Accounting for Owner operators

I organize my own receipts and use 'Profit Gauges' for entry.

We use 'CPA Group' in Monett, MO for end of year for business and personal, full audit representation insurance runs $2,600 for LLC elected S corp pass through.

You can save a lot if you can track your own stuff during the year, vs taking a trash bag full of paper to the accountant in February.

 

Learning a bit of accounting and tax stuff and keeping track of your own books might save you a few bucks paying someone else to do some data entry. However I think it's debatable whether it's worth it for that reason alone. Much more importantly IMO, doing it yourself will keep you more 'in touch' with your numbers. You can still hire a tax CPA or whatever (in addition to studying the topic on your own time) to review what you are doing periodically.

Personally I am a bit of a computer nerd as well as already knowing a bit about accounting (having a business in another industry for 20 years before trucking) and so I fell into plain text accounting (I use Beancount) and I love it. But that's not going to be for everyone.

 

Ideally, you'd have a wife or a Mom or a mother-in-law whom you could trust with that stuff [every time you came back from a big trip, you'd just hand her all the receipts, and she would dutifully file them & record them perfectly].

But if you're a single guy, and especially if you're no longer close to your parents, then you've got your work cut out for you.

If you're driving Monday through Friday, then you're gonna be spending all weekend recording & logging & filing your mileage & your expenses & whatnot.

You can't be heading into the weekend thinking you're gonna throw back 48 cans of Budweiser by Monday morning.

All them bros trying to drag you off to the tavern are gonna hafta be told a very firm, "No."

Normies have to file their taxes only once per year.

But Owner-Operators have to work on their taxes at least 52 times per years.

PS: When you're thinking about somebody whom you can trust with your bookkeeping [wife, mother, mother-in-law, etc], keep in mind the epic scene from the "Shawshank Redemption"...

https://tinyurl.com/2p94t3s2

Point being that I don't think I'd trust the average "girlfriend" in the United States to be in charge of the entirety of my finances.

Girlfriends come & girlfriends go, but embezzlement is forever.

Frankly, these days, I don't know that I'd trust the average mother-in-law anymore.

But I might be just a tad more cynical than average.

Still, though, you gotta have 100% confidence in whomever keeps those records for you.

And if you're the only person in the world whom you can absolutely trust, then you ain't drinking any Budweiser anymore.

You're on the wagon.

Nose to the grindstone.

File those records.
File those records.
File those records.

 

I think @Tarh331_Dad analysis is pretty spot-on. Unless you are lucky enough to have someone you can trust, it might be better to hire it out. I remember when I was OTR, I barely had time to catch up on rest on my 'weekend' (really just a 34), but that was as a slave-driven company driver.

In fact @Tarh331_Dad, your analysis was so spot-on that it made me think again of an idea I had somewhat recently. Since I am on the sidelines now with a crash on my record, maybe it would be a good time to hang out a shingle as a 'back office' service for truck drivers, doing bookkeeping and whatever else might be needed along the way. I could put my OCD, former business, accounting, and IT skills to good use, maybe even enough to make a business out of it.

 

I use truckingoffice.com to keep organized, it also keeps track of my state mileage for IFTA. I would Google an accountant in your area, who has experience in trucking. What area are you located in?

 

As a one truck guy it won’t take anywhere close to “all weekend” to take care of your paperwork, especially if you’re using something simple like Profit Gauges.

 

I use quickbooks and a one man show. It only takes a few minutes to add everything in. No reason to hire anyone if you are some what decent with a computer.

 

Soooooo..... Now...... 4 months in you are thinking about accounting/bookkeeping? Is your shoebox full of receipts?