Trucking Accounting Software Buyers Guide
Last updated: June 07, 2023
Just like other businesses, trucking companies also have specialized accounting needs. They have to monitor inventory, traveling for their drivers and heavy machinery. Therefore, trucking accounting software or transportation accounting software are there to ensure the proper maintenance for trucking companies. Trucking accounting software offers more than just standard accounting features such as accounts payable and accounts receivable, general ledger, etc. These systems are equipped with solutions including transportation-specific and freight per-mile pricing, vehicle tracking, driver-dispatcher communication options to cater to the specialized needs of trucking companies.
What is Trucking Accounting Software?
The main purpose of a trucking accounting software is to assist small or large trucking companies to track expenses, loads, and run trip reports with ease. This automates various transportation-specific tasks such as billing customers, paying drivers, assisting with tax compliance, organizing pay roll, monitoring fuel costs as well as filing quarterly International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) reports.
Trucking associated with extensive travels presents unique challenges and needs, and to tackle them, a good trucking accounting software is required. A trucking accounting solution can assist users while mapping routes and calculating industry-standard ratings, fuel tax, and practical miles. Users can also automate fleet management, dispatch, and maintenance for trucking companies by using trucking software.
Why do you need a Trucking Accounting Software?
Trucking businesses can make use of trucking accounting software to utilize accounting functions that are more advanced and user-friendly. Using accounting software designed specifically for trucking companies can enable businesses to perform fleet-specific functions such as settlements, load tracking, and IFTA tax reporting. Moreover, a trucking accounting software can make trucking businesses better in a number of ways including:
- Track loads: Users can utilize trucking accounting software to track detailed information for each load, such as delivery date and time, truck information, expenses, and driver details.
- Track expenses: Businesses can easily keep a track of tolls, fuel, parking, and other expenses for each trip using trucking accounting software.
- IFTA tracking/reporting: With an accounting software designed for trucking companies, users can track the required data by the municipality, so they can complete the quarterly filing of the IFTA reports.
- Generate trip report: Geared to automate all trucking tasks, a trucking accounting software also allows users to run a report that considers vehicle mileage, all expenses, pay drivers and maintenance to bill customers, and do IFTA reporting.
- Track income: Users can also bill customers on the go after a load has been delivered.
What to Consider when Evaluating a Trucking Accounting Software?
Trucking accounting software streamlines most of the business's dispatching and fleet management tasks, which means saving your drivers and dispatchers a good deal of time. However, it is important to be careful while selecting transportation accounting software. The first thing to consider is any frustration employees experience while performing routine tasks, along with identifying the places that are not directly producing substantial revenue.
Here’s a checklist to evaluate trucking accounting software:
- How many vehicles do you have?
- Does your transportation business carry passengers or freight?
- Do your customers require to make any reservations? If yes, do you want to facilitate them to do that online?
- Do your drivers already use smartphones or GPS to be able to integrate them as a part of your mobile solution?
- Is your routing complicated? Would your business benefit from an automated routing solution?
Answers to these questions can narrow down the list of transportation accounting software and focus on the ones that will suit your business the most.
Key Features
Expense management
Trucking Accounting systems enable users to capture business expenses due to extensive traveling such as food, mileage, lodging, and more to create detailed expense reports as well as submit claims to management for timely reimbursement.
Safety and compliance
A transportation accounting software improves compliance in this vigorously managed industry that includes fuel taxes and different additional charges and limiting driver hours. This incorporates driver capability, drug screens, physicals, MVRs, therapeutic activity and banners to the dispatcher for drivers not in compliance.
Financial reporting
With transport-specific software, users can easily streamline the process of running financial reports such as profit and loss (P&L) statements, expense reports, and balance sheets. This adds transparency to financial records and ensures more accurate data tracking.
Fleet maintenance
Transport companies want every accident and maintenance detail to be reported. Therefore, they make use of fleet management modules to process claims, report accidents, schedule tasks, and regular maintenance, and track the value for tax management with ease.
Payroll
Most transporting accounting software feature an integrated payroll module that assists companies to track driver expenses, benefits, wages and simplify the process of tax preparation. They also include features including direct deposit to help streamline the payments and ensure employees are paid on time and determine wages are available for instant use.
Mobile solutions
Mobile solutions are crucial aspects of any business. For transport companies, proper communication between the drivers and the corporate office is very important. Mobile features for transportation and trucking are offered by a trucking accounting system that allows the dispatcher to send orders, pickup and check delivery information and send route maps to the drivers' smartphone.
Benefits of Having a Trucking Accounting Software
The key benefits of utilizing a transporting accounting software include better truck utilization, enhanced communication among dispatchers and drivers, improved delivery rate along the ability to manage complex, yet higher-paying, freight, seamless accounting and integration. The list also includes a simplified IFTA fuel tax reporting as well as strong business intelligence.
