Are you good at driving a truck but not so good at running a trucking business?

Driving a long-distance truck and running a trucking business is very different. We’re not saying that if you’re good at one, you won’t be good at the other. But those are two different skill sets. It makes sense to rely on software to handle the harder tasks like accounting and invoice management. So we need to ask the question: is your trucking accounting software system holding you back?

What does your trucking accounting system do for you?

Accounting System

What should an accounting system do?

Any accounting software should manage the financial transactions of a business, including

• track income via invoices, including interest on late payments
• track all expenses, tax-deductible or not
• pay vendors
• manage payroll, including tax withholding
• provide reports such as a Profit and Loss Statement and monthly Balance sheet reports
• produce tax-related documents.

That’s just the basics. Analyzing cash flow, maintaining historical records in case of an audit, and inventory management aren’t just bells and whistles. They are critical parts of the system to make sure that your business runs well and meets governmental standards for a transportation company.

Failure to maintain accurate accounting practices will lead to

• investigations by the IRS and possible the DOT
• loss of customers/brokers
• failure of your business.

In other words, nothing good.😟

Accounting software is out there on the market. Intuit, publishers of QuickBooks, has been in business for decades.

Some truckers and transportation companies still retain their old trucking software systems. They’ve always done it this way. Why should they change?

What’s familiar is safe. There’s no learning curve. But is it the best way to manage now? If a company is still using the same systems after 10 years, it’s probably not serving them well. Of if they’re sticking to a spreadsheet system that was written for Lotus 1-2-3, they may be doing more work than they need to.

Why reinvent the wheel? It’s so simple to use an accounting software, that we often wonder why people choose to use spreadsheets instead.

Spreadsheets for Accounting? Cheaper? Free? Nope!

We are not bashing spreadsheets. (Personally, I still mourn the loss of Lotus 1-2-3 and default to that command structure way too often.)

We can’t argue against free, can we? Google Sheets are free! Why not use it to handle accounting?

Because your time matters.

While we’re paid per mile, we also recognize that our time matters. (Which is why we get crazy over how much time we lose waiting in the yard for deliveries or pick-ups.) Creating a series of spreadsheets to manage a trucking business accounting processes (cause it won’t be just one!) takes a lot of time and understanding of the math, the law, the process of billing and paying employees/drivers and handling the taxes.

(In other words, get a degree in accounting.) 😕

Instead, do this math.

• How much is one hour of your time?
• How long does it take you to create a spreadsheet with formulas and macros to handle your accounting?
• Where do you get the data to keep them updated?

Is your trucking accounting system holding you back? Costing you more than it should?

Like we said, the wheel’s already invented. If you’re going to spreadsheets to handle your accounting needs, your investment in time may cost you more than a good trucking accounting software will.

If you’re spending more time/money on your spreadsheets than a trucking software, then you can make the decision to get on the wagon – instead of building one from scratch.

Trucking Accounting System or Trucking Software?

What’s the difference between a trucking accounting system and trucking software?

What’s the difference between a truck stop and Walmart? One will get you what you as a trucker need. The other is a place to some of what you need, but you’ll have to make do for the rest.

Trucking accounting systems take care of the basics, but when you need a specialized report or to track miles per state, an accounting is probably not going to be the solution you need.

Trucking software, on the other hand, takes care of all of your accounting needs, including IFTA, IRP, and trucker stats reports.

Trucking is not unique because it requires specialized accounting software. Many industries have specialized accounting systems.

A general business accounting software package is not going to be able to compute IFTA or IRP for you. The programming isn’t in there. We like QuickBooks – we do! We offer a way to download your data from TruckingOffice PRO for that specific purpose. But QuickBooks isn’t going to compute IFTA for you.* It can’t. It won’t.

Accounting software for specialized businesses has been around for decades now. But there’s this thought – and it’s not unreasonable – Is specialized software going to cost more?

More than what? Comparing the time it takes to create and maintain a bunch of spreadsheets, or use a software that cannot manage two of the most important tax filings that we as truckers have to file 6 times per year (4 IFTA filings, 2 IRP filings) – why would we try to compare prices?

• Spreadsheets take enormous amounts of time that takes us off the roads.
• General accounting software can’t do the work.

Don’t compare bad software solutions that don’t work. Find the right software.

The right trucking accounting software will do so much more!

Trucking accounting systems can do more than just accounting.

We have already established that using spreadsheets costs you time. And time=money.

So it makes sense that a trucking accounting software that could do more for you to save you more money.

Trucking business software is designed with truckers and fleet builders in mind. The best trucking business software is going to make running your trucking business far easier and more profitable.

But the most important set of numbers that a trucking business needs is trucker stats. To know profits, expenses, and revenue per truck, per load, per month, per day. These are all numbers that show the success of your trucking business.

Trucking Stats Are the Key to Success

Trucking accounting software has to offer you the reports you need to show where and how you’re making money. Those numbers aren’t easy to compute. Even if you’ve got a kid with super-smart math skills, the data they need to compute the revenue per mile is rarely all in one spreadsheet. Nor are the formulas in a general accounting package.

You need these numbers. You need the information they give you to make smart business decisions. The data you need is buried in all the details that a complete trucking management software program keeps track of. But getting it out in a usable form requires more time and effort than many of us are willing to do – if we even know that we should have those numbers.

Many truckers never know what makes their business succeed or fail. These numbers tell the story.

Don’t let your trucking accounting system hold you back by stealing your time and money.

There’s only one trucking software that helps with everything.

TruckingOffice PRO.

TruckingOffice PRO handles everything. Not just the money. The business that you’re running.

QuickBooks can’t produce an IRP or IFTA report, nor can it manage dispatches or routings. And don’t ask for trucker stats.

Instead, use TruckingOffice PRO to manage not just the accounting but all of the details for your trucking business.

Invest in your own time! Skip the sheets and use the trucking software that was designed for you. We’ll even give you a free trial to discover what TruckingOffice PRO can do for you.

Then the only sheets you’ll need are the ones you can enjoy on your bed😃😴 instead of being on your computer.

*Just so you know, we have several trucking accountants who use TruckingOffice PRO to compute those taxes. Your accountant may be one of them! If they’re using it, you should too!