Creating Expenses, Miles, Items for invoicing

Good day, MeghanAtWork.

I'll be happy to provide details and steps where to record the information.

To manually track the mileage for your business vehicles, you can follow these steps:

1. Go to Company > Enter Vehicle Mileage.
2. Click the Mileage Rates menu and enter the IRS rate with the Effective date. Then hit Close. QuickBooks calculates the appropriate mileage expense based on the dates and rates you enter in the Mileage Rates window. Just keep your mileage rates up-to-date so you can always take advantage of the latest IRS deduction rates for your business vehicles. 
3. In the Enter Vehicle Mileage window, click Vehicle List and select the Vehicle drop-down menu then choose New.
4. Enter the vehicle name and description then select OK. 
5. Go back to the Enter Vehicle Mileage window, and select the vehicle you've added from the Vehicle drop-down list.
6. Enter the Trip Start Date and Trip End Date.
7. Add the Odometer Start and End readings. QuickBooks will calculate the total mileage for you, based on these numbers.
8. If you want to bill a customer for the mileage, select their name from the Customer Job drop-down menu and make sure to check the Billable box. 
9. Add the Item and Class then save your mileage record by clicking the Save & Close button. 

After the steps above, you can create an invoice for mileage.

Here's how:

1. Go to Customers > Create Invoices.
2. From the Customer Job drop-down, select the customer you've added from the mileage window.
3. You will be prompted for the Billable Time/Cost. Choose the Select the outstanding time and cost to add to this invoice? option. Then, click OK.
4. In the Choose Billable Time and Cost window, click the Mileage tab.
5. Put a check mark on the mileage item and hit OK.

I've got this sample screenshot for a visual guide:

Finally, run the mileage report by going to Reports > Jobs, Time & Mileage. Then, choose the following:

• Mileage by Vehicle Summary
• Mileage by Vehicle Detail
• Mileage by Job Summary
• Mileage by Job Detail

You can learn more about these reports and how to customize them by reading this article: Customize customer, job, and sales reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

For any follow-up questions regarding the mileage tracking or need help with other task in QuickBooks, please let me know in your reply. I'll be happy to help you out again. Have a great day!

Thank you that was very helpful! 

Is there a billing report that will show both time worked as well as mileage in one place? So far I can only find a report for one or the other.

Thanks,

Meghan

Hello there, Meghan.

The option to pull up a report that shows both time worked and mileage is unavailable. That said, I'd suggest sending feedback to our Developers through the Help menu, select Send Feedback Online, and then Product Suggestion. Enter your suggestion and click Send Feedback.

Though this option is a good idea, our Developers go through a wide range of feedback. They try to navigate a path forward with accessibility leading and wanted to be very thorough with the enhancements to make our program efficient to use.

If you want to remove and add some data on the report, you can filter it. Here's an article as your guide: Create specific custom reports.

You can always drop a Reply if there's anything that I can help in customizing a report. Keep safe!

I thought this thread would be helpful.  Can someone please answer my question? I have categorized the bank feed gas purchases to vehicle: gas & fuel as well as noted the mileage log in the description for each expense transaction. However, I would like to record the mileage for each business trip instead of the gas purchased. How do I change all of the gas & fuel expense transactions that I have recorded in QBO? In other words, not record the gas expense using the receipts as I have but the mileage since I kept records of both.

Thank you!

I recognize how important it is to categorize your mileage accurately in QuickBooks, PBAFL. I'm here to assist you with that.

To start, let's unmatch the bank transactions you've categorized in the program. This ensures your record is accurate. Here's how:

1. Go to the Banking menu and then select the Banking tab.
2. Select tile for the bank or credit card account you downloaded the transaction from.
3. Click the Categorized tab.
4. Find the transaction you want to unmatch.
5. Select the blue transaction link in the Added or Matched column to see the matched transaction.
   
6. After that, click Undo from the Action column.

Once done, you can now categorize your mileage as a business trip. I'll show you how:

1. Go to the Mileage or Trips menu.
2. Find the trip and select the checkbox.
3. Choose Mark as Business for the type.
4. Review the details.
5. If you need to edit the location or distance, select More and then click Edit trip.
6. After making the changes, select Save.

For more details about recording your business miles, please see this article: Automatically track mileage in QuickBooks Online.

Additionally, I've included these steps below that'll help you export your trips. This way, you'll have a handy copy of your mileage data:

1. Sign in to your QuickBooks Online account.
2. Go to the Mileage or Trips menu.
3. Select Download Trips.

I'm only a few clicks away if you need assistance in managing your business miles and vehicle expenses, PBAFL. It's always my pleasure to help you out again.

Thank you Charlene for your speedy response. This is very helpful. Will undoing the gas expenses affect reconciling bank statements since the gas receipt amount and mileage amount will differ? I have reconciled Jan thru Oct so how would I edit the gas expenses for these months?

Many thanks!

Hi there, @PBAFL.

Allow me to step and provide you some insights when you edit a transaction.

If the associated account of the gas expense is the reconciled account, editing an expense transaction will affect the reconciliation.

You can undo the reconciliation and it would be best to consult your accountant for the best option. Let me show you how.

1. Go to QuickBooks Desktop.
2. Log in as an Administrator by providing the relevant details.
3. Choose the company file from the drop-down menu.
4. Next, go to the Banking menu.
5. Click on the Reconcile menu now.
6. Tap on the Undo Last Reconciliation to undo the reconciliation in the QuickBooks Desktop.

For additional information about the best practices when reconciling, see this article: Reconcile Hub. 

In case you encounter any errors or issues during this process, take a look at this article: Fix issues when you're reconciling in QuickBooks Desktop. Here you'll find a step by step guide on how to finish a reconciliation, whenever you encounter an issue.

If you have any other questions about banking or reconciliation, please let me know by adding a comment below. I'm more than happy to help. Have a good one!

Thank you Abegail, this is helpful.

Thanks for all of the info on this thread. I'm having some trouble because when I go to invoice, it doesn't calculate the actual costs, even though the correct milage rate has been entered. See screenshot. Please advise.

Joining this thread to provide some details on how billable mileage works in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), @marcus.

Based on your screenshot, it seems like you're using the QBDT for Mac program to track your mileage. If that's so, I suggest making sure to select a Service or Other Charge item that has the correct item rate from the Item section when you record the mileage. This way, QuickBooks knows what mileage rate to apply. 

Then, ensure to check the Billable box so that you can then use the mileage with the Time/Costs option when you create an invoice.

For more information about this process, please refer to this article: Track mileage QuickBooks Desktop for Mac.

Additionally, here's an article that answers the most frequently asked questions about managing your items: Add, edit, and delete items.

Let me know in the comments below if you have other concerns about tracking your mileage in QBDT for Mac. I'm just around to help. Take care always.