MileIQ App Review - EVERYTHING You MUST Know!!

So over the years of being a gig worker, I have actively preached a variety of things and one of them is to have a Mileage Tracking App available to you so you can maximize your tax benefits for when Tax season comes around. 

The one I have been using for years has been MileIQ, and I believe is one of the most affordable options that allows for strategic synergy not only for the type of work Gig Workers do, but for many other self employed industries as well. 

So in this article, We are talking about:

• EVERYTHING You MUST Know about MileIQ

• What they say about it vs How it ACTUALLY is

• Everything in between!

Disclaimer: The content of this article does not contain and is never intended to be legal, business, financial, tax, or health advice of any kind, This article is for entertainment purposes only. It is advised that you conduct your own research and consult with qualified professionals before applying anything you find online. 

I also want to be clear that while I do receive affiliate income from my partnership with MileIQ I am speaking from my experience as someone who has been using MileIQ for years, and what my experience may be, may not reflect yours. 

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Requirements for Sign-up

Sign up requirements vary depending on if you are an individual user or if you are managing a team of people or fleet of some kind.

For Individual Users:

Download the app: Get the MileIQ app from your device's app store. 

Create an account: Open the app, input your email, and create a password. 

Verify your email: A verification email will be sent to the address you provided. 

Grant permissions: Allow the app to access your device's location and notifications. 

Classify drives: Start driving, and MileIQ will automatically track your trips. Classify them as personal or business with a swipe.

This is going to be the set up for most people who are self-employed in the gig economy. 

If you are managing a team of people that are W-2 Employees under you, you would have to:

Go to the dashboard: Access the MileIQ dashboard at dashboard.mileiq.com.

Start the team: Click on the "Teams" tab and follow the prompts to set up your organization.

Invite users: Invite team members by entering their email addresses.

Team members: Team members will need to download the app and create their individual accounts, linking them to the team.

Now, this would only matter for companies that need to manage and reimburse mileage for multiple employees or team members, and to streamline the mileage tracking and reporting process. 

Most gig workers will never fall into that category and this would only apply to companies and entrepreneurial types who need to track mileage to allow for centralized management, automated reporting processes, and customize and streamline the reimbursement process. 

If your long term business strategy requires that, then this is definitely something to look into but most people would be more than fine tracking with just an individual account. 

First Impressions

When you first download MileIQ from the Google Play store or App Store on your Android or iPhone, the app allows you to set up the account or log into an existing account. Both of which I have done on both iPhone and Android and setting up the account was easy and intuitive. 

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The Interface has received a few facelifts over the years but, the overall concept is simple, the drives themselves are automatically tracked and displayed onto this feed of drives you made that have yet to be classified as business or personal.

If you drove someplace for business purposes, such as picking up someone for Uber, picking up a Doordash order, swipe right to classify that drive as business.

If you drove somewhere for your own personal needs, such as visiting family or doing your own grocery shopping, swipe left to classify that drive as personal. 

You can also categorize the drives themselves based on the work you are doing at the time, that is especially important if you conduct different types of business than just gig work or just a real estate showing.

I actually have gone from restaurant to restaurant in person in regards to my Delivery Service Provider and had to separate my drives from courier work to in-person sales.  

Core Features I Tested

The app itself is rather simple and easy to use, but it does have a few core features that I particularly like that are conducted much better than its competition. 

Automatic Mileage Tracking: This is the main reason anyone would download this app, and when I say automatic, I really do mean automatic. They track you from the address you start driving from to the address in which you are going. 

They even auto categorize some trips and link drives together as round trips for you if you just went someplace just to come back. They even show you the mileage and potential savings of that trip.

Swipe to Classify Trips: This is also very simple and easy to understand, swipe left for personal and right for business, business trips automatically are adding to your total tax savings in the top righthand corner of the screen. 

Also after doing the same trip over and over again, they can even auto classify some trips for you. This is important if you have repeat customers or completing routes.

Custom Categories: If you swipe slowly in the direction you classify a trip, you can Categorize your trips as well, add notes to the drive itself. You can also add information about parking fees and tolls that can also be reported for business purposes. 

Report Generation: Generating reports is also super simple and can be completed from your phone and sent not only to your email, but to a qualified tax professional who can help you apply these reports to your tax deductions. 

If you are looking for a qualified tax professional who understands what it means to be a gig worker and will work with you at affordable rates, make sure to check out GigTax!

As someone who has ventured into self-employment via food delivery apps, the income is promising. That said, you are also faced with challenges in navigating taxes as a self-employed person and transforming your “gig” into a sustainable business.

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If that sounds valuable to you and you want to maximize your tax savings this year, go to drivenwyld.com/gigtax and get started on simplifying and saving on your taxes today!

