Keeping records on expenses for tax purposes

[Jeff Howard]

All,

Quick question... Building a spreadsheet of all my expenditures for my rental property.  What kind of data does the IRS want to see if I ever get audited?  I assume a list of the expenditures with dates, I also assume I have to have a receipt for every last thing, what about driving miles to and from the location?  How do I prove that?  Is there good software out there that captures this for you?

[Daniel O.]

My accountant suggested keeping a mileage log book in my vehicle for just this purpose. Date, destination, purpose, miles driven.  That log book is your documentation for your mileage. Presumably if you were audited, they could cross-check your receipt for a purchase at a store 20 miles away with your mileage log for the same date.  You can use an app, but make sure you can download the data in a standard format such as pdf or excel.