As you start to learn the ropes of trucking as an owner-operator and owning your business, you should focus most closely on managing your business and personal expenses. Along the way, you’ll be responsible for a lot when it comes to the financial realm -- accounting, taxes, financial goals and your own rules of conduct. A strong financial services provider can provide assistance and guidance.
Many owner-operators fail within the first few years, as do most small businesses. A good service provider often can save you an amount of money that more than covers the annual service fee.
Such a provider should be able to give you all the tools necessary for running a profitable trucking business. These include:
PROFIT PLANNING. A profit plan is akin to a budget, or a plan that helps you oversee your business and control your future, including both business and personal expenses and goals.
BOOKKEEPING. Collecting, sorting and tallying receipts and settlements might take as much as several hours a week. A good business service can, in effect, give you back that time.
DIGITAL RECEIPT SUBMISSION. Look for a provider that offers easy ways to send documentation. Accurate bookkeeping is more easily achieved when sending documents through a secure mobile app or an online portal, or both.
PROFIT-AND-LOSS STATEMENTS. These reports provide snapshots of your business’s health. A profit-and-loss statement shows your revenue, fixed and variable costs, net income, contribution margin and break-even miles.
BENCHMARKING. This is the practice of comparing your business to the rest of the industry to decide what changes may be needed to maximize your profitability. ATBS's semi-annual benchmarking sessions, for instance, provide that opportunity for owners all around the trucking industry.
TAX PREPARATION. Federal and state income tax rules relative to trucking are complex and constantly changing. You need a business service provider with tax expertise in trucking -- one that has a Certified Public Accountant and Registered Tax Return Preparers. This critical expertise helps professional drivers find every legal tax deduction, thereby helping to reduce your tax burden significantly.
RECEIPT ARCHIVE. A good provider will house receipts and financial documents in a place where you can access them anytime on the road or at home. This information should be in an encrypted secure site that keeps your personal information safe.
BUSINESS CONSULTING. A good business service provides continual consultation to help you better understand the essential tools of business.
Finding the right match
Choosing a business services provider is an important step that should be taken carefully. Consider these criteria to make your choice:
- How long has the provider been in business and serving the trucking industry?
- Does the provider understand how the trucking industry operates and where it’s headed?
- Is the company large enough to provide the best services, benchmarking and comparison data?
- Is the provider’s customer base composed of successful owner-operators and fleets?
- Does the tax staff hold professional tax credentials and have trucking-specific expertise?
- Do the provider and its tax department provide audit support by CPAs or enrolled agents if a client is audited?
- Does the provider offer an assigned consultant, or do you typically speak with a different person every time you call?
- How does the provider charge?
Work with your business services provider to determine key issues to address in your operation. Based on this information, your consultant should help you complete your profit plan. Over the long term, the ability to tie the financial side of the business seamlessly into the systems of freight partner carriers or other entities could make it easier for independent contractors of all stripes to manage the day-to-day of their businesses. Business services outfits might be a bridge to those connections, too.
[Related: The problem with 'work/life balance' for small business owners OTR]
Professional assistance
ATBS, co-author of the Partners in Business playbook for owner-operators and presenter at related seminars, is the nation’s largest owner-operator business services provider. ATBS has years of experience in the trucking industry and partnerships with most major owner-operator fleets.
The Colorado-based firm provides bookkeeping, profit planning, profit-and-loss statements, tax preparation, incorporation review, a secure online portal and consulting services for more than 40,000 owner-operators. It can use its extensive database to pinpoint dozens of owner-operator benchmarks, and measurements of key operations, that are not available elsewhere.
ATBS clients make on average 40% more than their peers. Let ATBS help you grow your business and gain peace of mind in knowing that you are on the road to success as an owner-operator. ATBS enrollment specialists can be reached at (888) 640-4829 or via www.ATBS.com for answers to critical questions.
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