CompareWhich do you needChecked 23 September 2026
FBT logbook app vs fleet management software
One records a person's kilometres. The other records a vehicle. That difference decides most of it.
Every logbook app and every fleet platform will tell you it does ATO-compliant logbooks, and most of them are telling the truth. The question is what the logbook is attached to. A logbook app is organised around a driver: their trips, their report, their claim. Fleet management software is organised around a vehicle: its trips, but also its rego and CTP dates, its service history, its fuel, its tolls and its fines, whoever drove it. If the vehicle belongs to the business and more than one person touches it, the second shape is the one the records need to be in.
The short answer
A logbook app is enough when one person is proving their own work kilometres for a deduction or reimbursement. A business that owns the vehicles, has more than one driver, or is working out FBT under the operating cost method needs the logbook kept per vehicle alongside rego, servicing, fuel and fines, which is fleet management software.
How to tell
Who is the record for
You, for your own tax return or an expense claim.
The business, as the employer providing the vehicle.
How many vehicles
One, and it is yours.
Two or more, or one that several people drive.
How FBT is worked out
You are claiming your own deduction rather than an employer working out FBT.
Under the operating cost method, which needs logbook and odometer records for each car.
What else needs a date
Nothing the app has to know about.
Rego, CTP, insurance and servicing, each vehicle on its own cycle, in whichever state it is registered.
Who pays when a fine arrives
You.
Whoever had the vehicle that day, which means you need the allocation history.
Where fuel and tolls go
Onto your own claim, if at all.
Against the vehicle, so you can see what each one costs to run.
How it is priced
Per driver, sometimes with a device per car.
Per vehicle. Axlerun's first three vehicles are free on Drive.
When you would switch
You take on a second vehicle or a first employee who drives.
You already have, and the logbook is living in a different app from everything else.
Who is the record for
A logbook app is enough if
You, for your own tax return or an expense claim.
You need fleet software if
The business, as the employer providing the vehicle.
How many vehicles
A logbook app is enough if
One, and it is yours.
You need fleet software if
Two or more, or one that several people drive.
How FBT is worked out
A logbook app is enough if
You are claiming your own deduction rather than an employer working out FBT.
You need fleet software if
Under the operating cost method, which needs logbook and odometer records for each car.
What else needs a date
A logbook app is enough if
Nothing the app has to know about.
You need fleet software if
Rego, CTP, insurance and servicing, each vehicle on its own cycle, in whichever state it is registered.
Who pays when a fine arrives
A logbook app is enough if
You.
You need fleet software if
Whoever had the vehicle that day, which means you need the allocation history.
Where fuel and tolls go
A logbook app is enough if
Onto your own claim, if at all.
You need fleet software if
Against the vehicle, so you can see what each one costs to run.
How it is priced
A logbook app is enough if
Per driver, sometimes with a device per car.
You need fleet software if
Per vehicle. Axlerun's first three vehicles are free on Drive.
When you would switch
A logbook app is enough if
You take on a second vehicle or a first employee who drives.
You need fleet software if
You already have, and the logbook is living in a different app from everything else.
Questions to ask before you sign up
- 1
Is the logbook kept per vehicle or per driver?
The ATO's logbook method wants one logbook per car, and an employer's operating cost method wants the car's records. Ask how the product handles a vehicle two people drive in the same week.
- 2
Is recording free, and what is the paid step?
In Axlerun, automatic GPS recording is free on Drive and the export is the Cruise step. Some products charge from the first trip; some charge for hardware first. Get the split in writing.
- 3
Does it know the ATO's 12 weeks?
A logbook has to cover at least 12 continuous weeks that represent normal use. Ask whether the product helps you pick the period and tells you when the evidence is short, or just exports whatever you select.
- 4
What happens to the rego date?
If the answer is 'you would keep that somewhere else', you are looking at a logbook app. Fleet software holds it against the vehicle and, on Axlerun's Cruise plan, warns you before it lapses.
- 5
Can you leave with your data?
Ask for the export formats and whether there is a contract term. Axlerun is month to month and exports the logbook to Excel or PDF on Cruise.
Common questions
Common questions
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