Industry guidelines dictate that most trucking companies use a basic, all-purpose accounting program designed for small businesses. It's a smart move (at first, anyway). Day-to-day accounting tasks for a small company may be performed with relative ease with these software programs. What they're there for is exactly what they're designed for.
Trucking companies aren't going to stay small forever, and they're far from generic in their operations. The trucking industry, and maybe even your own specialization within it, has its own set of desires and needs.
Would a trucking accounting software package that contains everything a company needs be more beneficial? Is it one that's been custom-made for their particular industry?
The following are some of the reasons why we think so:
For this to work, you'll need interoperable apps. In this case, it's very conceivable that the programs you're using are fully functioning on their own. Sadly, they are unable to converse with each other at all. That is, if anything at all has changed.
Certain programs' data might potentially be posted to the internet or passed on to other programs through transmission. After a transaction has been completed, a sales order processed in your transportation module may be submitted to your accounts receivable application. Alternatively, you may send a summary of the checks you've sent to your owner/operators to your general ledger computer to be processed further there.
There are only a limited number of benefits to be gained from this kind of basic integration in the long term. Unhappy workers, disgruntled drivers, and lost sales are just some of the downsides of having bottlenecks in your business. They may also cost you a lot of money.
Having your programs talk to one another all the time would be quite helpful
Using this as an example, here's an example: It's time to begin processing your gas distributor's invoices. In your trucking accounting software, you connect to their system and obtain the whole transaction list. Your accounts payable system receives all of these transactions with a simple click of a button. You and your company's equipment statements are updated in real time. Isn't it amazing how quickly your gas tax system has been updated?
Real-time updates to your accounts payable and owner/operator liability accounts will be shown in your financial statements. As a bonus, if you have collected information on cash advances given to company drivers, the driver pay information submitted to payroll will automatically include those amounts as well.
Faster billing and easier search and retrieval are two of your most pressing concerns
You may achieve incredible results when your dispatch, customer relationship management, and transportation accounting software systems are all connected together.
Think about the following situation: Awaiting Invoices is a component of the order and task tracking system where you may keep track of completed orders and jobs for your customers. A real-time report is automatically prepared for you so that you may study them at any time. Creating invoices with the right data and amounts is as simple as clicking a few buttons.
You've typed the same information twice now. Is there any reason why you should have to move to a different invoicing program and start the procedure over again?
Suppose a customer calls or emails you with a question or concern about their bill. You may do a search to discover that person and retrieve the information you need from their file. You can find the solution to any question, no matter how old it is, in a matter of seconds. Everything is going well in your company's operations and accounting divisions. Wonderful things happen in this world.
You must have up-to-the-minute financial information in order to make judgments
If you have frequent contact between the operations and accounting departments of your company, you might get new insights that you would otherwise have missed.
Your accounting records are updated in real time whenever a new entry is produced (for example, when an invoice for a customer's cargo is prepared, a check is issued, or when an invoice for fuel is processed).
Your General Ledger is updated on a regular basis, ensuring that it always reflects the current state of your business. During the course of a typical business day, data is automatically gathered from other applications and synced in real time.
At any moment, you may access and customize your financial statements to match your specific needs. Income statements and balance sheets may be produced for any period of time. Depending on the reader's demands, they may be as long or as short as they are required.
If you do this, you'll never have to worry about an audit again. It is possible to trace every financial transaction in your company's trucking division back to its origin at any given moment.
You need payroll processing that is 90% faster
Any automated payroll system will save a company a substantial amount of time when compared to manually handling payroll. In the past, it would have been a nightmare comes true.
When your payroll software is fully integrated with the rest of your trucking operation's activities, the procedure becomes even more complex.
The implications for you and your position are many
Alternatively, the gross pay for drivers will be entered directly into the payroll system from their driver files. Everything has been calculated depending on your daily travelling habits. It's up to you how much you want to pay for the service. Everything can be handled by the system. Owner/operator statements and driver settlements are prepared on-site.
In the payroll system, gross pay for drivers will be transmitted as soon as you print the final run of your settlements, taking into account any charge-backs and cash advances.
It is impossible to save at least twice as much time with any other payroll software than with an integrated Trucking Payroll System that is connected directly to the rest of your company.
It is essential that you have a team of people that are knowledgeable in your field of work
When dealing with customer service, have you ever had an unpleasant experience? You may have had to go through a series of phone menus, such as "Press 1," "Press 2," and so on. Then you'll finally get through to someone who's reading from a script and has no clued what you're trying to say?
When that happens, we dislike it much
It is more beneficial to have a face-to-face conversation when you need help. A person who understands and empathizes with your situation. A trucking accountant that specializes in the area of trucking accounting would be helpful if you ever had a problem with your transportation accounting.
Who knows what will happen next?
As you examine the future of your business, maybe this has given you some food for thought.
