Guide · QuickBooks

QuickBooks for truckers: recording a settlement sheet

By Jordan Sanders, leased owner-operator · About

Short answer: In QuickBooks Online, record each weekly settlement as one bank deposit: the gross on the first line, each carrier deduction as a negative line to its own account, and escrow to an asset account, so the total equals what hit your bank. Then, in the bank feed, choose Match, not Add, so the deposit isn't counted twice.

Before the first settlement: set up once

1. Connect your business bank and cards to QuickBooks bank feeds yourself. Nobody else needs your bank login.
2. Add the accounts a settlement needs: an income account for settlement gross, expense accounts for insurance, tolls, plates and registration, ELD and equipment fees, and fuel tax, plus an asset account for escrow. (Here's the full chart of accounts.)
3. Add your carrier as a customer, so every settlement is tied to who paid it.

Recording one settlement, step by step

Example with made-up numbers: gross $6,000.00, tolls $120.40, insurance $185.00, escrow $100.00, event recorder $6.00, net deposit $5,588.60.

1. Check the sheet first. Gross plus reimbursements minus deductions must equal net, and the deduction lines must add up to the deduction total. If either fails, re-read the sheet before you enter anything.
2. Go to + New → Bank deposit and pick your business checking account. Use the date the money landed in the bank.
3. Line 1: received from your carrier, account Settlement income, amount 6,000.00.
4. Line 2: account Tolls, amount −120.40.
5. Line 3: account Truck insurance, amount −185.00.
6. Line 4: account Escrow held by carrier (the asset), amount −100.00.
7. Line 5: account ELD and equipment fees, amount −6.00.
8. Check the deposit total: 5,588.60, the same as the bank. If it's off by a cent, a line is wrong.
9. Attach the settlement sheet PDF to the deposit and save.

Reimbursements, such as an IFTA refund, go in as positive lines to their accounts. Carryovers to or from the next settlement are timing only; note them on the deposit so the two weeks net out.

Match, never Add

When the bank feed brings in that $5,588.60 deposit, QuickBooks will usually show it as a match for the deposit you just recorded. Choose Match. If you choose Add instead, QuickBooks records the money a second time and your income is overstated. The most common cleanup we do is removing exactly that kind of double-count.

Every month

• Reconcile checking and every card to their statements.
• Compare income with the year-to-date gross printed on your latest settlement sheet.
• Compare the escrow asset with the escrow balance on the sheet. (How escrow works.)
• Split each truck payment into principal (reduces the loan) and interest (an expense), using the lender's figures.

Do that every week and month and your profit and loss shows what your truck is really leaving you. Here's what a monthly report built from these books looks like.

Which QuickBooks do truckers need?

For one truck leased to one carrier, QuickBooks Online's entry-level plan records deposits, bank feeds and reconciliations, which is everything above. Plans and prices change, so check Intuit's current plan page before you buy. Our Monthly Books includes the QuickBooks subscription, so clients don't buy one separately.