How to Use MileWiz
❶ Install
Begin with installing MileWiz on your iPhone and providing all the permissions the app needs to have.
❷ Setup
Next, configure your vehicles, mileage rates, working hours and frequent places. This will save you time later.
❸ Track
Leave the app on your phone - it tracks automatically. Occasionally, categorize the trips.
❹ Export
Make a monthly export of your trips to keep up your records.
Install MileWiz
And configure the permissions
MileWiz is an iOS app and it’s available through the AppStore. You can download it here.
Once the app is installed, open it to begin the initial configuration. The app will guide you through the process of setting the permissions for Location (you need to set it Always), Motion & Fitness (you need to set it to ON) and Notifications (recommended to set it to ON). Learn more about permissions.
Then the app will teach you a few tricks, namely swipe gestures to categorize trips and pinch gestures to merge trips.
Finally, the app will invite you to create an account for a cloud account. You can opt out, but we highly recommend that you set up one. It takes only a minute and it will serve as a backup of your trips, in case you lose or break your phone or your child accidentally deletes the app.
Setup MileWiz
And configure the app for automatic categorization
MileWiz is a highly customizable app. You can change how it works in regards to anything and make it truly yours.
Start by setting up your currency and units. Go to Settings > General to do that. Note, that MileWiz would attempt to set these correctly for your country, so don’t be surprised if they are already correct.
Setup your vehicle. Go to Settings > Vehicles. You can edit the default vehicle or create a new one. Note that you can have more than one vehicle. If you drive more than 1 vehicle and you want to track them separately, make sure that you input all of the information correctly. Finally, tap the icon on your go-to vehicle to make it a default one.
Setup your categories and rates. Go to Settings > Categories. If you are using the standard mileage rate for one of these 6 countries (🇺🇸United States | 🇬🇧United Kingdom | 🇨🇦Canada | 🇦🇺Australia | 🇮🇪Ireland | 🇦🇹Austria), rest assured that the rates are correct - we are monitoring those and update them when needed. If you are using standard mileage rate for any other country, please contact us know and we will add it to our list.
Learn more about custom mileage rates.
Setup your working hours. To help with the categorization, you can setup when you are working and when you are not. You can configure the app to automatically categorize trips within certain hours. To do that visit Settings > Working hours.
Finally, list all your frequent places. You can even create rules for automatic categorization based on these places. For example, trips were the origin or the destination is your home are never considered business, unless your home and business place are the same. Trips to and from clients are usually considered business mileage.
You can learn more about automatic categorization on this page.
Track your trips with MileWiz
And occasionally categorize the uncategorized trips
Once your MileWiz is configured and ready to go, you don’t have to do anything, really! It would automatically detect your trips and categorize them based on the rules that you set. There is no need to:
use additional hardware (like beacon);
launch the app and keep it running on background;
press start and/or stop buttons;
input trips manually.
The app will just work. Just make sure you take your phone with you everywhere you go.
Every once in a while you may have a trip that doesn’t fall into any of the categorization rules that you created. You will receive special notifications for those trips and you can categorize them directly through the notification. No need to open the app even. In case you missed to categorized some trips, they will appear in the Trips tab, under the Uncategorized section. Just use the swipe to left or swipe to right gestures and those trips will be categorized in a matter of a few seconds.
Export your mileage
And get key insights on your driving
Although MileWiz tracks automatically and categorizes your trips based on your rules, we recommend that you open MileWiz at least once per week. Such routine will allow you to categorize any trips that have not been automatically categorized and get a sense of how everything is going. Your mileage records can save you a ton of money you’d otherwise spend on taxes and your time spent keeping your log tidy and complete is wisely spent.
About once a month, open MileWiz and export your trips to CSV. Place the CSV in a secure location. If you use mileage tracking for employer reimbursements, your employer would likely need access to your mileage log on a monthly basis anyways. If you use mileage tracking for tax deductions, you’d want to keep these records securely for until you file your tax returns and several years after that.
Use this monthly occasion to reconcile the odometer of all of your vehicles. MileWiz is optimized for precision, but even small errors accumulate over time and it’s a good practice to reconcile occasionally. Most importantly, make sure you reconcile the odometer at the beginning / end of the tax year in your country.