Managing drive time/mileage tracking correctly is an important part of ensuring your cleaners are paid fairly and your payroll stays accurate.

Which method you use depends on whether you pay cleaners the same rate for drive time as for cleaning, or a lower rate while driving.

Decide how you want to pay for drive time. If drive time is paid at the same rate as cleaning, you can use the simpler method of extending appointments.

If you pay a different rate for drive time, you must use the “fake appointment” method. Otherwise, payroll calculations will be inaccurate.

Communicate clearly with your cleaners. Let them know whether they should clock into “appointments” for driving, shifts, or just client jobs.

There is no built-in feature to calculate drive time or to set up mileage pay for cleaners.

For example:

Best for: Teams who want simple scheduling and pay the same rate for all work hours.

Create a fake customer called Work Shift.

Schedule one “shift” appointment that covers the cleaner’s entire workday.

The cleaner clocks into the shift at the start of the day and clocks out at the end.

They also clock in/out of their client appointments.

On payroll, you only pay for the Work Shift appointment, since it already includes drive time and client jobs.

Create a fake customer called Drive Time.

Schedule a “drive time” appointment whenever a cleaner is traveling between jobs.

Assign the correct cleaner and set their drive time hourly wage (e.g., $11/hour instead of $18/hour).

The cleaner clocks into this fake appointment while driving, then clocks into real client jobs once they arrive.

From your ZenMaid Dashboard, go to Scheduling > List View.

Select the date you want to calculate mileage for.

You’ll see all appointments for that day, including addresses and assigned cleaners.

Open Google Maps.

Copy the first appointment address from ZenMaid into Google Maps.

Click Directions, then paste in the next appointment address.

If the cleaner had more than two jobs, click + Add Destination to include additional stops.

Google Maps will display the total mileage for the route.

You can adjust the order of appointments if needed to match the actual route your cleaner drove.

Use the map view to confirm the sequence of visits and ensure the mileage calculation is accurate.

Regularly review and update your payroll statuses to align with your current business needs.

Communicate clocking-in procedures to employees, especially for activities outside of client-related work.

Test payroll settings by reviewing sample calculations before finalizing them to avoid discrepancies.

Mileage apps: Many cleaners use Stride for easy mileage logging.

Drive time apps: Some teams use TSheets for dedicated drive time tracking.