Truckers Transport Operators Tips

Financial Tips and Information for Truck Drivers.

Please consider using my firm to complete all your financial needs and requirements that the CRA has in place. By using my firm, you will get the best protection because everything will be completed to the CRA specification.

For the employee you will have some deductions you can make and others not. We know which ones that will work for you.

Make sure you keep all your receipts and send them to my office daily so that they can be tracked properly.

For Self-Employed income also send copies of what you have billed out and received and make sure you send copies of your month business bank account.

Your bank account should be separate from your personal account and have your business name on it. It does not matter if your company name is the same as your given name, but it would be a wise choice to register a company name with a business number and I can help with that and go over details as to what type of company you should have? Sole Proprietorship or be Incorporated.

Make sure your bank account dates start from the beginning of the month 1st, and the end of each month accordingly. Use a banking account with a month-end cutoff. This is one of the most overlooked rules of bookkeeping for truck drivers. Yet it’s also one of the most important, since coordinating your monthly records will prevent mistakes and misunderstandings.

Keeping your books audit-proof is where I come in as your bookkeeper. Maintain separate checking accounts for your personal and business expenses. Save receipts for every business-related purchase including (for some self-employed) Fuel, services, parts, materials, and food expenses for both individual’s employee and self-employed. 

Many truckers use only credit and debit cards to track their expenses and do not use for personal items. You can also Take a Picture of the receipts and send to my office saving the “shoebox” syndrome at the end of the trip.

Also make sure you keep track of those invoices you are giving out and again send me copies.

It is always a good idea to use either a debit company card with a company bank account, or a company credit card. These are to be used only for tracking business expenses. I know some drivers are tempted at time to run into a store to purchase an item that is not company related, try not to do that only use to track the expenses you used while driving and related to work.

Receiving payments for self-employed. (Does not apply to an employee of a company)

Make sure you know when you are going to get paid when you issue an invoice.

There are going to be times when your invoice is delayed in being paid and now you have to rely on credit. It is good to be aware of these delays and make sure you have a good understanding and relationship with the people you are doing hauling for. You are going to have month expenses and payments especially those who have purchased or leased a truck. So instead of rely on credit to make payments which will cost you money make sure your payments are aligned with your accounts receivables.

It is important to reduce your sales outstanding A/R's not paid.

There are several ways to reduce this including focusing on customer credit risk, managing your accounts receivable (A/R) carefully, improving your invoicing practices, and defining customer payment terms. Some companies love to delay on paying you, so you need to make it clear what ‘your’ policy is in regarding getting those invoices paid.

When an invoice is issued, I put them in the books (A/R: accounts receivable) right away and am able to track each one to making sure it has been paid on time. I can even create this invoice for you and send it out to be paid explaining the date in which it must be paid, or interest would be charged on the delay. This works very well for companies who like to delay as they don’t like paying extra interest!

For both Self-Employed and employee's

Per diems are tax deductions that cover meals at a standard amount, versus having to track and deduct actual costs for meals (But you need to keep receipts) It can be calculated by calculating three meals a day and what you paid out of pocket, or for truck drivers (as you usually do not stop for meals throughout the day) it can be calculated another way and it’s important to claim your per diems correctly to reduce your gross income, resulting in less money owed to the CRA. 

To qualify for a per diem deduction, you must be away from home for the night, not for when you are home and decided to take the girlfriend or wife out for dinner. 

For self employed you are allowed business meeting deductions were as you talk about your business with a client, your bookkeeper, or an advisor and these are 100% deductible same as your meals for when you are work. 

(would be nice if I could get a deduction for my groceries!)

If you check out my website here, you will see I have added a section on How To Pay Yourself. Please check this out and if you have any questions, please contact me.

I will add one more thing. (I was a driver to! But not for long like you)

I was given the opportunity care of the Alberta Government after I retired from my Canadian Armed Service to take a free college course. By this time, I already had a really good education in business and Accounting so I decided it would be fun to learn how to drive one of those big rigs as it did not cost me anything! After completing the course and becoming a qualified class 1 driver, and there being such a shortage of long-haul drivers at the time I was hired right away to work as a long-haul driver going all over the USA and Canada and had Great Fun traveling and seeing so many places, and for free, and getting paid! Then I went to work in the oil patch hauling heavy machinery, heavy wall pipe on poll-trailers all over Alberta and some to the USA. With this job I made Big Money! And with it was able to buy my house. Anyway after the excitement wore off and the Big Money ran out I realized that this was a very lonely hard job and no fun at all, especially in the Great White North Canadian winter! And extremely shocking on the personal body system going to sunny hot California and then back to ice frozen Canada! So I decided to go back what I enjoyed most and that was business management and specializing in accounting and tax and working hard for you in making sure that all your accounting and taxes were completed properly and the CRA was not taking advantage of you and youe were getting the bang for your buck! And seeing your smiles knowing that you were in good caring hands makes me very happy!

I hope you have enjoyed these tips? If so and it has helped you in some way, please drop me a line or a text message and let me know.

All the best and stay safe out there.

George