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S
Steven74
April 15, 2025
Question

Why does the QuickBooks app use so much battery for mileage tracking?

  • April 15, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views

The Quiten books app, when using it to track mileage, is an enormous battery hog. It is in a constant state of trying to account for every bit of a movement I have, including when I walk my dog, when I go running, and even when going up the stairs of my house. I would like for quit books to have the option to only track mileage when CarPlay is activated, thus saving my battery.

1 reply

Nicole_N
Nicole_N
April 16, 2025

QuickBooks Online (QBO) runs in the background to track your mileage accurately, which can further drain the battery. Steven74. Let me provide tips to help you mitigate battery usage while using the feature.

 

Mileage tracking in the QuickBooks app is designed to monitor and log your business-related vehicle trips and uses GPS functionality to record the distance traveled while driving. Thus, it won't track short-distance movements like walking and running. 

 

In your case, there may be other applications running in the background on your device that also contribute to increased battery usage. 

 

Here are the following things you can do to reduce battery consumption and prevent unnecessary tracking:

 

  • Close the QuickBooks app completely when you're not using it for driving.
  • Reduce screen brightness or enable the dark theme.
  • Close or exit other applications running in the background while using QuickBooks.
  • Turn on battery optimization.

 

Moreover, you can consider removing the app's permission, but you'll have to enter the trips manually to record them. For a comprehensive instruction, check out this article: Automatically track mileage in QuickBooks Online.


You may also visit this article to know how to refund your employees' mileage and vehicle expenditures if they use their car for business: Reimburse employees' mileage and vehicle expenses in QuickBooks Online.


The recommendations mentioned will help you effectively manage your mileage tracking while optimizing your device's battery life and performance. If you have additional questions while using the feature, please reply below. 

S
Steven74Author
April 16, 2025

I appreciate you giving feedback on the app, use, and recommendations. I do want to provide some information based on my iPhone’s diagnostics of use. When I look at the past 10 days of battery use, the number one app to consume battery is QuickBooks, and it’s by a huge margin. However, I have only had the app opened for 8 minutes; the rest of the usage is background usage, even when closed (I compulsively close apps and restart my phone daily). So, the design of the background tracking is faulty with regards to the goal of only tracking driving. I don’t drive 13 hours a week.

 

I want to emphasize that the advantage of automatic mileage tracking, if this is the implementation of QuickBooks, is a pretty poor design, because I have had to designate six “drives” today as personal, when they weren’t even drives. This is despite me also uninstalling and reinstalling the app to ensure I don’t have a problem with the app as it is installed. QuickBooks should allow me to designate a shortcut or function of tracking based on CarPlay status. But manually tracking all my trips as an alternative to avoid all this isn’t a good business approach. I don’t pay for QuickBooks so that I can do what I could do for free with Google Sheets tracking; I pay for QuickBooks to effectively implement tracking via automation.

 

I’d like for the technical team with QuickBooks to look into the problem of this app not functioning the way it ought to.

    J
    Jayson_E
    April 16, 2025

    Thank you for detailing your experience with the mileage tracking feature, Steven.  I can imagine and understand the challenges you've faced. Your proactive approach to address this matter is commendable. Below, I will guide you on how to connect with our dedicated support team for further assistance.

     

    Since your situation involves specific device behavior and app functionality, I recommend contacting our Live Support Team for personalized assistance. They have the expertise and tools to investigate your case more, provide tailored troubleshooting, and escalate the issue to improve the app’s design and performance.

     

    Here’s how you can contact them:

     

    1. Open the QuickBooks Online (QBO) mobile app on your device.
    2. Tap the Menu icon located in the lower right corner of the screen.
    3. Go to the All tab and scroll down to the Attachments section.
    4. Press Help and choose your preferred way to connect with us.
    5. Click Articles and Support, then tap Contact Us.
    6. Select the specific concern you want to talk with or click Ask about something else.
    7. Enter your concern in the provided box field, then click Continue.
    8. Choose Callback to reserve a spot, allowing an available expert to call you back.

     

    To ensure timely assistance, please refer to this article for the available support hours: Get help with QuickBooks products and services.

     

    Contacting our Live Support team will ensure your feedback is heard and help you receive the best guidance for balancing accurate mileage tracking with battery efficiency.

     

    Lastly, you can refer to this article if you encounter problems while tracking your trips in the QBO mobile app: Fix mileage tracking issues in the QuickBooks Online mobile app.

     

    If you have more concerns or need further clarification on managing mileage tracking in QuickBooks, please don't hesitate to reply to this message. Stay safe, and we're here to assist you.

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