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A Question About Record Keeping

ATeam

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
As I sit here entering our year-end data into a spreadsheet and beginning work on our 2007 income tax return, I am wondering, what have others done to improve their efficiency in record keeping?

Are you doing something different now that makes things quicker, easier and/or more accurate than before? If so, what is it?

Expediters record/collect a lot of information each day we spend on the road, including:

- information required in driver daily log books.

- a log of money spent in vending machines where reciepts are not given, for things like laundry, newspapers and sodas.

- a log of miles driven in each state.

- information included on every receipt we collect (groceries, ATM receipts, fuel receipts, restaurant receipts and tips, truck wash receipts and tips, oil changes, repairs, postage, entertainment, etc. etc. etc.).

- truck maintenance information (dates, miles, engine hours when repairs were made and maintenance performed)

- run info recorded from load offers to be later compared with settlements to make sure proper pay is received.

- a host of automated money transfers (insurance premiums paid out of checking, truck insurance premiums paid by settlement deduction, collection of escrow money by your carrier if you are new, PrePass payments if you have PrePass, EZ Pass payments for tolls if you have EZ Pass, and more).

(By the way, I know that all of the above is not required for tax purposes. Diane and I track every penny we make and spend, because doing so helps us manage our behavior and keeps on track toward our goals. I'm not talking about bookeeping for tax purposes. I'm talking about total information management for business purposes.)

A while ago, a discussion occured here in the Open Forum about efficient ways to record the odometer readings as you cross state lines. Some said they use small voice recorders kept handy for that purpose. Others said they use pocket size notebooks. That was a helpful discussion that helped us improve our practices.

Other such suggestions about efficient record keeping practices would be greatly appreciated.

Regarding record keeping, what have you done to make things easier on yourself?
 
B

Broompilot

Veteran Expediter
Total Information = a big waiste of time. What I spend on a Coke is personal I work for my personal pleasure. The Govt. gives a Per-Diem if I stay below the min - the % which is very rare I go over than thats my personal choice. I am not about to SPEND TIME ON SUCH TRIVIAL THINGS AS COKE or a CANDY BAR if I choose to TREAT myself.

I began reading this Post thinking wow you got something good and than it turns into personal spending? Phil your really upside down in your thinking we or I work for personal pleasure I do not work to include everything and habit I have to have to be included in Business one way or another. Your post really shows your obsession in your one and only Love of Business. Sorry to be so blunt, you wrote it I am commenting.

You may want to seek counciling, your obsessed with Business, bus, bus, = a committment way beyond what any one that I know cares to follow thru.

I wish you well, hope you will learn to relax.

PS know you will comment on something like well we enjoy life etc.. but puttiing a pencil to every penny is well..........
 
butterfly610

butterfly610

Veteran Expediter
I've read lots of books on financial success that tell a person if they are setting a particular financial goal to keep track of EVERY and ANY expense just to keep track of their spending behavior. Some people do this just to see where they might be spending more money than they'd like, and where they might can make adjustments. Not everyone has to do this, but I think it's a good practice if you're tracking where your money goes. Sometimes you don't realize just how much you spend each month on a coke, or a newspaper or something. I've considered doing this also. This is also a technique they teach people who are trying to get out of debt or fix their credit.
 
davekc

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
I think one does have to have some working knowledge of where their money is going. Even more so if you are trying to get out of debt.
In that case, pennies do matter.
On the other side of that coin is how much time to devote to a endeavor.
Once out of debt, that time may be wiser spent understanding and applying other investments.
Their return could be much greater than time spent on where that .50 cent candy bar went.
It is all about time and how you spend it. Some ways are much more profitable than others.
No need to complicate the simple.











Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator
 
greg334

greg334

Veteran Expediter
Dave said it the best but Phil is right about tracking things in general.

You must know where you are at and where you are going before you can even think of reaching any goal.
 
ATeam

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
DaveKC said, "It is all about time and how you spend it. Some ways are much more profitable than others.

It was in the interest of time efficiency that I asked the questions I did in this post. Simplicity is; spend a penny, log a penny. Doing so more efficiently is what I am interested in.

I started this thread in hopes of learning better ways of tracking our income and expenses. Bummer that no one answered the questions originally asked. I'll do so, so others can see what I was getting at and perhaps offer tips of their own.

Money spent on coin laundry is logged in a small notebook carried in the laundry bag. Money spent in vending machines, especially for newspapers (a frequent purchase that adds up), is logged in a notebook we keep in our passenger door pouch. State-line odometer readings are written down on a notebook kept on the dash. Run info is written in a notebook provided by our carrier. It is kept near our driver daily log books. Those are of course kept too. Time spent in Canada and at home, where per diem rates differ than everywhere else is recorded in the log books.

Wherever possible, we purchase everything with credit cards (paid off each month) and get written receipts. One card is for business expenses, one is for personal expenses. The credit card statements give us a backup record of all purchases and a degree of consumer protection. The receipts give us the ability to check the credit card statements for accurate billing. Receipts are kept in a bankers zip bag in the glove box until they are entered. Then we send them home for storage. The run journal is used to check settlements. Fuel purchases are made with the fuel card our carrier issues.

As time permits, I enter all run info, receipts and notebook information into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet where it can be analyzed and easily shared with our accountant. This multi-page (tab) spreadsheet also has information from our settlements like insurance deductions, Qualcomm fees, and other such things that are taken out of our pay before we receive it.

An efficiency improvement I am now thinking about is to develop a single notebook. The front of each sheet would be for run info. The back would be blank and would be the one and only place where we log purchases for which receipts are not issued (laundry, newspapers, etc.).

This all-in-one notebook would be professionally printed with stiff covers and spiral binding on the top. It would be sized to fit easily into the hand and easily stored on the dash (and also sized to not block the defroster vents). The cover would be black so as not to reflect in the windshield when the sun shines on it.

Having this all-in-one notebook handy would make it easier to enter the information into the computer, instead of doing things like digging the laundry notebook out of the bag, which I tend to put off, and then regret putting off when the entry tasks grow from a few minutes to a few hours.

With receipts and one notebook always within easy reach, it would be easier to grab them and do a couple days worth of data entry, instead of putting data entry off and then disliking the couple of months worth of data entry I sometimes face, and disliking myself for letting the task build up.

While there are those who disagree with the value of tracking every penny, we find it to be well worth the time. But if there are ways to reduce that time, I'd love to hear about them. Thus this thread.

So, let me ask again. Regarding record keeping, what have you done to make things easier on yourself?
 
H

hedgehog

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Phil:

I use MS Money. At the end of the day I record ALL tansactions, either via cash or credit card. (90% CC).

It takes little time, offers an incredibly accurate status of where the money for that day, week, month, year, etc., etc. had gone too.

And, at the end of the year, it is an invaluable tool for either tax purposes and/or a tool to see exactly where your money was spent for the preceeding year.

I also, however, save ALL paper receipts, no matter how insignificant, to back up my soon-to-be IRS claims for the tax-repoting year.

That is, I keep 12 paper folders, labeled Jan through Dec of the current year. This is for tax purposes. I've been audited by the IRS in the past, and had ZERO problems with this simple method of accounting.

As a side bar, I wish to thank you for all the great advice you offer everyone in general. It is sound information.

Hope this helps.

Be safe.
 
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