How to Use QuickBooks for a Trucking Company

Setting up your trucking company's books in QuickBooks can feel like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The default settings are designed for generic retailers or service businesses, missing the specific accounts and workflows needed to track profitability per truck, manage IFTA fuel tax data, and pay owner-operators correctly. Straight out of the box, it won't tell you your cost per mile or if that last load to Laredo was actually profitable after fuel and broker fees.

This tutorial provides a clear-cut guide to customizing QuickBooks Online for trucking operations. We will walk through building a trucking-specific chart of accounts, tracking income and expenses on a per-load basis, gathering IFTA data, and handling driver settlements so you can see precisely where your money is going.

A Custom Chart of Accounts is Your Foundation

The standard QuickBooks chart of accounts is a starting point, but it lacks the detail needed to run a trucking business efficiently. Vague categories like "Job Supplies" or "Services" won't work. You need granular accounts that reflect how your business operates—tracking fuel separately from tires and detention pay separately from freight revenue. A well-organized chart of accounts is the engine for all your important financial reports.

To customize your chart of accounts, navigate to Bookkeeping > Chart of Accounts > New.

Here’s a structure built specifically for a trucking company:

Income Accounts

• Freight Revenue: The primary income from hauling loads. This should be the largest item in your income section.
• Fuel Surcharge Income: Monies collected from brokers or clients to cover fuel cost fluctuations. Tracking this separately helps you see if your surcharges are adequately covering your fuel expenses.
• Detention/Layover Pay: Compensation for extra waiting time at a shipper or receiver. It's important to track this because excessive, unpaid detention time is a common profit leak.
• Lumper Fee Reimbursement: Income received to cover the cost of third-party loading or unloading services.

Cost Of Goods Sold (Or Direct Trip Expenses)

Think of these as your "per-load" variable expenses. This framework helps you later calculate profitability for each trip. These are costs that only occur when a truck is actually running a load.

• Fuel: Your biggest variable expense. This account holds all your diesel purchases.
• Driver Payroll - Company Employees: Gross wages for your W-2 drivers. If you use QuickBooks payroll, it will create this account automatically.
• Driver Payouts - Owner-Operators: Payments to 1099 independent contractors driving under your authority.
• Tolls: All pre-pass, E-ZPass, and cash tolls incurred on the road.
• Load brokerage fees: A percentage of the freight revenue paid to brokers.
• Lumper Fees (Expense): The actual amount you pay out to lumping services. You’ll compare this to your "Lumper Fee Reimbursement" income account.
• Scales & Permits: Costs for CAT scales, overweight permits, and other trip-specific permits.
• Driver Travel/Per Diem Advance: Funds advanced to drivers for overnight travel and living expenses when away from their principal home.

Overhead Expenses

These are the fixed costs of keeping your business running, regardless of whether a truck is moving or not.

• Truck & Trailer Expenses:
  • Truck & Trailer Insurance: Your primary liability, cargo, and physical damage insurance premiums.
  • Repairs & Maintenance: Oil changes, brake jobs, parts, and labor (for work you hire out).
  • Tires: Keep this separate from general repairs. Buying a new set of tires is a significant, predictable expense that you should budget for.
  • Loan Payments or Leases: Payments on your equipment loans or lease agreements. Keep interest separate from principal if needed by setting them up as "subaccounts" in your chart of accounts.
  • Licenses, Titling & IFTA filing fees:
  • ELD & Dashcam Subscriptions: Monthly or annual fees for your electronic logging devices, telematics, or GPS software.
  • Truck Wash and Supplies:
• General & Administrative Expenses:
  • Dispatch Service Fees: What you pay a third-party dispatcher. If you have an in-house dispatcher, this would be their salary.
  • Load Board Subscriptions: Fees for services like DAT, Truckstop, etc.
  • Factoring Fees: Fees paid to a factoring company to get cash advances on your freight bills. This is a key metric for your operating costs.
  • Advertising and Marketing:
  • Professional Fees: Costs for your accountant, tax professional, or legal counsel.
  • Office Rent, Phone, and Utilities:

Tracking Per-Load Profitability with Sales Receipts and Invoicing

To understand if you are making money, you must see your profitability on each load. To do this, treat each load-specific service as an individual "Product" in QuickBooks. This allows you to create detailed invoices and see a breakdown of your revenue sources.

Go to Sales > Products and Services > New to create the following:

• Freight Hauling: This will be the main service item for your load revenue.
• Fuel Surcharge: A separate item to account for fuel surcharge pay.
• Detention & Layover: Create an item for each to bill these separately when applicable.
• Lumper Reimbursement: Use this to bill back the broker for lumper fees you paid.

