Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/372574
42 | I NSIGH T • S e p t e m b e r 2 0 14 w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m C alculating taxes is simply not fun. Writing off your miles driven as a business expense is even less so: getting the IRS deduction of 56 cents per mile requires stringent documentation that can include recording the purpose, distance, time and destination of every trip in the car. LogFirst, a new record-keeping device and app, seeks to change this. "Soware is fun," says Jeff Mason, CEO of Femur Soware, maker of LogFirst. e device plugs into a car's cigarette lighter and records travel data for upload to the LogFirst website. From there routes can be sorted, mapped and prepared as documents ready for the scrutiny of the IRS. e office of Femur Soware is in a suite overlooking the civilian tarmac of Austin Straubel Airport. But Mason, a licensed pilot, isn't there for the view. "I do a lot of business out-of-state, and I fly myself." LogFirst is also capable of tracking flight mileage and elevation. Mason, an entrepreneur and self- described fitness nut, is a person seemingly always in motion. Perhaps it was natural that he founded Femur Soware to make traveling easier, if only for business purposes. Mason has spent 32 years in both the medical and business sides of health care. His interest in computers enabled him to keep pace with the quickly changing field. "e concept of combining health Entrepreneur develops device, app for easy mileage logging Right on track in focus { s m a l l b u s i n e s s } B y S a m A l l e n care with informatics is moving rapidly," Mason says. "I've always been fairly computer-literate. I'm fairly knowledgeable about computers and I've always been fascinated with their potential." Although the IRS and many businesses reimburse employees for their business travels, manually documenting proof of travel was problematic for Mason during his time as CEO of BayCare Clinic. "Many people estimate their business mileage based on looking back at their calendar. at's time-consuming, it's inaccurate and they miss a lot of little business trips that they don't remember." "e old-school method is common," says Sean Ryan, a beta- tester for LogFirst and freelance event planner. "For people who are self- employed and need documentation, it's a pain in the butt." While others in his field experienced the same logging issues, Mason sat down with his friend, a programmer, and decided to solve the problem – and launch a company to do it. e result was Femur Soware, a subsidiary of Mason's health care consulting company Analytics LLC. Femur Software CEO Jeff Mason developed LogFirst, a device that plugs into a car's cigarette lighter and records and sorts travel data for IRS purposes. The device is also capable of tracking flight mileage and elevation. Mason, pictured here, is an avid pilot who routinely flies himself to business meetings across the country. C O U R T E S Y J E F F M A S O N