Most trucking companies invest in basic, all-purpose accounting software designed for small businesses. It’s a good plan (at first, anyway). These products make it fairly easy to handle the day-to-day accounting needs of a generic small business. That’s what they are for.
The thing is, most trucking companies don’t want to stay small forever… and are anything but generic. You have needs and requirements that are unique to the trucking industry – maybe even unique to your particular niche within the industry.
Would trucking companies be better off with a combined trucking accounting software package? One that was specially designed for their exact type of business?
We think so, and here’s why:
1. You need programs that talk to each other
The programs that you use now, in-and-of-themselves, might be perfectly fine. But unfortunately they just don’t talk to each other. Or when they do, it’s only on a very basic level.
Maybe information from some programs can be posted or transferred to others. For example, a sales order processed in your transportation module might be posted to your accounts receivable application when the order is completed. Or a summary of checks issued to your owner/operators might be transferred to your general ledger program.
We think this type of basic integration provides only limited benefits, and actually creates bottlenecks in the long run. Bottlenecks that create frustrated, overworked staff, ticked-off drivers, lost sales, make your life miserable, and can lose you a ton of cash!
It could be so much better if your programs talked to each other all the time.
Here is an example: It’s time to process invoices from your fuel supplier. You log onto their system and download the entire list of transactions into your accounting software for trucking. With the click of one button, all of these transactions are automatically entered in your accounts payable System. Your owner/operator files and company equipment statements are also updated instantly. Even your fuel tax system is instantly brought up to date!
Your financial statements will instantly reflect the change in your accounts payable and owner/operator liability accounts. And if the information you downloaded includes cash advances to company drivers, the driver pay information sent to payroll will automatically reflect those amounts!
 | Khris Kakosimidi Fleet Manager EGL Logistics Glendale, CA 91204, USA |
2. You need quicker invoicing + easier search and retrieval
Amazing things happen when your dispatch, CRM, and transportation accounting software systems all intertwined.
Imagine this. As you complete orders and jobs for your customers, they move to the “Waiting to be Invoiced” area. You can pull them up and view them on an automatically created, real-time report at any time. And you’re one click away from creating invoices with the proper information and amounts.
You entered all of that information once before. Why should you have to go to a separate invoicing program and do it again?
Later, let’s say the customer calls you with a question or concern about their invoice. You can search that customer, pull up their file, and get the information you need. Even if their question is about something that happened years ago, you can find it in seconds. The operations and accounting sides of your business are totally integrated together, and life is good.
 | Jennifer Archer Co-Owner G & J Heavy Haul Inc. Corona, CA 92881, USA |
3. You need real-time financial intelligence
When the operations and accounting sides of your business constantly update one-another, it unlocks new insights that you had little chance of seeing before.
Transactions are performed in real-time – meaning that every time a new entry is made (a customer’s load is invoiced, a check is written, or a fuel bill is processed), all of your accounting records are updated instantly.
Your General Ledger is always automatically updated and always reflects the current state of your business. Information flows in from other applications in real-time, kept up-to-date automatically as daily business occurs.
Financial statements can be viewed at any time, and even customized for your specific needs. Income statements and balance sheets can be printed for any period of time. They can be as detailed or summarized as needed to suit the reader.
You would never have to worry about an audit again. All financial transactions, from any point in time, can be traced through the system back to the moment it originated in the trucking side of your business.
 | Konstantin Zecevic President Pacific Shores Trucking Inc. San Diego, CA 92130, USA |
4. You need 90% faster payroll
Any computerized payroll system will save a company tons of time compared to managing the payroll manually. What a nightmare that used to be.
It’s taken a step further when your payroll software is totally integrated with the rest of your trucking operation.
What could this mean for you?
Well, drivers’ gross pay amounts will be sent directly into the payroll system from your driver files. It’s all been automatically calculated from your daily trucking operations. Whether you pay hourly, by mile, by percentage, or any other way, the system can handle it. Drivers settlements and owner/operator statements are created automatically.
When you print the final run of your driver settlements the drivers’ gross pay will be sent directly into the payroll, taking into account any charge-backs and cash advances.
An integrated Trucking Payroll System, tied in directly to the rest of your business, will save you at least twice as much time as any other payroll software.
 | Frank Pender Owner PX Transportation New Braunfels, TX 78132, USA |
5. You need a support team that understands your business
Have you ever had a terrible encounter with customer support? Maybe you had to go through a series of phone menus – “Press 1”, “Press 2″… Only to finally reach somebody that reads from a script, doesn’t understand you, and doesn’t have a clue what you’re trying to achieve?
We hate when that happens.
Customer support works best when you can talk to a real human being. One who empathizes and understands you. So when you have trucking accounting questions or problems, wouldn’t it be nice to talk to somebody that specializes in trucking accounting?
 | Terry Evans VP of Finance & Administration Caron Transportation Systems Sherwood Park, AB T8H 1N1, Canada |
What’s next?
Hopefully this has given you some food for thought, while you decide what the future holds in store for your business.
Will you keep doing things the old way? The way a small business would?
Or do you agree that totally integrated trucking accounting software could be a major key to saving time, money, and keeping your business organized and error-free?
