Bookkeeping for trucking companies and owner-operators
IFTA fuel tax data organized quarterly, per-mile costs tracked by category, owner-operator settlements recorded gross-to-net, factoring advances and reserves reconciled, and load profitability by route — so you know your cost per mile and which lanes are actually making you money.
We work with trucking companies and owner-operators — from single-truck operators to small fleets — on IFTA data, settlement reconciliation, factoring, driver payroll, and books that show you cost per mile by category and load profitability by lane every month. We coordinate with your CPA on tax filings. Austin, TX.
QuickBooks Online · Gusto · Ramp — professional liability insured — month-to-month, 30-day notice
Pick a time right here — no prep required.
Trucking doesn't run on bank balance — it runs on cost per mile, lane profitability, and driver compliance. IFTA data, settlement netting, factoring mechanics, and worker classification are where your books either give you management visibility or leave you flying blind. Most bookkeepers have never seen any of it.
What changes with TurnkeyCFO
Every service below is built for how trucking companies actually operate — loads, lanes, settlements, fuel, and drivers.
Accurate categorization of freight revenue, fuel, maintenance, tires, insurance, driver pay, and all operating expenses. Full monthly close with P&L and balance sheet — with cost-per-mile breakout so you're managing the business with real data every month.
Fuel purchases organized by state and miles traveled by state — formatted for your CPA or IFTA preparer to calculate the quarterly fuel tax liability accurately. No more scrambling at quarter-end with incomplete fuel receipts. We track it month by month so Q-end is a clean handoff, not a fire drill.
Total operating expenses divided by total miles, broken down by category — fuel cost per mile, maintenance per mile, tire per mile, driver pay per mile, insurance per mile. Updated monthly so you can evaluate lanes before you accept them and know which truck in the fleet is the cost outlier.
Owner-operator settlements reconciled gross-to-net — gross revenue recorded as freight income, fuel advance expensed, escrow treated as a liability, insurance chargeback expensed, and net deposit matched to the bank. Every settlement line is in the books correctly so your P&L shows true revenue and true cost, not just what hit your account.
Factoring advances recorded as partial payment against the invoice, reserve balance tracked as a receivable, factoring fee expensed as a financing cost, and remittance matched to the bank when the load pays. Your books reflect true freight revenue — not just cash received from the factoring company at unpredictable intervals.
W-2 payroll for employee drivers via Gusto — correct classification, quarterly 941 filing, per-diem reimbursement documented separately from wages. 1099-NEC for owner-operators paid $600+ by January 31. Worker classification tracked and gray areas flagged for your attorney — the IRS and DOL actively audit trucking companies on misclassification.
Freight revenue minus direct costs (driver pay, fuel, factoring fee, dispatcher commission) tracked by lane or route category so you know which runs are making money and which ones are being accepted because the truck would sit empty. The data to negotiate better rates or drop the wrong freight.
Tax filings, IFTA returns, and legal matters — coordinated with your CPA or attorney. TurnkeyCFO does not provide tax or legal advice; we keep your books filing-ready and support the process end-to-end.
The day-to-day realities most bookkeepers have never touched. We have.
IFTA calculates the net fuel tax owed across every state you drove — not just where you fueled.
The International Fuel Tax Agreement requires quarterly reporting of fuel purchased in each state and miles driven in each state. The math nets out — states where you drove more than you fueled trigger a payment; states where you fueled more than you drove generate a credit. We organize the data quarterly so your IFTA preparer or CPA can file accurately without reconstructing receipts from scratch.
The net wire from dispatch is not your revenue — it's revenue minus everything they deducted.
Owner-operator settlement sheets show gross freight revenue, then deduct fuel advances, escrow contributions, trailer rental, insurance chargebacks, and sometimes dispatch fees — leaving a net deposit. Recording only the net understates gross revenue and hides the true operating cost structure. We record every line of the settlement sheet so your P&L shows what you earned and what it cost to earn it.
The advance is not the invoice — and the reserve is still yours.
A factoring company typically advances 85–95% of invoice value immediately, holds 5–15% as reserve, then remits the balance (minus their 2–5% fee) when the load pays. Recording only the advance as revenue overstates cash basis income and leaves the reserve receivable invisible on your balance sheet. We track all three legs — advance, reserve receivable, and factoring fee — so your books are accurate whether you're on cash or accrual.
Every pricing and lane decision starts with knowing your cost per mile by category.
Total cost per mile tells you your break-even per loaded mile. Broken into categories — fuel CPM, maintenance CPM, driver CPM, insurance CPM — it tells you where you're losing ground month over month. When a load broker offers $2.20/mile on a lane that costs you $2.05, you're making money. When maintenance CPM spikes on one truck, you know before it becomes a cash crisis. We build and maintain this dashboard monthly.
Misclassifying W-2 employees as 1099 owner-operators is the single most audited issue in trucking.
The IRS and Department of Labor use an economic realities test to determine whether a driver is truly an independent contractor. Factors include whether they set their own hours, use their own equipment, have multiple clients, and can make a profit or loss. We track the classification indicators for each driver relationship and flag gray-area situations for your attorney before they become an IRS audit finding.
Per-diem for W-2 drivers reduces taxable wages — but only if documented correctly.
W-2 drivers who travel away from home overnight can receive per-diem reimbursement at IRS-approved rates (currently $69/day domestic) as a non-taxable reimbursement, reducing both the employee's taxable income and your payroll tax basis. We document per-diem payments separately from wages in Gusto so the tax benefit is captured correctly and the records are clean for any payroll audit.
Simple, fast, and designed to work around your dispatch schedule.
We learn your fleet size, driver mix (W-2 vs 1099), factoring relationship, dispatch software, and where the books are currently breaking down — so we set up right the first time.
Freight revenue, fuel by state, IFTA tracking, settlement deduction categories, factoring advance and reserve, per-diem payroll — all built before we touch a transaction.
Full close every month with cost-per-mile by category, IFTA data current for quarter-end, factoring receivables reconciled, and a load profitability summary — so you're running the business on real data.
No — we work alongside your CPA. We keep books clean and filing-ready year-round so your CPA can file without a month of cleanup. If you need a CPA who understands trucking businesses, we can refer one.
Yes. We organize the fuel purchases by state and miles traveled by state that your CPA or IFTA preparer needs to calculate your quarterly fuel tax liability. We track it month by month so Q-end is a clean handoff, not a fire drill.
Owner-operator settlements come as a gross revenue figure minus deductions (fuel advance, escrow, insurance chargeback, etc.) = net deposit. We record gross revenue as revenue, then expense each deduction category separately so your P&L shows true revenue and true cost — not just the net wire.
Yes. We record the advance as a partial payment, the reserve as a receivable, and the factoring fee as a financing cost — so your books reflect true load revenue, not just cash received from the factoring company.
Cost per mile is your total operating expenses divided by total miles driven, broken into categories — fuel, driver pay, maintenance, tires, insurance. We track it monthly by category so you know where costs per mile are rising and can evaluate loads and lanes before you accept them.
We track classification criteria for each driver, issue 1099-NEC for owner-operators paid $600+ by January 31, and run W-2 payroll for employee drivers. We flag classification gray areas for your attorney — the IRS and DOL actively audit trucking companies on misclassification.
Everything lives in QuickBooks Online, Gusto, and Ramp — enterprise-grade platforms with role-scoped access. Credentials are never shared by email and we maintain professional liability insurance.
Month-to-month, 30-day notice. No multi-year contracts. We keep clients because the work is good, not because the paperwork traps them.
Get your instant estimate, then book a 15-minute call to talk through fit and scope. No pressure, no sales pitch.