Accounting Fundamentals
Teaching accounting principals is beyond the scope of this program, however, there are certain fundamentals which you need to know in order to use the program correctly. We are NOT ACCOUNTANTS and this advice is offered to help you in understanding how the program works. For help with specific issues please discuss them with your accountant or tax professional!
Here are some of the most common questions we get regarding setting up and keeping your accounts in the Truckers Helper. If you have questions on how to track your income and expenses or setting up your books, please read this section for help with this topic.
1. ACCOUNTING PAGE -
The accounting page is filled with help -
1. Click TRANSACTION HELP and select the type of transaction you want to make from the drop down list.
2. Read the tips at the bottom of the page for help on what to enter in each box.
3. Watch the Tutor for a general overview of the accounting page.
4. Read the HELP for the accounting page.
5. Use the QUICK ENTRY to simplify your entries and help you avoid input errors.
6. DRIVERS & ONE TRUCK VERSION - use the TRIP SHEET & the SETTLEMENT pages to make most of your entries. These input forms will simplify making your income & expense entries for you.
Most calls we receive for help on this subject are covered in one of these areas.
DEFINITIONS:
TYPE - this is the type of transaction you are entering. For example if you're entering an expense you would select EXPENSE from the drop down for the TYPE box. To enter income you select INCOME, and so on.
PAID BY - this his how you paid for the expense. You can pay for an expense by CASH, CHECK, CHARGE or SAVINGS. You us N/A when you are entering something you DID NOT PAY - income for example. YOU CANNOT USE N/A to enter an EXPENSE as in order to be an expense it must be paid.
PAYMENT ACCOUNT - this is the account you paid the expense out of, or the account you deposited income into. THIS IS NOT WHO YOU PAID! DO NOT SET UP ACCOUNTS FOR THE PEOPLE YOU PAY. Enter here the name of your bank account, your charge accounts and/or charge cards. For example: Comdata is a valid payment account, MYCHECKING is a valid payment account. The payment account is the account you used to make a payment or the account you deposited income into.
CHARGE TO ACCOUNT - this is the category that you want to charge this income or expense to. DO NOT ENTER THE NAMES OF PEOPLE YOU PAY AS CHARGE TO ACCOUNTS! This is a category for the income or expense. For example: Maint/Repair is a valid category - Joes Truck Repair is not a valid charge to account.
To track WHO YOU PAID turn on the Ask Payee feature in the Check Setup You will then enter your payees (the people you pay in your Address Book and select them from the list when you write a check or charge something.)
2. FUEL CARDS & SETTLEMENTS -
OWNER/OPERATORS:
If you use a company fuel card to purchase fuel you enter the fuel purchase in the Income & Expense Section as
TYPE - Expense
PAID BY - Charge
PMNT ACCT - The charge card
CHG TO - Fuel -Truck.
On the Settlements page you enter the fuel in the deductions and enter the account as the CHARGE CARD not as Fuel. The program will then show the deduction as a payment on the charge card.
2a. CARD FEES -
Set up an account in your Income & Expense section for charge card fees. When you do your settlement show this deduction seperately as a deduction for "card fees". If you have a number of card fees, combine them all together and make one entry for this deduction.
3. SETTING UP YOUR TRUCK ACCOUNT -
You should set up 2 accounts for your truck:
1. Asset, this is the amount you paid for the truck or the current BOOK VALUE for your truck.
2. Liability - this is the amount you paid for the truck - do not include taxes, as these can be written off as an expense. This is the FULL PURCHASE PRICE of the truck.
3. Loan Amount - you then adjust the liability to the actual amount of the loan by showing a payment against the liability for the amount of your down payment.
If you are trading in an old truck please discuss how to handle this transaction with your accountant.
4. REIMBURSED EXPENSES -
The name of this item is the primary cause of confusion regarding reimbursed expenses. They ARE NOT EXPENSES to the person who pays them, they are expenses to the person who will repay the reimbursed expense!
a) DRIVERS or O/O's - when you spend money which you will later be reimbursed for by the company you drive for or are leased to, this is NOT an EXPENSE - it is a RECEIVABLE. In effect you have loaned the company money for a brief period and they have agreed to pay it back to you on your next settlement. See Transaction Help, Purchases, Reimbursed Expenses for details on making these entries. When you do your settlements it will show any outstanding Reimbursed Expenses on your settlement page.
b) Fleet Owners - when a driver purchases and item you need to reimburse him for enter this in the accounting section as a Driver Reimbursement. See Transaction Help, Driver Reimbursements for details on the entry. When you run payroll any outstanding reimbursements due will be shown on the Payroll page.
A common error for our small fleets is to try reconciling ADVANCES and REIMBURSEMENTS manually. These are two seperate issues, don't confuse them. When you give a driver an advance you have PAID him that money. What he spends it on is his business. When he spends it on a reimbursable expense, he will give you the receipt. You will then enter that receipt as a REIMBURSED EXPENSE (see Transaction Help - botton of the page for help on making this entry). The program will take care of reconciling the advances and reimbursements for you as long as you enter them correctly in the Income & Expense section.
MINUS SIGNS - unless you are trying to make an adjustment DO NOT change the signs the program assigns in the Income & Expense section. The program will normally assign the correct sign to numbers. Normal assignments are CASH OR CHECK PAYMENTS will be a minus - CHARGE will be a positive. Check the TRANSACTION HELP for any specific exceptions.
Our system is simple and, I you think about it logical.
When you spend money (cash or check) that is a minus and is deducted from what you have.
When you get money that is a plus and adds to what you have.
When you charge something it's entered as a plus - when you pay for the charge it's entered in as a minus and cancels out the plus so the account will balance.
Receivables are a minus - when you get paid for them that's a plus - it adds to your cash and the plus cancels out the receivable so that account balances.
The program will, in most cases take care of these assignments automatically - just let it do it's thing and they'll all come out right on your reports. Errors usually only occur when people start changing the assignments made by the program.