Small trucking companies sometimes get left out because they don’t have the marketing and publicity power of big companies. However, there are a lot of tips that can help you solve your problems and improve your company’s profitability and sustainability. Here we will give you some useful information about the best software for small trucking companies.
The best accounting software for trucking businesses should make it easy to manage loads, expenses, and receivables. Equally important, the software must provide the ability to run detailed reports for billing customers, paying drivers, and filing International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) reports.
Keeping accurate and detailed information on mileage and trips is important―whether you’re an owner-operator or running a small trucking business. Of all the available products on the market, we’ve narrowed it down to this list of the best four trucking accounting software options.
- Q7 Trucking Business Software: Best overall trucking management and accounting system combined.
- QuickBooks Online: Best for owner-operators looking for a simple way to bill customers, pay vendors, and prepare for tax time.
- Tailwind TMS: Best trucking software for freight brokers.
- TruckingOffice: Most affordable trucking management software with IFTA tracking and reporting.
Q7 Trucking Business Software: Best Overall Trucking Management and Accounting Software Combined
Q7 is serious trucking software for companies that need help managing a fleet of trucks. The accounting software is deeply integrated with the trucking management software to make accounting entries automatically as you conduct your business.
- Choice of desktop or cloud-based program
- Free training and support
- Extensive list of trucking management features
- Integrated payroll
- No upfront pricing
- Desktop version is not compatible with Mac
- Complex system requires training and dedication
Plans & Pricing
Contact Q7 for a free demo and a customized price quote.Read our Q7 Trucking Review
Our Expert Opinion
Q7 is a complex system that will work best when there is a full-time person dedicated to utilizing the software’s extensive features. In addition to standard accounting features like accounts receivable (A/R), accounts payable (A/P), bank reconciliations, and payroll, Q7 has modules for dispatch, freight billing, and pay settlement. You can track fuel and miles by truck through integrations with trucking mileage programs like Rand McNally and ProMiles to generate fuel purchase, state mileage, and IFTA tax reports. Q7 also has a powerful fleet maintenance program that will track your fixed assets and help you schedule routine maintenance, whether based on months or miles driven. If you have a fleet of trucks and at least one person that will be dedicated to learning the software, then Q7 will be worth the investment.
QuickBooks Online: Best Accounting Software for Owner/Operator Truckers
QuickBooks Online is our pick for best overall small business accounting software and is a great affordable option for truckers that need to keep track of their income and expenses. The software has an outstanding mobile app that can be used to send invoices and scan receipts while on the road.
- Easy to use
- Outstanding mobile app
- Track profit and loss by load
- Track profitability by customer
- Plenty of Quickbooks ProAdvisors nationwide for assistance
- No trucking-specific features
- Cannot directly call customer support
- A little expensive for a solo trucker
Plans & Pricing
- Simple Start: $25 per month for one user
- Essentials: $50 per month for three users
- Plus: $80 per month for five users (our recommendation for truckers)
- Advanced: $180 per month for 25 users
New users have the choice of 50% off for three months, or a free 30-day trial with no credit card required.Read our QuickBooks Online Review
Our Expert Opinion
If you’re a self-employed trucker, you don’t need all the features included in the more expensive software covered in this guide. You mostly need to keep accurate track of your income and expenses, and nobody does that easier than QuickBooks Online. You can connect your bank and credit card accounts so that transactions flow into your books automatically. All you do is classify them once they are transferred. Bank reconciliations are intuitive. If you prefer, you can outsource your monthly reconciliations to QuickBooks Live, which will match you to a bookkeeper for assistance. You can also work with QuickBooks Live when initially setting up your QuickBooks to tailor it exactly for the needs of a trucker.
The Plus plan offers you multiple features to help you select the most profitable loads. You can assign income and expenses to “projects,” which for truckers could be a load. You can separate loads into different classes and track the profit for each class. For instance, perhaps you want to track your profitability based on the length of a haul. Finally, you can print a report showing your profitability by customer.
Prophesy OnDemandProphesy OnDemand is a web-based trucking and brokerage solution for small to medium trucking and brokerage companies. Web-based system supports unlimited number of additional users (only purchase the users you need as you need them); Support for agents…Price Range $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Starting Price$100/month/userClient OSWebDeploymentCloud Hosted Demo Pricing
Trucking IntegrationTrucking Integration is an integrated trucking and transportation software built on Microsoft Dynamics GP. The features include: Freight Billing; Manifests (both In-house and Carrier Manifests); Carrier Assignment Processing; Management Reporting; Vehicle…Price Range $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Client OSWindowsDeploymentCloud Hosted Demo
Route4Me
By Route4Me
4.4 (293)Routing chaos finally solved. Extremely easy-to-use, Route4Me automatically plans routes for your business and dispatches them to a mobile app with built-in navigation. Perfect for field service, field sales, field marketing, territory management, and every business requiring last-mile optimization. Route4Me provides the world’s most used route sequencing and optimization software for small businesses and enterprises to over 34,000 customers Call Today & Get Started +1-888-552-9045 Learn more about Route4MeCOMPARESAVE
Verizon Connect
By Verizon Connect
3.2 (710)Our fleet management solutions can help manage unsafe driving behavior while reducing operating expenses and improving efficiency. Learn more about Verizon ConnectCOMPARESAVE
KeepTruckin
By KeepTruckin
4.5 (566)TOP PERFORMER / 2021View the Capterra ShortlistLive GPS Tracking, AI-powered Smart Dashcams, ELD Compliance, Dispatch, and Maintenance. See the #1-rated fleet management platform. Learn more about KeepTruckin
Conclusion
A lot of people want to start their own trucking company and they do not want to hire someone else to handle the software side of it. They don’t realize that these types of trucks can be very dangerous and you should hire someone to run the operation for you. At least it is much safer for everyone involved.