These steps create a report that separates and subtotals fuel gallons by fuel type, truck, and even state. While you are bookkeeping, you can also record gallons, killing two birds with one stone.
The tutorial starts here.
Review
Previous posts:
- Explained that you can use QuickBooks®, Quicken and other bookkeeping applications to record fuel gallons
- Listed the benefits of keeping fuel records in your electronic ledger
- Presented a short video of the fuel record keeping process
- Explained how to create a main fuel account to enable fuel gallon reports
IFTA Reportable Fleets
If you do not know what IFTA stands for, then you hopefully do not fall under IFTA regulations. IFTA reportable fleet owners must separate fuel by type. For example, they must separate fuel used by IFTA reportable vehicles from that used by non-IFTA reportable vehicles. Creating a sub account for IFTA Reportable Fuel accomplishes this.
Fleets containing vehicles that use both Gas and Diesel must also separate fuel gallons by type as well as IFTA and non-IFTA use. Sub accounts make this possible as well.
Other Fleets & Theft
Other reasons exist for keeping track of fuel purchases. You may become as detailed as desired to the point of separating gallons by vehicle.
Separating gallons by vehicle requires diligence from your drivers. You must require them to write the vehicle number on each fuel receipt. However, you can then reconcile gallon reports against mileage to expose any employee theft. For example, with accurate records, you may find a pickup that gets three miles per gallon highly suspect. The information gained from good record keeping may surprise you.
This Post
This post explains how to track more than one fuel type using sub accounts of the parent Fuel Account. These instructions use QuickBooks®. For other bookkeeping applications, consult the application's documentation for how to create accounts and sub accounts.
You should have already set up a main account for fuel as instructed previously. If not, return to the beginning of this tutorial.
Using sub accounts for each fuel type is helpful if you collect receipts from employees who purchase fuel.
You may download credit card transactions before employees submit receipts. In that case, you may not know the type of fuel for each fuel purchase when adding the downloaded transactions to your ledger.
If you select the main Fuel Account at that time, you can at least record the purchases as fuel. Later, when you have the receipts, you can select the proper sub account for the fuel type.
Creating the Sub Account
The following example illustrates how to create an IFTA Diesel account. Repeat the steps for other sub accounts (fuel types) if desired. A short video at the end of this posts illustrates the entire process.
Select Chart of Accounts from the Lists menu.
Select New from the Account menu:
Select the radio button next to Expense as the Type of Account.
Follow the same steps you performed previously when setting up the main fuel account. Refer to the video in Part 2 if you do not remember how to do this.
- Type a name for Account in the Account Name text box.
- Check the box next to Sub Account of.
- Select the main Fuel Account from the drop-down box next to Subaccount of
- Click the Save & Close button to save the account and close the Add New Account window.
- Repeat for additional sub accounts (fuel types).
Now the QuickBooks® Chart of Accounts lists the fuel sub account below the main fuel account like this:
If your subaccounts are not indented see: http://www.fuelrecordkeeping.com/2011/10/indent-quickbooks-fuel-sub-accounts.html for how to fix this.
This short video illustrates the entire process.
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