It is imperative for your business to have sound and quality financial information in order to ensure its growth and development. It can be challenging to have to run separate systems that require information to be extracted from different programs and export them into your accounting system.
This can be time consuming; it can leave gaps for errors and waste resources that could be spent on other revenue generating aspects of your business.
You need to identify the problems and assess how such software can eradicate the problems. These are some of the issues that you can take a look at:
Freight Rates: There are different rates for different equipment and commodities in your business and you might have different rates for different customers. Without a trucking accounting software that can sort the rates in a table and alert you when a different amount or quantity is entered into the system, there might be a gap for error and corruption.
Ticket Management: Some of the information contained in tickets would be mileage records, tracking codes and so on. The problem is the high volume of these tickets and how they can be well managed. A trucking accounting system needs to allow real-time entry which can then be stored in an organized system and available for print only by authorized personnel. This can cut down on the number of staff members needed to perform the work manually and it can generate simple invoicing.
Updating Separate Parts of the System: When you purchase fuel for your trucks you need to update your fuel cards, then update your other records such as driver statements, truck or equipment statements, expense and accounts payable. This can be quite an ordeal. It would be much better to have software that will allow you to enter your purchase records into one part of the system and the rest of the relevant sections are updated. This integration saves a lot of time and guarantees accuracy.
Trucking Expenses: With the volume of records for trucking expenses such as repairs and maintenance, permits, licenses and tolls, driver’s wages, fuel consumption, trailer and truck cab costs, tires and insurance. This information needs to be expensed without creating any duplicates. The system can link expenses to the specific accounts so that once they have been entered, no duplicates can be made and the correct invoices with unique numbers will be generated.
Revenue Reporting: Knowing whether you are making money is the meat and bones of the business. A system that informs you on the changes needed to all the factors that can increase profit margins can highly contribute to your business. This will also help determine the correct rates, whether you need more or less trucks, how to save on fuel purchases and so on.
Inventory: If your business stores inventory for shop, it is important to ensure the safety of these assets. Theft and corruption can occur right under your nose, assets may be obsolete or have defects and a system that manages the count of these items can help avoid a lot of unfortunate incidents. You will be able to link the inventory count and costs with relevant accounts such as Inventory, Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable.
Overview Reporting: As much as you need to know if you are making profits, you also need to know where and how. You need to know where problems occur, which segments of the business to increase expenditure on and which ones need to be cut off. The system can automatically update all this information and produce a report on cash balances, net profits and losses, the balances for accounts receivables and payable.
Financial Statements: Depending on the size of your company and your location of business; some companies are required to prepare statements that are relevant, reliable, accurate and complete. An effective trucking accounting system will have had all the correct information entered, sorted and placed in the correct accounts, therefore producing financial statements that will be helpful to investors, customers and other stakeholders interested in your business.
Accounting software is the backbone of any business and can be a significant value-add to any trucking company. This software allows you to measure the health of your trucking business and help manage expenses, identify problem areas and increase revenues.