QuickBooks mileage tracking drops trips when phone permissions block the app

QuickBooks mobile app users keep running into the same annoyance: work drives that never appear in the mileage list, or trips that land with the wrong details. The accepted fix, carried in the Australian English edition of Intuit’s help pages, points at setup rather than a defect. Auto-tracking, the phone’s location permissions, and the user’s own access level each have to line up.

Two complaints, one quiet clue

Most reports fall into two camps. Either a drive finishes and nothing shows up, or a trip appears but its details are wrong. The quieter clue is a trip list that only grows while the app sits open on screen. That points to missing background access, since tracking stops the moment you switch away or lock the phone. The problem shows up on iPhones and on Android devices alike.

Admin rights gate the feature

Check the sign-in first. Mileage tracking works only for a user with admin privileges on the company file. A standard user can drive all week and record nothing, because the app will not track for that role. If trips vanish for one person but not another, compare user roles before touching any settings.

Turn on auto-tracking inside the app

The switch sits in the same place on both platforms. Open the QuickBooks app, call up the menu, choose Settings, then Mileage, and turn on auto-tracking.

On an iPhone or iPad, follow the on-screen prompts to allow location access once the switch is on. On Android, the app asks for location permission next, and the wording depends on the operating system version.

Android 10 and older asks for Allow on location, then Allow all the time if it is offered, plus permission to read physical activity. Android 11 and newer has you start with While using the app and confirm the prompt. From there, lift location to Allow all the time. Physical activity access is requested as well.

The phone’s own settings matter just as much

The app’s switch is only half of the setup. The device itself has to let QuickBooks read location and keep running in the background.

On an iPhone or iPad, open the phone’s Settings, scroll down to the QuickBooks app, and set Location to Always. Turn on Motion & Fitness, Background App Refresh, and Cellular Data while you are in there. If the system shows a message about background location use, tap Always Allow. Do not settle for While Using the App on iOS. The accepted answer is blunt on this point: anything short of Always stops consistent tracking.

Android varies by manufacturer, so there is no single set of taps. Open the phone’s settings and look for the battery or app controls that govern background activity. The path differs between brands, but the goal is one thing: QuickBooks must keep working when it is not on your screen.

Does a hotspot interfere with tracking?

On an Android phone it can. A device connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot during a drive may record the trip inaccurately. Wi-Fi itself can stay switched on. The accepted advice is to disconnect from the hotspot before you start driving, then reconnect afterwards. iPhone users can skip this one.

Can a bad trip be corrected after the fact?

Yes. The accepted answer treats correction as part of the fix rather than something to work around. Work from the trip list:

1. Open the QuickBooks app and call up the menu.
2. Choose Mileage to see the recorded trips.
3. Tap the trip that needs fixing.
4. Change its classification between business and personal, assign the right vehicle, and add or edit the purpose.
5. Save the trip.

The corrected details then flow through to your business records. Trips are edited one at a time from this list, so a batch of bad trips means a batch of small edits.

With permissions aligned, switching apps or locking the screen should no longer interrupt recording. Work through the gates in order: admin sign-in, the in-app switch, then the device settings. The trips usually come back once all three are open.