Posted by MaggieMae_CA on 4/30/05 11:55pm
Msg #35194

Practical and common sense guide to mileage

I am working part time (just started) as a notary/loan signing agent and full time (admin asst) w/the University of California, San Diego. Mileage reimbursement for the University as of 1/1/05 is $0.405 per mile.

Recently I had someone turn in receipts for a business trip they made to UC Berkeley. The traveler provided gas receipts for a 9 passenger van, loaded w/people and lab equipment totalling $150 for the 978 mile trip. She also produced receipts for $86 for a tune up on her van and $13 for a car wash. That added up to a grand total of $249. She was also requesting mileage (978 miles @ $0.405) of $396.09.

She was pretty pissed w/me when I declined her request to reimburse her for the tune up and the car wash (those are personal expenses for a private vehicle). I told her that she had the option of accepting $150 for the gas receipts she had produced or $396.09 for the mileage.

Which do you think she accepted? Yes, the $396.09. BUT! She still thought she was ENTITLED to the $150 for gas, $86 for the tune up and $13 for the car wash. I suggested NEXT TIME she rent a University vehicle (the rental is recharged to her lab's research funds, and not charged to her personally) and not put the mileage (wear and tear) on her personal vehicle.

The point I'm trying to make here is that WE should be reasonable. If we're telling people that we are charging for mileage, the mileage fees should coincide what is acceptable according to our State and/or the IRS guidelines.

As you can see from the above example, the person I was requesting reimbursement for (by accepting mileage) received $147.09 over the amount of her expenses (that takes into account the $13 car wash and $86 tune up that she could not be reimbursed for under University policy). I believe the mileage more than compensated for her actual expenses.

One more thing... Are you keeping track of your mileage and reporting it as a business expense for deduction on your taxes? If you are, you're being compensated for your mileage and it doesn't seem right to be charging people for it????

I know... I'm playing devil's advocate here. I just think that when someone says (as some people here have) that they are charging $1 to $2 per mile, those rates are not reasonable. What *I THINK* people are trying to be compensated for is their *TRAVEL TIME* and that's fair, but I don't think people should *LABEL* it as mileage when it's really compensation for your time.

Does anyone agree?

Reply by To MaggieMae from ssnotary on 5/1/05 12:07am
Msg #35195

Yes, I totally agree with you. I too work in the field of education. I often take trips to attend conferences, we are treated royally. I just attended a conference in San Diego, staying at a location where my lovely room overlooked the harbor. Many folks from all over attended this conference, there was of course the usual whining about this or that. It all boils down to some folks are just never happy. And many want something for every single thing they do. I believe one should paid but lets be fair.

Reply by MaggieMae_CA on 5/1/05 12:14am
Msg #35197

THANK YOU ssnotary!... Another voice of reason. Sometimes I read this message board and I wonder what people are thinking. EVERYONE is entitled to make a living. Maybe if I were smarter, I wouldn't post things such as this. Then I would be one of the people being fair and reasonable and getting the phone calls, while the $2 per mile people are waiting for their phones to ring. But the purpose of this board is to exchange ideas and I'm *trying* to be a productive member of this community and help others and give them some food for thought.

Reply by MaggieMae fromssnotary on 5/1/05 12:20am
Msg #35199

No, keep posting you made great sense. I think some just like to argue, I search the board for helpful hints, looking to learn something new. One can make a comment and bam chewed up and down one side then the other. It may be days before I look at the board, due to this very factor. However I due gain helpful tips. And even amused at times.......

Reply by John Gonzalez on 5/1/05 12:13am
Msg #35196

Agree? Not entirely

I don't agree with all that you have stated.
" One more thing... Are you keeping track of your mileage and reporting it as a business expense for deduction on your taxes? If you are, you're being compensated for your mileage and it doesn't seem right to be charging people for it????"
This is a perfectly legal and ethical charge. A business person is allowed depreciation for business property, in your opinion does that mean the replacement cost should not be figured into the cost of doing business?

As for your employee, she certainly did push the limit. As far as I can see you acted correctly in denying her a tune up, car wash, etc.

Reply by MaggieMae_CA on 5/1/05 12:19am
Msg #35198

Re: Agree? Not entirely

I know I used the word *deny* but the truth is, I was just following University policy and I could have done exactly as she asked and had the forms returned to me for correction, initialling by her and delay her reimbursement. I don't play that game.

As for charging mileage, I think anyone and everyone who wants to charge mileage should. The point I was trying to make was to be reasonable and to really think about what you want to be compensated for. I think most people are very much concerned about the *time* it takes for the travel. So, I call it a trip charge and take into account the time it will take as well as my mileage.

FYI--I live in San Diego where regular unleaded is going anywhere between $2.50 - $2.89 per gallon.

Reply by John_NorCal on 5/2/05 8:04am
Msg #35259

Re: Agree? Not entirely

I agree with your points Maggie. I too believe we should all be reasonable and fair.
Here in the SF Bay area gas ranges from $2.61 to $3.00 per gallon.
Regards.

