Guide
Free mileage log template for Excel and Google Sheets
A mileage log is a table: one row per drive, with when, where, how far and why. Here is that table, ready to fill, with a summary sheet that adds up your business miles, your business-use share and the deduction. It is free, needs no sign-up, and there is no odometer column to fill on every trip.
Download: Excel template (.xlsx) · CSV template. For Google Sheets, open sheets.google.com, then File → Import and upload the Excel file: both sheets and the formulas come across.
What is in it
The Mileage log sheet has one row per drive:
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Date | The day of the drive |
| Start location, End location | Where it started and ended: an address, or a client's or shop's name |
| Business purpose | Why the drive was for work: the client, the job, the delivery platform |
| Miles | The distance of the drive |
| Business, personal or commute | Chosen from a list; only Business counts towards the deduction |
| Notes | Anything that helps you remember the drive later |
These are the elements IRS Publication 463 asks you to prove for each business use of a car: the date, the destination, the business purpose and the miles. The same columns work for HMRC, the CRA or the ATO, which ask for broadly the same record.
The Summary sheet adds up the business miles, works out your business-use share, and multiplies by the rate you enter. Look the rate up for your country: the IRS rate, HMRC, CRA, ATO, or any other country.
Do you need odometer readings?
Not on every trip. A mileage log needs the miles of each business drive, and those can come from a map, a GPS record or a trip computer as well as from the odometer. What the IRS also asks for is the total miles you drove the car in the year, because your business share is measured against it. Two odometer readings are enough for that: one at the start of the year and one at the end. The summary sheet has a cell for each; a service invoice or an inspection report that notes the mileage near those dates does the same job.
How to fill it in
- As you go, the stronger way: a row at the end of each working day, while the drives are fresh. The IRS gives the most weight to records made at or near the time.
- From your phone's history: if Google Maps Timeline is on, it already recorded the date, the route and the distance of each drive. Copy them across, or let Time-mile build the whole log from the Timeline file and export it as a CSV.
- Not from memory at filing time, if you can help it: a log written months later with nothing behind it is the weakest kind. If that is where you are, rebuild it from GPS history instead.
A printable version
The Excel file prints on standard paper: open it, choose the Mileage log sheet, and print with landscape orientation so all seven columns fit across the page. Keep a printed copy in the glove box if you prefer paper, and transfer it to the spreadsheet at the end of each week.
One limit of a spreadsheet
The summary applies one rate to the whole year. When a rate changes mid-year, as the IRS rate did on 1 July 2026, split the log at that date and apply each rate to its own part. Time-mile does that on its own: each trip is valued at the rate in force on its date.
Or skip the typing
Load your Google Timeline and get the same log filled in, with the rate of each trip's date. The file is never uploaded.
Launch Time-mileFrequently asked questions
Is this mileage log template free?
Yes. The Excel and CSV templates are free to download and use, with no sign-up. They work in Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
What should a mileage log template include?
One row per drive with the date, where it started and ended, the business purpose and the miles, plus whether the drive was business, personal or a commute. Over the year you also need the total miles the car was driven, which two odometer readings give you.
Can I use a mileage log without odometer readings?
For each trip, yes: the miles can come from a map or a GPS record. The IRS also asks for the total miles you drove in the year, and a reading at the start and at the end of the year covers that.
How do I use the template in Google Sheets?
Open sheets.google.com, choose File, then Import, and upload the Excel file. Both sheets and the summary formulas come across.
Can I fill the template automatically?
If Google Maps Timeline was on, your phone already recorded each drive. Time-mile reads the Timeline file in your browser and exports the log as a CSV with the date, route and distance of every drive, valued at the rate of each trip's date.