Before you throw your laptop and files into your vehicle to hit the road, there are some important factors to consider first. Just as you planned and designed your home office, you must also plan your vehicle office carefully.

1. Is Your Vehicle Suitable For a Mobile Office?
2. • Consider the type of vehicle you have, and how it will be used as your mobile office.
   • Will the vehicle have adequate storage space?
   • What items will you need to leave in on a regular basis - car seats, seasonal gear, and tire repair equipment?
   • How will these items affect the space you need?
   • Another consideration worth evaluating is the mileage your vehicle gets. Find out first from you employer if you will be reimbursed for mileage or if it can be a tax deduction.
   • While compact cars normally provide better mileage results, will you have enough space for work related materials?
   
   

1. Insurance Considerations
2. • Speak with an insurance professional to learn what changes may be required for your vehicle insurance coverage.
   • When you use your personal vehicle for business pursuits, you have changed the exposure to the vehicle and you must report this change of use.
   • Failure to report a change in use can negate your vehicle insurance.
   
   
3. Organizing your vehicle -What you need, Storage solutions and Gadgets
4. • There are a wide variety of storage and organization solutions that you can use with your vehicle to make it a more effective mobile office.
   • When choosing storage products make sure to select items that are durable and can withstand the possibility of being bumped and jostled in the vehicle.
   • You may need a variety of sizes depending on the types of supplies you need.
   • Rather than using one large storage bin, use a variety of sizes, which will hold your items more securely and keep them better organized.
   • There are products available which provide both a secure work surface and storage space in the front of the vehicle. There are also laptop workstations that can be installed in your vehicle.
   
   

1. Using a Lleased or Rented Vehicle
2. • If you don't own your vehicle, but lease or rent a vehicle on a regular basis, be sure to check the details of your lease/rental agreement.
   • Is there a clause or clauses which may limit the type of use or circumstances which you can use the vehicle such as mileage restrictions?
   • If there are no usage or mileage restrictions, choose a vehicle, which provides you with optimum mileage and storage space.
   
   
3. Records to Keep
4. • When you use your vehicle for business purposes it is important to remember to keep record of the expenses, mileage and types of repairs made to the vehicle.
   • These records will come in handy at tax time and/or when claiming reimbursable expenses from your employer.
   • Check with your own state/province to know how long you must keep these records. You must keep these records in case you are ever audited.
   
   
5. Security
6. • Now more than ever it is important that you lock your vehicle and you store your work materials in a secure manner within your vehicle.
   • You should not advertise nor talk about what you carry in your vehicle - you never know who may be listening. Don't leave things in plain sight as you may be creating a target for theft or vandalism.
   • Use trunk space rather than back or front seat space is a more secure and protected area for your work materials.
   • If you have an in-vehicle storage organizer/laptop desk in the front seat, stow it in the trunk when not in use or you are out of the vehicle.
   • While this may seem to be plain common sense safety, it is important to remember that people do become complacent after time, and forget to lock doors or keep work materials out of sight when they are not in their vehicle.
   • You can purchase additional security features such as a vehicle alarm and locks for containers you store work materials in.
   • Make it more difficult for anyone to get at your property and you can decrease the risk of loss.

Preparing your vehicle as a mobile office will not happen overnight, you may find that you will need to try different filing systems and storage solutions to find the method that works best for you and your vehicle.