Bookkeeping for Transport & Couriers

Fuel tax credits are the single largest claim available to most transport businesses and the one most frequently underclaimed. Businesses using fuel in eligible vehicles and equipment for business purposes can claim credits for the fuel tax included in the price, and for heavy vehicles travelling on public roads the claim is reduced by the road user charge. Rates are indexed and change through the year, and the road user charge is reviewed separately, which means a calculation set up once and left alone will drift out of accuracy quietly.

The detail matters more than operators expect. Fuel used in auxiliary equipment, such as a refrigeration unit or a power take off, may be eligible at a different rate to fuel used for propelling the vehicle on a public road, because the road user charge does not apply to it. Fuel used off public roads, including on private property and in yards, is treated differently again. Operators who apply a single rate across all their fuel are usually claiming less than they are entitled to, sometimes substantially less across a year. Records need to support the apportionment, which means the underlying data has to be captured as you go rather than estimated afterwards.

Road freight and courier businesses are also generally required to lodge a Taxable Payments Annual Report covering payments made to contractors. Given how much of the industry runs on owner drivers and subcontracted runs, this obligation applies to most operators above a very small scale. The report needs each contractor’s ABN, name, address and the total paid including GST, captured through the year rather than assembled from a shoebox in July.

Cost allocation by vehicle is the third piece, and it is what turns bookkeeping into information. Fuel, servicing, tyres, registration, insurance and finance costs recorded against the specific vehicle they relate to tell you the true running cost of each unit in your fleet. Recorded as a single pool, they tell you nothing, and the vehicle quietly consuming your margin stays hidden until it fails.

We calculate and claim your fuel tax credits with the correct rates and apportionment, allocate costs by vehicle, record contractor payments through the year and prepare your TPAR, run driver payroll, and prepare your BAS.