INCOME & EXPENSE ENTRY

 

Accounting is probably the single hardest section of the program for users to manage. We have people with all levels of understanding from the person who's idea of accounting is putting thei receipts in a brown bag to accountants. The accounting section has been set up as a single page and uses a format that is aimed at the average person rather than the accountant. We have also added a number of tools to help you in making entries so that you do not need to understand accounting in order to be able to use the program. If you understand what is an expense and what is income then you can probably learn to use our system. This manual will address the general use of the form itself and will offer a section for each of the different tools that are provided and how to use them to simplify your data entry.

 

The first and most important requirement is to SAVE YOUR RECEIPTS and to enter those receipts into the program as you go along. Sitting down at the end of the month or at the end of the year with a huge bag full of receipts is extremely time consuming and extremely frustrating. Receipts will invariably not note what an expense was for and will get lost, torn or mutilated and be unreadable. If you do your data entry every day either at the end of the day if you are in your truck tracking your business or during the day if you're in the office managing your trucks, you'll save yourself a lot of extra effort and frustration. The time to enter things in the program is while they are fresh in your mind. The missing receipt is much more likely to be found or at least noticed as missing on the day it was acquired. If you lost a receipt and remember the amount you can make up your own receipt and the IRS will accept it as long as it's for a valid expense and the amount is reasonable for what you purchased. You'll also remember the $6.00 you put in the laundry machines on the day you do the laundry, but will probably forget it by the end of the week. Spend a few minutes every day keeping your records current and you'll have better records and a better idea from day to day on how your business is doing.

 

If you're stuck check the manual, watch the many tutors in the Income & Expense section, the FAQ's which will take you to the Forums are also a good source of answers to accounting questions. And when all else fails turn to the Live Support or the Contact Us link at the bottom of the page and ask us for help in figuring out how to enter your transaction. The biggest thing to remember is that Accounting is about ACCOUNTING for your money. You need to remember that trucking is a business. Whether you are a company driver or a fleet owner, trucking is a business. Company drivers and single truck owner/operators who are leased to a company tend to forget this sometimes. Set up a business checking account and keep your 'trucking' (business) money separate from your personal money. If you spend personal money on a trucking item, put the money in as an Owner Deposit - if you spend trucking money on personal items take an Owner Draw to pay for them. Don't mix your personal and business income or expenses. You need to be able to fill out a Schedule C at the end of the year if you want to treat trucking as a business and in order to do that you need to have clear and concise records on your business income and expenses.

 

Truckers Helper Online is set up to simplify keeping track of your business. It will take a little getting used to, there is a little learning curve in learning how the program works and how accounting in general works. But a few minutes reading this manual and watching the tutors for the Income & Expense section will pay off in rich dividends at tax time. Invest a little time now and save yourself hours of frustration later.

 

The FIRST KEY TO SUCCESS! Don't make it complicated - it's not. If you can add 2 + 2 then you can do accounting. 

 

So let's get started by taking a look at the Income & Expense page and learning what goes there.