Can You Use a Spreadsheet Instead of a Mileage App?

A spreadsheet is free and you already know it. An app is worth it when live hours and GPS during the shift beat cells you fill in two days late.

GigMeter is the app version of that shift record: clock, miles, payouts, expenses, net per hour. Download on the App Store.

Where a spreadsheet wins

You control columns. You can add a formula for the IRS rate if that is how you file. You can keep 2019 forever in a file. No subscription for the sheet itself.

Where it loses

You will not open Excel at a red light to type 0.8 miles. You will not pause a cell when you duck into a store. Cross-platform payouts become copy-paste from five apps on Sunday night, which is when they get skipped.

What GigMeter keeps on the phone

Clock in / out, pause, GPS miles while the session is live, platform chips, expenses, optional gas estimate from your vehicle, reports, CSV/PDF export. Data stays on the device. iCloud is optional. There is no GigMeter server for work data.

It will not run your tax formula. Miles are not a deduction in the app. It will not import Uber CSV. Clock in and new entries need GigMeter Pro; the sheet does not.

A practical split

Use GigMeter during the week so the numbers exist. Export CSV at month end into a sheet if you want your own tax columns. That is less work than capturing the raw shifts in Excel from scratch.

If you only drive a few times a year, stay on the spreadsheet and be honest about filling it in the same day. Habits beat tools. See whether you need software at all.