The Secret to Surviving an IFTA Audit

It’s time to do IFTA. Again. TruckingOffice PRO makes it easy. An IFTA report from TruckingOffice PRO can be run in a matter of seconds. But an IFTA audit is likely to take a lot more than a few seconds of your life.

IFTA Audit Prep?

IFTA audits can be random. Regardless of how perfect your IFTA filings are done, you still might get the notice of an IFTA audit. These aren’t something to ignore. Failing an audit can lead to getting kicked off the road and paying big fines and penalties.

So how to prepare? What’s the secret?

Three simple words.

Keep Good Records.

If you use PC*Miler for your dispatches (with TruckingOffice PRO, for example) you’ll know how many miles to expect for a dispatch. But you need to know your actual mileage at several places to be sure that you’ve got the numbers that would be required in an IFTA audit.

If you’re depending on your fuel card or credit card to document your fuel purchases, always use it. That may mean that you have to keep up on the payments so you don’t have to switch to another card. If you use another card for your purchases, make sure you keep the records. Copies of the charge card bills need to kept.

Keep a Trip Log With TruckingOffice PRO

Be consistent.

Trying to keep track of paper receipts, random numbers written on the back of Wendy’s receipts, and tracking tolls on a McDonald’s napkin is a mistake. There are simply too many ways that important data can get lost.

Besides, this is the 21st century. Keeping little pieces of paper isn’t necessary any more. Using some kind of data management system protects the data and the trucker. The data stays safe and accessible. The trucker has the information that they need when they need it.

Plus, it’s hard to update a Wendy’s napkin.

Updates Happen

Even the envelope system has the potential for failure. When the wrong delivery address was give to the driver, or critical scheduling details change, the driver needs to know as soon as possible.

That’s why a trip log is so valuable. TruckingOffice PRO has a Trip Details report that keeps all the records together for the invoices, but it’s just as valuable for an IFTA audit as it is for the company’s business reports.

Tracking these details make a difference when the IFTA audit happens.

When a trucker uses TruckingOffice PRO, the trip log is automatically generated. No extra work at all. So that IFTA auditor will see exactly what they need for mileage per state from the program.

Fuel Purchases

Since the IFTA audit is all about the fuel purchases, that data must be added to the program. TruckingOffice PRO can import your truck fuel card data quickly via a CSV spreadsheet. Just download your credit card data and add some details, such as state. So you’ll get accurate numbers for the IFTA taxes, but also have the documentation that and IFTA audit will expect and accept.

Have you ever had an IFTA audit? What happened? What did the auditor ask for?

What’s the secret to survive an IFTA audit?

Use a complete trucking software for your trucking business that handles the IFTA filing. When you’ve got all the details you’ll need for an IFTA audit which are

already organized
easily accessible
accurate to the mile and to the penny

then you don’t have to worry about survival. The amount of time you’ll have to give up for the actual audit will be minutes, not days.

You won’t have to worry at all about an IFTA audit! TruckingOffice PRO takes care of all the details because it keeps your records organized.

It’s no secret that TruckingOffice PRO does so much more. Use TruckingOffice PRO to run your entire owner-operator or small truck fleet trucking business.

Our free trial will give you the time to enter last quarter’s data and get an accurate IFTA report to file. So entire program is free. You can sign up now, take care of your IFTA filing, and discover what a complete trucking management software program can do for you. Give us a try now!