Trucking Bookkeeping: Factoring, Fuel Cards and Per-Truck Profitability#
A factoring advance is not revenue. It is a payment against an invoice that was already recorded when the load was delivered, and the factor keeps a fee and often a reserve until the customer pays. When the advance is booked as a sale, revenue is counted twice, the receivables never clear, and the owner cannot tell what customers still owe.
Trucking has two more habits that distort the books: fuel is bought on cards and settled in batches, and owners want to know which trucks make money while the ledger shows one combined P&L. This article covers how to record each, what an offshore team can do inside the file, and what stays with you.
How the transactions flow#
Revenue. A load is delivered and invoiced to the broker or shipper. That invoice is recorded as revenue and as accounts receivable on the delivery or invoice date, according to the basis your firm has set. The revenue is tagged to the truck, or the unit, that ran the load.
Factoring. The invoice is then submitted to a factoring company. The factor pays an advance, which is a percentage of the invoice. It keeps the balance as a reserve and releases it, less its fee, when the customer pays. In the books, the advance is cash received against the receivable, not new income. The fee is an expense, usually its own account. The reserve is an amount still owed to the client by the factor, so it sits as a reserve receivable until released. Whether the arrangement is treated as a sale of receivables or as a loan is a question for your accountant and depends on the agreement. We record on the basis you confirm.
Fuel cards. A fuel card produces a statement of transactions by card, driver and unit, and the carrier then pays the card provider in a batch. The bank only shows the batch payment. The detail is in the card statement, so the entries follow the statement: fuel cost by truck, and a clearing balance that the batch payment settles. Fuel and cash advances on the same card should not be mixed.
Maintenance and repairs. Repair invoices, tires, parts and tolls carry the unit number, so costs sit against the truck that incurred them.
Owner-operators and drivers. Settlements to owner-operators, deductions and advances are recorded as the client's settlement statements show. Payroll processing is not part of our work, so driver wages come in as a payroll journal you or the client supply.
A worked example (illustrative)#
All figures are illustrative round numbers.
Truck 12 delivers a load and the carrier invoices 5,000.
| Step | Entry |
|---|---|
| Delivery and invoice | Revenue 5,000 (truck 12), receivable 5,000 |
| Factor advances 90% | Cash 4,500, receivable reduced by 4,500 |
| Factor charges a 2% fee on the invoice | Factoring fee 100 |
| Customer pays the factor | Factor releases the reserve of 500 less the 100 fee, so cash 400 |
| After release | Receivable is nil, reserve is nil |
The fee is 100 and income for the load is 5,000. If the 4,500 advance had been booked as revenue, the ledger would show 4,500 of income now and 5,000 again when the invoice was recorded, and a receivable that never cleared. At month end the reserve balance with the factor should agree to the factor's schedule. That agreement is a month-end review check.
Per-truck profitability#
For each unit, the P&L needs revenue by load, fuel, maintenance and repairs, tolls, insurance, depreciation or lease payments where the client allocates them, and a share of fixed overhead on an agreed basis. We report per-truck profitability on the allocation method you set. A truck that looks profitable before overhead can lose money after it, so the report shows both.
Why this work is hard to staff#
Fuel and vehicle records feed filings that carry deadlines. Per the Texas Comptroller (page reviewed October 2026), IFTA returns are due quarterly, on the last day of the month following quarter end, and each member jurisdiction sets its own fuel tax rate. Texas lists a penalty of $50 or 10% of delinquent tax, whichever is greater. Separately, the IRS says Form 2290 is used to figure and pay heavy highway vehicle use tax on vehicles with a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more. Rules and thresholds change; confirm the current position with the client's preparer.
For the bookkeeping, this means fuel card transactions must be coded by truck and by date, with gallons kept where the statement shows them, so the records exist when the preparer needs them. Per-truck coding is also what makes profitability reports meaningful. Fuel tax reporting and any Form 2290 filing stay with the firm or the client's preparer; the bookkeeping records the data they need.
What can be handed to an offshore team#
- Recording invoices and tagging revenue to trucks
- Recording factoring advances, fees and reserves, and reconciling to the factor's schedule
- Reconciling fuel card statements to the card clearing balance and to the bank
- Coding maintenance, repairs, tolls and permits by unit
- Per-truck profitability, a fuel cost summary and a factoring reconciliation each month
- Bank, credit card and loan reconciliations, including equipment loans
- A written summary of adjustments
What stays with you#
- Whether factoring is a sale of receivables or a loan, as the agreement and the accounting framework require
- Fuel tax, mileage reporting, permits and road-use filings, which vary by jurisdiction and which we do not prepare
- Tax return preparation and payroll processing
- Depreciation, equipment financing treatment and how fixed overhead is allocated to trucks
- Customer and factor communication, disputes and chargebacks
- Final review and sign-off
What to send#
- Access to the QuickBooks Online file
- Factoring schedules, with invoices submitted, advances, fees and reserve releases
- Fuel card statements showing card, driver and unit
- Repair and maintenance invoices with unit numbers
- Load or dispatch reports, showing which truck ran each load
- Equipment loan and lease statements
- Settlement statements for owner-operators, and a payroll journal if drivers are employees
- Bank and credit card statements
What comes back#
- Per-truck profitability report
- Factoring reconciliation
- Fuel cost summary
- Bank, card and loan reconciliations
- Monthly financial statements
- A written summary of adjustments, with open questions listed
The work is done inside the client's QuickBooks Online file and reviewed by a Chartered Accountant before it is returned to you.
Month-end review checks#
- Does every factored invoice show an advance, a fee and a reserve status?
- Does the reserve balance agree to the factor's own schedule?
- Is any advance recorded as income?
- Does the fuel card clearing account agree to the unpaid card statement balance?
- Is every fuel and repair line tagged to a truck?
- Does the sum of revenue by truck equal total revenue?
- Are there receivables older than the factor's recourse period, as the agreement defines it?
- Do equipment loan statements agree to the principal and interest recorded?
- Do all reconciliations agree to statements?
Frequently asked questions#
Can you work with several factoring companies? Yes, provided each supplies a schedule we can reconcile. We keep a separate reserve balance for each.
Do you handle fuel tax filings? No. Fuel tax and mileage reporting depend on the jurisdiction and are not part of our work. We can organise fuel purchase detail by truck for your preparer.
How do you allocate overhead to trucks? On the basis you set. We do not choose the method, and the report shows profit before and after the allocation.
Where do we begin? With one client file. See our monthly bookkeeping and reconciliation service, the industries we support and the CPA firms page.
