maintenance file

Hi 281ric

Working with over 350 Owner Operators, We always advise them to keep at least 2 years of records for maintenance. Scanning is fine, just as long as you assure yourself that the scans are clean and neat. I'd probably keep a spreadsheet of Unit #, BIT Inspection Date, Notate of any findings, and repairs done along with an invoice number, payments, etc etc.

Hope this helps.

 

Scanning your receipts and info sheets is a massive help, since you can digitize and file them according to a nearly infinite amount of degrees. You can also backup that information in a huge variety of ways. Doesn't really matter how you protect that information, just so long as you do.

 

Both. Scan and reprint, file the reprints, file the originals. The digitized stuff gets fed into Evernote on the computer, properly tagged and labelled, so I can pull anything up on my phone, email or fax it, whatever, even when not at the office.

I even scan my cab cards and medical long form, and keep them in PDF format on my phone, just in case.

Edit: In case anyone wonders why I reprint my scans, it's for a working copy if you will. The originals are filed and not touched again, except in emergencies.

 

Create 4 folders for each year. Example: Q1-14, Q2-14, Q3-14 & Q4-14

Inside each of those 4 folders create different expenses folders for different expenses.

One of which will be "maintenance Q1-14"

Scan you receipts and rename them then drop in the appropriate folder.

For example a receipt for $352.14 having your overhead adjusted by a shop on 1-16-14 that file renamed "$352.14 overhead Q1-14"

If you pay a shop $100.00 to change your oil and grease the truck on 1-17-14 that one when scanned gets renamed "$100.00 pm Q1-14"

You rename you maintenance folder for Q1-14 "$452.14 maintenance Q1-14" then assuming your other expense folders have $1,000.00 in various receipts update the name on your main Q1-14 expense folder "$1,452.14 expenses Q1-14"

Every time you scan and add a receipt in any folder update the name of the folders with the New increase. It provides you at a glance a quick reference to what you're spending on the truck and your tax preparer will love it meaning it saves them time preparing and you money for the service.

I load this on a zip drive and give it to my tax preparer. She can look at individual folder categories and know the exact amount I spent in each one then open each individual receipt to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Entering receipts weekly it's an easy quick job. Let it go a few months and it can be a headache. Update the zip drive every week after doing your receipts in case your computer dies you still have that record.

Give zip drive to tax preparer at tax time.

Toss original receipts in a shoebox and anyone wanting to audit can dig in and sort the mess as they please.

 

Guess I am old fashioned here and try to keep it simple. Since regulations require that the carrier maintain a record of maintenance of each vehicle in the fleet, I use the form they provide, which is about 25 lines with 5 or so categories across the top. Date-Mileage-work performed- who did it- city and state. Any receipts involved are kept with other receipts of the same date/month. My 40 pages of entries covers 14 years of maintenance over 1.5 million miles of the same truck, I can put my hands on the original receipt in a few minutes, even going back 12 or 13 years. No computer needed, everything is in the book, or with the rest of my records. As long as the house doesn't burn down.