A trip is easy to remember at the end of the day. Three months later, “went to supplier” may be all you can recall. A useful mileage record captures the trip while the route, purpose, and odometer readings are still clear.
Record the trip, not just the distance
Keep one entry for each drive you need to account for. Include the date, starting point, destination, reason for the trip, vehicle, and starting and ending odometer readings. Mark whether it was business or personal. Use a specific purpose such as “picked up packaging from supplier” rather than “errand.”
For example, an odometer reading of 12,480 at departure and 12,498 on arrival gives a distance of 18. If the next leg is a personal stop, record it separately instead of folding both drives into one business entry. Use either kilometres or miles consistently; changing units partway through makes the totals unreliable.
Make the entry before the details disappear
You do not need to fill a spreadsheet while parked at every stop. A quick note of the two odometer readings and the purpose can be enough to transfer later that day. If a trip is missing a reading, do not quietly invent one. Add a note about what is known and check any reliable record you have before filling the gap.
If more than one vehicle is used, record which one made each trip. At the end of the week, scan for impossible distances, missing purposes, and a starting reading that does not follow the previous ending reading for the same vehicle. A mismatch may be a typo or a trip you forgot to enter.
Keep the log's job clear
A distance total tells you how far you drove. It does not, by itself, determine a reimbursement amount or whether a trip qualifies under a tax rule. If you use the record for a claim, check the requirements that apply to you and keep any supporting documents separately.
A notebook works if you keep it up to date. If you prefer a spreadsheet, the NeatLittleTools Small Business Mileage Tracker records trip details, calculates distance from odometer readings, and separates business and personal totals. It works in Excel and Google Sheets; it does not calculate deductions or reimbursement.