement > Save. 
 

For full details, see our guide on Adding employee expenses to a pay run in QuickBooks Online Advanced Payroll. We'll be here if you need any further support. 

Thanks GeorgiaC.

If staff still have to calculate the value of the mileage then it's not worth us using the Expenses section direct, as it's only a matter of time before the wrong information in put in as someone enters the miles instead of the value, and it's going to be too much extra work to check it.

We will look instead at what external programmes there are which do expenses and connect to QBO. It's a shame as I asked this question 4 years ago and you still don't support doing mileage properly.

One last question - if we do connect to using the expenses feature, does this have to be processed in a pay run or can we pay staff expenses more than once a month? e.g. if someone has a large expense at the start of the month, they won't want to wait until payday at the end of the month to be reimbursed.

We value the effort you've put into making the mileage feature available, @Su WM. Allow me to address your queries.

When using the expense reimbursement feature, you don't need to process it during the pay run. You can reimburse your employees as often as you need to. Below are the outlined steps to achieve this:

1. Select + New.
2. Select Cheque or Expense.
3. Select the Payee dropdown and find the name of your employee.
4. Select the Category dropdown, then select a liability account. 
5. Enter the other necessary information.
6. Select Save and Close.

You can check this article for detailed steps to record expenses for future payments and check your employee reimbursements: Reimburse an employee in QuickBooks Online.

Moreover, you can run payroll reports to help you view your business's financial status and employee history.

The community is always around to back you up if you have other questions about managing expenses. Stay safe.