Performance & Accuracy

In a fast paced gig economy that we are currently in, one of the main questions most drivers should be asking themselves when choosing a mileage tracker is how accurate is it and how well does it perform, and each category is different. 

Trip Accuracy: Trip accuracy was solid overall, every now and then they will miss a short trip or two, or like I finish an order so quickly the app can’t process the order as a “stop”, but overall the tracking is accurate down to the address itself. 

The only thing I think I had a challenge with in the beginning is because my Grandmother lived across the street from me, and I renamed my location and her location in the app, which yes you can name locations in the app as well, it sometimes confused which side of the road I was on.

That seemed to be more of a GPS thing than a MileIQ thing though, because I have also found that Uber sometimes mislocated me as well as other platforms I worked on. This might also just be a very niche problem.

Battery Impact: Okay, I have read only someplace that MileIQ has killed battery life more than once but I really don’t see it. It works primarily in the background and according to my device, MileIQ only accounted for 1% of my battery usage. 

I am sure other people have had other experiences but I don’t see it. Also if you are a gig worker, you are going to have your phone plugged in for the majority of the day in your car so it really should be a non issue.

Regardless, MileIQ doesn’t seem to have enough impact towards my battery life for me to be concerned about it. 

Speed & Reliability: In terms of just loading the app itself, it works just as well as any app would be expected to work, sometimes I wonder why it is processing my drive longer than it should but then it shows me the new drive after I reopen the app after doing some more work. 

So solid speed and reliability overall. 

Pricing & Value

MileIQ has a few different pricing tiers available based on the availability of certain items, some of which are different industries entirely, so let’s break this down a bit. 

For individuals

This is mainly for self employed individuals or people who have a business that they just need to track their miles for. 

Free Tier: This tier is a good option if you are just getting started with automatic mileage tracking and will allow for automatic tracking and autogenerated reports, but will only track the first 40 drives you have a month.

Which is fine if you are a realtor or some other business that doesn’t do a lot of driving but needs to track mileage but we would blow through our “free drives” in a few days tops.

Unlimited: Your best option for reimbursements and tax-compliant reporting especially for gig workers.

For just $7.50/month, you have everything in the free tier plus UNLIMITED drives, so now you won’t have to stretch your drives out or switch to a manual method every month. This investment can save you thousands on your taxes and is what most gig workers would benefit the most from. 

Teams

Now I don’t really have a team to manage, but I do know they have special plans just for those who have teams.

Teams Lite: This is the most basic plan for team tracking with unlimited mileage tracking for all drivers for a mere $8/month

This tier allows for:

• Automatic mileage tracking

• Add/remove drivers

• Streamlined billing

Teams: This is the middle tier and adds the benefit of mileage reports for reimbursement? This way you get everything in the Teams Lite plan plus the ability to submit and review reports for $9/Month.

This tier allows for:

• Automatic mileage tracking

• Add/remove drivers

• Streamlined billing

• Reporting Dashboard

Teams Pro: This is their biggest plan with the most value and gives you so much more than both the Teams and Teams Lite Plan for just $10/Month!

This tier allows for:

• Automatic mileage tracking

• Add/remove drivers

• Streamlined billing

• Reporting Dashboard

• Approve/reject drives

• Exclude commute mileage

• Team Locations

• Report reminders & automatic reporting

• Multiple admins

• Integrations and API

• Custom rates

Honestly, for the additional $2/Month it is worth the investment for sure!

Pros & Cons

Like with any service or platform, there are pros and cons to each part of this. Specifically in terms of being a gig worker, these would go as follows:

Pros:

• Simple and easy to use

• Affordable for Gig Workers

• Pairs well with tax professional services such as GigTax

Cons:

• No expense tracking systems

• Not the best for DIY tax payers

As I have not had to manage a team of employee based drivers, and any drivers that I have had to work with were independent contractors who had their own systems, I cannot speak to the team services. 

Who I Recommend It For

This app is great for self employed individuals who prefer to take a hands off approach to their taxes. 

Not that they don’t know the tax code and aren’t paying attention to some of the nuances of it all, such as the difference between the standard mileage rate and the actual expense method, that is why they are tracking it all in the first place.

They just prefer to focus on the grind and making money, send their information over and leave their tax services to the professionals. This has been my strategy and it has allowed me to focus on growth while they focus on staying IRS compliant. 

So if you are looking for a hands off experience on your taxes that will synergize well with your tax professional services, Download MileIQ today!

If you would like to add some other perspective to MileIQ, feel free to email me: drivenwyld@gmail.com and who knows? Maybe your email or perspective and be featured in a post as well!