When you create an invoice for a customer (e.g., a broker or direct shipper), you'll add these service items as individual lines. In the description field for the "Freight Hauling" item, always include the Rate Confirmation Number and/or Bill of Lading (BOL) number. This creates a clear paper trail connecting your accounting records to your operational records, which is invaluable if a payment dispute arises.

How To Use Class and Location Tracking for Deeper Insights

Once you are operating more than one truck, you need a way to see how each is performing. Are some barely profitable or costing you money? The "Class Tracking" feature, available in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced subscriptions, is extremely productive for this.

First, turn it on at Account & Setting ⚙️(gear icon) > Advanced > Categories > Track classes. Select 'one to each entire transaction'. This lets you run a Profit & Loss report for each truck individually.

Setting up Trucks As a Class

Here’s how to set it up:

1. Navigate to Settings ⚙️ > All Lists > Classes.
2. Click New and create a class for each truck in your fleet (e.g., "Unit 101," "Unit 102").

Now, when you enter any transaction—whether it's an invoice, a fuel expense, or a repair bill—you will see a "Class" field. Assign the relevant truck to that transaction. When you pay for a new tire for Unit 101, you assign that expense to the "Unit 101" Class.

At the end of the month, you can run a Profit & Loss Report and select "Display columns by Classes." This builds a P&L statement with a separate column for each truck, showing its specific income, trip costs, and profits (or losses). This immediately reveals which trucks are revenue producers and which are costing you money.

A Simple QuickBooks Workflow for IFTA Reporting

QuickBooks does not automatically calculate IFTA taxes. However, it's the most dependable place to gather the necessary purchase data. Your job is to enter fuel purchases with care so you can get the data out at the end of the period.

1. Record Every Fuel Receipt Accurately: Every fuel purchase must be entered into QuickBooks as an "Expense" or "Bill." Include the correct date, amount, and vendor (e.g., Pilot, Loves, etc.).
2. Create a New Expense Transaction:
   • Payee: Whichever account you used to pay for the fuel.
   • Payment Date: The date of the transaction.
   • Vendor: The name of the truck stop.
3. Use the "Memo" or Description Field for Tracking: When entering a fuel transaction, use the description or memo field to document the purchase price and gallons purchased. Use consistent formatting like: "150 gallons - CA" or "200 gallons - TX". This is the single most important step in this process.
4. Run a Report at the End of the Quarter: At the end of each quarter, navigate to Reports & search for the "Transaction List by Vendor Report." Filter the report to show transactions for the quarter and fuel purchases by account. Use the category "Fuel."
5. Sort and Export to Excel: Once the data is in Excel, you can now sort your spreadsheet by the memo field. This groups all your purchases by state. You can use the sum function to quickly calculate the total gallons purchased in each state.
6. Combine with Your Mileage Logs: You will combine this data from QuickBooks with data from your ELD or logbooks (miles driven per state) and fill out your IFTA quarterly return.

Paying Drivers

Pay structures for drivers in QuickBooks vary significantly. It is important to manage them correctly to stay compliant and ensure accurate record keeping.

Paying Company W-2 Employees:

Using Payroll: When your drivers are regular employees on salary, payroll is the best tool for this. QuickBooks Payroll handles all calculations for withholding (Federal, State, and FICA/FUTA taxes), generates paystubs, and processes IRS-required forms like W-2s and 941s for tax filing.

Paying Owner-Operators or Contractors:

Owner-operators or contractors should be treated as non-employees. You don't run payroll for them the way you do for company employees. They should be set up in QuickBooks as Vendors. Here’s the process:

1. Calculate the Settlement: Calculate the owner-operator payout according to their contract: Load Revenue minus agreed-upon fees (fuel, dispatch, insurance, etc.) = Payout to Owner-Operator.
2. Enter Into QuickBooks: Navigate to New > Bill to assign the payout to a vendor as you would any invoice. This creates a record of your Accounts Payable. Use the expense account for "Driver Payouts" – Owner-Operators.
3. Track Payment: When you pay the owner-operator, record the payment to the bill you created. This closes the transaction and keeps your books accurate.
4. Issue 1099s: QuickBooks will track the total paid to each vendor and will automatically generate 1099 forms if you are subscribed to that feature.

Final Thoughts

Running a successful trucking business requires discipline and a clear understanding of your numbers. Customizing QuickBooks Online for your specific needs starts by setting up a detailed chart of accounts, tracking each load, and tagging expenses to each truck. Doing so transforms QuickBooks from a generic bookkeeping tool into a powerful business analysis tool that provides the insights you need to make informed decisions.

While using QuickBooks is great for practical processes, the real value comes when you start to do strategic planning or work with advisors. Accounting professionals with expertise in trucking companies can help with complex regulations and optimizing your operations. Spending time researching tools that work best for you can lead to an efficient setup.

Feather AI provides access to experts and resources that can help ensure you are using QuickBooks to its fullest potential.