How to turn a Motive IFTA report into a finished return

Motive's IFTA report lists distance by jurisdiction for each vehicle over the dates you choose. Export it for the full quarter (for example October 1 to December 31) as CSV or Excel. Menu names change over time, so use Motive's help center if you can't find the export.

Check three things before you rely on it:

• The dates cover the whole quarter, with no missing days for any truck.
• Every truck that ran is in the report, including ones added or removed mid-quarter.
• Personal conveyance and yard moves are handled the way your base jurisdiction expects.

An IFTA return needs more than miles:

• Tax-paid gallons by jurisdiction, from your fuel card statements and receipts.
• Fleet MPG, which is total miles divided by total gallons.
• Tax or credit for each jurisdiction at that quarter's rates, including surcharges.
• Records: IFTA requires you to keep distance and fuel records for 4 years.

1. Upload the Motive export. IFTAflow matches the columns by name and saves the settings, so next quarter is one upload.
2. Upload your fuel card export (EFS, WEX, Comdata and others).
3. Review the flags: fuel in a state with no miles, miles with no fuel, duplicate fuel, gaps in mileage dates and MPG out of range.
4. Get tax by state in the layout of your state's worksheet, then file in your state portal and save the confirmation.

IFTAflow imports the file Motive exports. It does not connect to Motive directly today.

• A truck with fuel but no miles. The ELD was unplugged or the unit number differs between systems.
• Gaps in dates. A device was offline for a week and those miles never made the report.
• Wrong quarter. The export was run for a calendar month or a custom range.

IFTAflow flags each of these before the return is calculated.

Does Motive file my IFTA return?

Motive gives you the mileage data, and your fuel data if you have added it there. You, your accountant or your IFTA service still prepare and file the return in your base jurisdiction's portal.

Can IFTAflow read the Motive export without changes?

In most cases yes. Columns are matched by header name. If a column isn't recognized, you map it once and IFTAflow remembers it for that client.

What if some trucks use a different ELD?

Upload each provider's report. IFTAflow combines Motive, Samsara, Geotab and other exports into one return per carrier.