Bookkeeping for Truckers: 5 Advice to Manage Your Money

There is a lot on truckers’ plates. There isn’t usually much time to devote to bookkeeping because of the long-distance deliveries, scheduling, and vehicle maintenance. But just like independent contractors in other businesses, bookkeeping for truckers is crucial. Due to the complexity of the bookkeeping process, you must manage your transactions, receipts, and supporting documentation.

You don’t need to do everything at once to maintain your financial stability. You can avoid some tax problems by keeping your accounts and finances in order. Here are five suggestions to keep your trucker bookkeeping organized.

How Do Truckers Handle Their Books?

The transactions of truck drivers must be noted. With credits and debits are being recorded. Double-entry accounting is the method used in this instance. Double-entry bookkeeping aims to balance your accounts and ensure that all debits and credits are properly recorded.

Do Truck Drivers Need Bookkeepers?

Truckers might also seek the advice of a specialist in bookkeeping for truckers who has access to trucker bookkeeping software. Throughout their journeys, truck drivers must maintain records of several documents, including:

  • Expenses
  • Maintenance logs
  • Parking
  • Receipts
  • Update records

Working with a bookkeeper helps you stay organized and makes sure you’re getting the most out of your tax deductions.

Regularly Update Your Books

Keeping a logbook is the first piece of advice for keeping your trucker finances in line. Depending on what is more practical for you, either a digital copy or a hard copy can be kept. Make sure your digital logbook is adequately backed up if you decide to keep one.

The following details are found in a logbook:

  • Address for Carrier’s headquarters
  • The carrier’s name
  • Miles that are driven overall
  • Total driving time

Review Your Finances Frequently

As long as you do it consistently, you can evaluate your finances as often as you’d like. You must do this if you drive a truck for several reasons.

  • You’ll probably have a lot of financial records and receipts to look over.
  • These records include details on credits and debits, which will simplify your future bookkeeping requirements.
  • You want to make sure that your credits and debits balance each other when you check your accounts.

Maintain Separate Accounts for Your Business and Personal Use

The final financial organization suggestion entails keeping your personal and commercial accounts separate. This not only streamlines cash flow but also makes it simpler to keep track of business expenses and deductions. You may improve your credit by paying off your business credit card charges before interest is charged.

Keep Every Receipt You Receive

The fourth thing you should do is keep all of your receipts. Having receipts for your expenses will make tax season simpler. As a truck driver, you’ll probably have dozens or maybe hundreds of receipts. So, you’ll need an organization strategy to keep your receipts from being lost:

  • Put your receipts in a file or folder after gathering them.
  • Sort your receipts into categories or purposes, such as tolls, parking, maintenance, or gasoline.
  • Record the number of receipts in each category after sorting your receipts.
  • After the month is up, sum up all of your receipts by category.

Three to seven years after filing taxes, the IRS may ask for more papers. There are a few strategies to avoid having trouble later locating receipts:

  • How you save your receipts is entirely up to you. The original receipts can be stored within your truck, or you can preserve copies for future tax needs.
  • Another technique to keep your receipts structured in advance of further bookkeeping requirements is to add dates to them.
  • If your physical receipts are lost, stolen, or become unreadable, saving digital versions will still be helpful. You can create digital copies so that you can rapidly access a lot of receipts.

Your bookkeeping may become more challenging if you don’t always get actual copies of your receipts. When this happens, you can utilize receipt management tools to further arrange your digital copies by categorizing and labeling them according to the receipt’s purpose.

Frequently and Regularly Update Your Books

Establishing a regular time to update your books is the final piece of advice for keeping your records organized. You can update your books as frequently as you’d like, and doing so could help you avoid costly errors like overdrafts and underreporting.

Create a process to ensure that you are regularly updating your books. A month-end close is one technique to update your books regularly. To make sure your records are balanced, this procedure entails evaluating your transactions and reconciling them at the end of the month.

Speak with a Licensed Bookkeeper

A crucial component of any employment is bookkeeping for truckers. So, you’ll require bookkeepers with the knowledge and tools necessary to avoid problems after gathering your records and paperwork.

For the unique bookkeeping requirements of your industry, as a truck driver, you should consult professionals. Work with Your Part Time Accountant bookkeeping specialists for your tax requirements if you’re a truck driver.