Reply by MaggieMae_CA on 5/1/05 12:26am
Msg #35200

One more thing...

The example I've given about UCSD is so people can see a *real life scenario* and how it applies in the business world. All too often I see people online thinking in the abstract and it's difficult to apply proper business common sense because this is your business, your baby, your blood, sweat and tears. You're financially and emotionally invested. I thought by giving this long description it would allow people to sit back and take a second look at what they are saying and doing.

Reply by ToMaggieMae from ssnotary on 5/1/05 12:31am
Msg #35202

Re: One more thing...

Your comments have been great, very real. Some folks perfer to not take a second look at what they are saying and doing. They see life one way only, their way.

Reply by MaggieMae_CA on 5/1/05 12:34am
Msg #35203

ssNotary...

Great minds think alike!

Sometimes I read the messages posted on the board to my husband and he gets annoyed and says I shouldn't waste my time on here.

I've read a lot of really good things and am learning a lot. It's ashame that we need to wade thru some of the pond scum on here in order to find the jewels, but the wading has paid off.

Reply by Anonymous on 5/2/05 8:30pm
Msg #35431

Re: One more thing...

"They see life one way only, their way."

and your postings are different?

Reply by Anonymous on 5/1/05 10:35pm
Msg #35229

Don't forget the .40 also includes wear and tear on the vehicle. (Tires, maintenance, depreciation, etc.).

Reply by Joan-OH on 5/1/05 10:54pm
Msg #35237

"One more thing... Are you keeping track of your mileage and reporting it as a business expense for deduction on your taxes? If you are, you're being compensated for your mileage and it doesn't seem right to be charging people for it????"

Do the math. I can deduct .405 per mile off my income for mileage. If I'm in a 28% tax bracket, the effective savings is a little over .11 cents per mile. Between car payments, insurance, gas, oil changes, tire rotations and the occasional major vehicle expense (my alternator crapped out at the end of signing day last year = $800), 11 cents per mile doesn't cut it.

Please remember, we don't get a .405 credit off our taxes, we just reduce our income by that amount and are not taxed on it @ our rate. BIG difference in my opinion.

I have a base fee with a set coverage area. If I am asked to go outside of that area, my fee goes up. So I guess you can say I "charge" for mileage, but in fact it is a combination of mileage and time.

Joan

Reply by MaggieMae_CA on 5/1/05 11:01pm
Msg #35239

So Joan... We are in agreement

If you read all of the posts I made under this thread, you will have read that I charge a "trip charge" which takes into account my mileage and my TIME.

In some parts of this great country of ours it can take someone 45 minutes to go 3 miles in rush hour due to traffic. Someone else can do 30 miles in 45 minutes. Charging mileage won't compensate you for that 3 mile, 45 minute trip.

Reply by Art_MD on 5/2/05 7:18am
Msg #35252

Re: Trip fee reflects mileage

We all look at the area we cover and come up with rates for each area. The town 10 miles away has a different "trip charge" than a city 40 miles away with heavy trafic.
The "trip charge" is a function of time and mileage.
Where I live, going East 30 miles is 35 minutes.
Going West 30 miles puts me across a bridge (which is forever under construction) where 3 hr delays ocassionally occur. FYI bridge is only route from Baltimore and DC to beaches on Eastern shore of Maryland - Fridays are a nightmare !!!

If I accept a signing on the other side of the bridge, its higher than same distance on my side. Day of the week matters also. I work with notaries on the other side - pass work back and forth to avoid bridge travel.

If you don't think your fees are sufficient to cover operating costs (vehicle, office, utilities, E&O, etc) you need to raise them.

If the average signing takes a total of 2 1/2 hrs including travel, and your fee is $100, then you are grossing $40/hrs before expenses. All business have overhead. It just happens that in our business the largest OH cost is travel.

Art

Reply by CaliNotary on 5/2/05 12:02pm
Msg #35306

It's posts like this that make it crystal clear as to why we're not taken very seriously as a profession.

How an employer compensates his employees for mileage has zero to do with how a business owner sets his pricing to ensure the financial success of his business. To say that it's not reasonable to charge for mileage but it is fair to charge for travel time is ridiculous. It all accomplishes the same thing in the end: the price that we quote to do a signing.

What I would like to know is why you guys seem to think the signing service deserves a bigger cut of the fee than we do. If it's unreasonable for us to be compensated at a higher rate for our mileage, what exactly are they doing that makes it more reasonable for that part of the fee to go to them instead of us? The borrower is paying $150 or so either way, why shouldn't we get as much of that amount as we possibly can?

Reply by Lordy let it go! on 5/2/05 2:37pm
Msg #35346

No one said, don't charge, just charge fairly and treat others as you would expect to be treated. Period!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply by JanetK/CA on 5/2/05 7:29pm
Msg #35418

I think that's the point that CaliNotary is making and I have to say that I agree - especially the part about there being a big difference between thinking like an employee and thinking like a business owner. The factors to be considered are different, whatever you want to label them.