I’ll bet you’re not even thinking about your IFTA right now. Most truckers can barely keep up with the loads they’ve got to haul before the holidays – they’re not thinking about anything else right now. So why are we even talking about them? Because a bit of IFTA strategy now can save you money later, if you’re using the right IFTA software.
Strategic IFTA software helps you plan
You’ve got a load in your trailer right now and you’re going to buy fuel to get it delivered.
Where are you going to buy that fuel? You might want to think about your IFTA when you make that decision.
If you know which state you’ll owe the most money when you pay your next fuel tax bills, you can reduce that now by purchasing your next tank in that state. It may not be the cheapest fuel or as convenient as your favorite truck stop, but by planning your purchases, you can cut your tax bills. You just need to know how much you owe and which jurisdiction you’ll have to pay.
You need a good IFTA software program to help you out.
Pretty much any program will help you figure it out. The problem is that you may have to spend a lot of time entering that data into an IFTA software program – time you’d rather not spend right now that you’ve got a load in back.
I’d say that’s the definition of a bad IFTA software. If you have to enter the data, you’re already behind.
Your Automatic IFTA
You need a program that will compute your IFTA taxes based on your mileage that doesn’t require you to do extra work. Does such a thing even exist?
Of course, it does. Any trucking management software (TMS) that tracks your invoices, mileage, routes, and loads can compute the IFTA. It’s the same data. You shouldn’t have to reenter the data you’ve already put into a computer. You just need a program that will do the computations upon demand.
There are a lot of other computations that same data can help you with to make strategic decisions about loads and deadheading. These trucking reports will show you your
- cost per mile
- revenue per mile
- cost per load
- revenue per load
- deadhead miles
- fuel/mileage use
- IRP and IFTA taxes due.
You’re not going to find those reports on QuickBooks or Quicken. Those trucking-specific reports require computations that the average accounting software program isn’t going to show you. And if you program something in Google Sheets to figure it out for you, the time you took to do the programming is time off the road, not to mention the regular updates you’ll need to stay on top of to make sure you’re paying the right amount. Sure, sometimes state taxes drop… but most of the time, those tax rates will be going up. You’ll have to check every jurisdiction – all 57 of them – every three months – to be sure you’re not going to get stuck with penalties and interest for underpayments.
No, an automatic system is a far better choice. Which one will you choose?
Choose the IFTA software that works when you need it
The only way to make strategic decisions is to have the right data before you buy the next tank of fuel or agree to the next load.
What’s it going to take for you to get that data? Will you have dozens of spreadsheets and a calculator?
Or will you use TruckingOffice TMS?
TruckingOffice will give you all that data – and more. And you don’t have to re-enter your data – it’s going to use the information you entered when you first entered the load for the invoice. Using our convenient reports, you’ll know in seconds where you need to buy fuel, what you currently owe in taxes, and even which load you should take next based on your costs and revenue per mile.
Get ahead of your IFTA now. Use our free trial of TruckingOffice and enter this quarter’s loads. (It won’t take long to enter them with our fast, easy invoice entry form while you’re waiting for the next load in the shipping yard.) Then run the reports and discover the power to make strategic decisions to make your trucking business succeed.
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