MileLedger

Applies to: Phone & web

Expense or mileage totals look incorrect

Incorrect totals in MileLedger reports are almost always caused by active filters, miscategorized drives or expenses, or a mileage rate that differs from what you expected. This guide walks through every common cause.

Steps

  1. 1

    Verify the date range

    In the Reports tab, confirm the selected date range covers the period you expect. Adjust it to 'This year', 'Last year', or a custom range and check whether the totals change.

  2. 2

    Check business/personal categorization filters

    In Drives or Expenses, confirm no categorization filter is active that might be hiding some records. Switch to 'All' to see combined totals, or 'Business only' to see what the business report includes.

  3. 3

    Review your mileage rate in Preferences

    Tap More → Preferences and check the Mileage Rate field. Confirm the rate matches what you expect (IRS rate for your tax year, or your employer's rate). The rate directly determines the estimated dollar value of your miles.

  4. 4

    Look for short trips or Needs Review drives

    In the Drives tab, enable 'Show all' and look for flagged entries. Add their mileage to your manual calculation to see if the discrepancy is explained by excluded short trips.

  5. 5

    Scan for duplicates

    Browse the Drives or Expenses list sorted by date. Look for entries with identical dates and identical distances or amounts. Delete any confirmed duplicates.

Common causes of unexpected totals

Date range filter: reports only include data within the selected date range. A narrower range than expected produces a lower total. Check the date range selector on the Reports or Drives/Expenses screen.

Business vs personal filter: business reports include only business-categorized drives and expenses. If some trips or expenses were categorized as Personal, they will not appear in business totals.

Mileage rate setting: the estimated mileage value in reports is calculated as total business miles × your configured mileage rate. If the rate entered in Preferences differs from the IRS rate or your employer's rate, the dollar total will differ accordingly.

Short trips excluded: drives shorter than approximately 0.5 miles may be excluded from certain summary views by default, affecting mile totals.

Needs Review drives excluded: drives with a 'Needs Review' flag may be excluded from some reports until reviewed and confirmed.

Duplicate entries: duplicate drives or expenses inflate totals. Check for entries with identical dates, amounts, and merchants or distances.

Important notes

  • MileLedger calculates mileage deduction estimates using the rate you configure in Preferences — not automatically from IRS-published rates. Update the rate in Preferences when the IRS announces a new rate.
  • Report totals on the web app reflect the last successful sync from the phone. If you added records recently, ensure the app has synced before checking the web app.

Common problems

My mileage total is correct but the dollar value is wrong.

The dollar value is calculated as miles × your configured mileage rate. Go to More → Preferences and check the rate. Compare it to the IRS standard rate for your tax year (2024: $0.67, 2025: $0.70, 2026 H1: $0.725, 2026 H2: $0.76) and update if needed.

My expense total is lower than the sum I calculated manually.

Check that you are not filtering by 'Business only' — personal expenses would be excluded. Also check the date range and confirm all expenses were saved successfully and are not in a 'draft' or unsaved state.

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Still stuck? Contact support or browse Troubleshooting.