Managing your company’s finances properly is vital for ensuring you have enough money to run your operation and maximise your business profits. This article will cover an essential aspect of Transport Cash Flow Management for your business financials and the areas that, if mismanaged, can lead to considerable problems. First of all, let’s explain what we mean by cash flow.
Cash flow is the money that flows in and out of your business throughout a given period, while profit is whatever remains from your revenue after expenses are deducted. Inflow is the payments customers make for services or goods the company provides. On the other hand, outflow includes payroll, rent, and utilities.
Understanding your company’s cash flow will assist you in managing your accounts more efficiently, ensuring you always have enough funds available to pay your bills and grow your business. Having steady transportation cash flow, your company will be better prepared to weather peaks and troughs in sales, late invoice payments or unexpected expenses.
You can inadvertently make countless errors when trying to manage your company’s cash flow. Here are some of the most common in the transport industry today.
Continuing to employ unreliable drivers
While vehicle accidents are on the rise, it may mean that unreliable or risky drivers are becoming a liability to your organisation. Furthermore, a driver repeatedly late for scheduled deliveries might tarnish your reputation, forcing customers to look for another provider. Your transportation cash flow could be impacted.
Using out-dated equipment
Unexpected repairs or failures result in late delivery, causing revenue loss or client loss. Don’t rely on outdated equipment to ensure the continued happiness of your customers and your daily operations running smoothly, don’t rely on obsolete equipment.
Not tracking all your expenses
Most trucking cash flows prioritise the most necessary expenses, such as vehicle payments and insurance, and then deal with the smaller ones as time allows. Operating this way may be easy, but it doesn’t make good business sense. Without tracking trucking revenue per kilometre and a complete, up-to-date, and accurate list of other expenses, it’s impossible to know where your money is going.
Not following up on late-paying clients
Businesses usually pay their invoices in 30 to 60 days. Truckers face cash flow issues as a result, particularly if a payment then becomes overdue. All trucking invoices must be settled on time, or as a result, the company will frequently run out of cash and miss critical payments.
Unexpected fleet maintenance
A significant issue for companies is unexpected maintenance costs. They always occur at the worst possible time and can be incredibly expensive. Not only that, but your truck may be out of commission until it can be repaired due to a breakdown. The truck will be out of action indefinitely. if you can’t afford the repairs
Not having a cash reserve.
Every company should have a cash reserve to help them navigate cash flow problems. You’ll be taking a massive risk if your company doesn’t have a cash reserve to deal with a broken truck, a string of late payments, or some other unforeseen event.
Overpaying for insurance
Insurance is one of the most significant expenses in transportation cash flow. Operating without sufficient cover is illegal. However, for many carriers, the cost is becoming increasingly expensive.
Now that you know the most common errors in managing your trucking cash flow, let’s look at some tips to help your business stay in the black.
Screen drivers carefully
The regular and careful screening of new drivers is essential, as their driving history can negatively affect insurance rates.
Review insurance costs
Find the best insurance package to help you cost-effectively protect your fleet assets.
Build a cash reserve
Build a cash reserve by saving a small portion of your monthly profits. Divert those funds to a particular bank account and don’t touch them unless there is an emergency with your transportation cash flow.
Have good payment terms for your clients
Setting up realistic, transparent and fair payment terms for your customers is vital to ensure payment on time, every time. And, when costs become overdue, chase them immediately.
Create a cash flow forecast
One of the most valuable tips to improve cash flow is determining a cash flow forecast. List your income and expenditure, then work out your projected cash flow.
Reduce unnecessary expenses
There are many ways to lower trucking expenses to increase profits. The ability to track and examine the different costs of your business efficiently will allow you to identify patterns of reducing expenses. Strategies such as reducing trucking costs through better fuel management can be implemented far easier with a transport management system.
Use up-to-date systems with the latest technology
Using a reliable transport management system (TMS), a fleet management system (FMS) or ideally, a system that combines the two will lead to efficient management of your trucking cash flow. A more transparent way of viewing your finances ensures the ability to plan for any upcoming expenditure.
Load planning to reduce costs
Load planning aims to reduce the number of vehicles on the road while improving operational efficiency. A reliable software system to calculate the most efficient way of transporting goods leads to outcomes that will reduce costs and increase profits through load planning.
As you have seen in this article, there are many obstacles to successfully managing your company’s cash flow. However, there are many ways of optimising the control of your business’s finances in your favour.
Using accounting software for trucking businesses, available from MyTrucking, you can ensure that your company’s cash flow will be managed efficiently and responsibly, allowing your business to flourish and grow.
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* Rule 3 means, you can enter as many vehicles as you like – you’ll only pay for the vehicles you actually USE in a billing month. (ie jobs assigned to them), and includes sub-contractors.
Minimum fee $65 per month.
Pricing is in Australian dollars, excludes GST, and is current as of March 2024.
* Rule 3 means, you can enter as many vehicles as you like – you’ll only pay for the vehicles you actually USE in a billing month. (ie jobs assigned to them), and includes sub-contractors.
Minimum fee $65 per month.
Pricing is in Australian dollars, excludes GST, and is current as of March 2024.
* Rule 3 means, you can enter as many vehicles as you like – you’ll only pay for the vehicles you actually USE in a billing month. (ie jobs assigned to them), and includes sub-contractors.
Minimum fee $65 per month.
Pricing is in Australian dollars, excludes GST, and is current as of March 2024.
* Rule 3 means, you can enter as many vehicles as you like – you’ll only pay for the vehicles you actually USE in a billing month. (ie jobs assigned to them), and includes sub-contractors.
Minimum fee $65 per month.
Pricing is in Australian dollars, excludes GST, and is current as of March 2024.
* Rule 3 means, you can enter as many vehicles as you like – you’ll only pay for the vehicles you actually USE in a billing month. (ie jobs assigned to them), and includes sub-contractors.
Minimum fee $65 per month.
Pricing is in Australian dollars, excludes GST, and is current as of March 2024.
Additional vehicles
$35
per vehicle/month
* Rule 3 means, you can enter as many vehicles as you like – you’ll only pay for the vehicles you actually USE in a billing month. (ie jobs assigned to them), and includes sub-contractors.
Minimum fee $65 per month.
Pricing is in Australian dollars, excludes GST, and is current as of March 2024.
