Freight & Logistics
Trucking, brokers, couriers, and warehousing where fuel, factoring, and IFTA require precise tracking.
The Industry
Freight moves the Carolinas. The Port of Wilmington, I-95, I-40, and the routes feeding Charleston and the Norfolk region keep trucks running every day. The revenue numbers in this industry can look impressive, but fuel, repairs, insurance, and equipment payments take most of it back. A ten-cent swing in diesel or one blown engine can turn a profitable month into a difficult one.
The hard part is the lag between work and payment. You deliver a load on Monday and might not see the money for 30 to 60 days, unless you factor the invoice and accept the fees that come with it. Meanwhile, fuel, payroll, and truck notes keep coming due. Add IFTA filings, driver settlements, and year-end 1099s for owner-operators and the bookkeeping work runs deeper than a general-purpose accountant usually handles.
Who This Covers
Who This Covers
Owner-operators, small and mid-size fleets, freight brokers, courier and last-mile delivery services, and warehouse operations. Any business in the Carolinas moving freight, arranging loads for shippers, or storing inventory for clients.
What Complicates It
What Complicates It
Factoring statements that net out fees and reserves. IFTA reporting across multiple states. Driver settlements with deductions for fuel advances and insurance. Equipment depreciation schedules. The line between routine maintenance and a capital repair. Brokers operating with carrier payables and shipper receivables on different timelines.
What We Handle
Cost per mile is the number that matters most in trucking. We break out fuel, maintenance, insurance, and fixed costs against the miles each truck puts on the odometer. Once you have a real CPM, you have a real floor for the rates you can accept. The broker offering $1.95 a mile when your cost is $2.05 stops looking tempting.
Factoring statements get recorded so revenue, fees, and reserve balances all land in the right place. Driver settlements run with the correct deductions for fuel cards, insurance, and advances. IFTA mileage and fuel data get organized throughout the quarter instead of becoming a fire drill at the filing deadline. For freight brokers, carrier payables and customer receivables stay separated so you can see the spread on each load.
IFTA and Fuel Tax Tracking
IFTA and Fuel Tax Tracking
We organize fuel purchases and state-by-state mileage during the quarter so your IFTA filings are accurate and on time. No more pulling fuel receipts out of the glove box the night before the deadline.
Settlements and Owner-Operator Pay
Settlements and Owner-Operator Pay
Owner-operator settlements need accurate math on percentage splits, fuel reimbursements, and advances. We handle the calculations so the checks are right each week and the 1099s reconcile at year-end without surprises.
What Goes Wrong
The cash flow illusion gets a lot of trucking companies in trouble. You see $30,000 in the operating account and feel comfortable. Then the fuel card statement, the insurance premium, and a truck payment all hit the same week and you’re scrambling. Without a forecast that accounts for the gap between delivery and payment, the cash position always looks better than it really is.
Factoring is another spot where the books often go sideways. The deposit hitting the bank is already net of factoring fees and reserve holdbacks. Recording only that net deposit makes revenue look smaller than it is, hides the cost of the financing, and makes it impossible to track which reserves are still owed back to you. Over a year, those fees add up to thousands of dollars that nobody totaled.
Repair vs Capital Improvement
Repair vs Capital Improvement
A new engine is a capital asset that gets depreciated. A brake job is an expense. Mixing these up throws off your depreciation schedule and your tax return. We classify each repair correctly so the books and the return agree.
Missed Per Diem Deductions
Missed Per Diem Deductions
Drivers on the road overnight qualify for per diem amounts that lower the tax bill significantly. Without tracking days away from home, this deduction gets guessed at or skipped entirely.
What Changes
You start saying no to losing freight. With a clear cost per mile, you can look at a load offer and know in seconds whether it covers your costs. Dispatch stops being about staying busy and starts being about staying profitable. The trucks still run, but they run on lanes that pay.
Compliance gets quiet. IFTA filings are ready when the deadline comes. 1099s for owner-operators and contractors go out on time. Driver settlements are correct each week. The numbers behind the operation work the way they should so you can focus on the load board, your customers, and your drivers instead of the back office.
Lane and Customer Profitability
Lane and Customer Profitability
With clean job costing on each load, you can see which lanes and customers actually pay. The high-volume broker who pays slow at low rates might be costing you more than the steady direct shipper you weren’t paying enough attention to.
Equipment Decisions Backed by Data
Equipment Decisions Backed by Data
Adding a truck, replacing an aging tractor, or buying a trailer becomes a calculated decision. You know what revenue the unit needs to generate to cover the note, the insurance, and the maintenance reserve before you sign the paperwork.
Trusted Accounting for Small Businesses
First Step:
Start With a Call
Tell us about your business and what you need help with. We'll ask a few questions, evaluate your current situation, and let you know how GMJ can support your books, taxes, and day-to-day operations.
