The chair fitted in the hatchback only after I took off its legs. I remembered that part of the delivery perfectly. I also remembered the customer's dog carrying one of my gloves into the hall.
What I couldn't remember was the distance.
My fuel receipt proved that I had bought fuel. It didn't explain which journeys belonged to my upholstery business. Several trips to the grocery store had happened on the same tank.
The small notebook in the car
For each business trip, CRA asks for the date, destination, purpose and kilometres travelled. It also asks for odometer readings at the beginning and end of the fiscal period, so total driving can be compared with business driving. Each vehicle needs its own records. CRA's logbook guidance.
My next entry was deliberately boring: October 20; fabric supplier; collect material for chair order; 18 km return. I recorded the actual business trip, not a personal detour as well. The purchase receipt went in the same month's folder.
I started keeping the notebook beside the parking pass. An app could do the job too; the useful part was recording the journey while I still remembered it.
Kilometres are a proportion, not a flat deduction
Suppose my properly supported annual totals were 4,000 business kilometres out of 16,000 overall. That is 25% business use. Applied to $6,000 of eligible shared running costs, the business portion would be $1,500. Vehicle interest, leasing and capital costs have their own rules and limits; the purchase price is not simply another fuel expense. CRA explains the business portion.
I wasn't multiplying my kilometres by an employee allowance rate. I was supporting actual sole-proprietor expenses.
The simplified three-month logbook method needs a representative full base year and further conditions. It wasn't permission to reconstruct my first year from three convenient weeks.
After the next delivery, I wrote down the distance before unloading. Both gloves made it home. The notebook stayed in the car.
Canadian rules checked October 20, 2026. Continue with the self-employed records checklist.
