Bookkeeping for haulage and transport
Haulage margins are thin and fuel is the biggest cost. The books must show profit per vehicle and per route, not just overall.
- Flat £15 an hour
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Bookkeeping for haulage and transport
Your price
4.5 hours at £15
£67.50
Set-up fee£0
ContractNone
Regulated firm
Qualified team
Qualified team
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The short answer
What does bookkeeping for haulage and transport involve?
Bookkeeping for haulage and transport means keeping fuel card statements, vehicle finance and lease agreements, driver payroll and subcontractor invoices and the rest of your records accurate and reconciled. At £15 an hour, a typical five-vehicle haulier (about 250 transactions a month) needs about 7.5 hours a month, which is around £112.50.
What makes these books different.
Every sector has its own records and rules. These are the ones that matter for haulage and transport.
Fuel cards
Fuel card statements are large and frequent, and must be reconciled to payments and vehicles.
Vehicle finance and leases
HP and lease payments need splitting between capital and interest.
Driver pay and subcontractors
Employed drivers and owner-driver subcontractors are recorded differently.
Tolls, tachograph and compliance
Operator licence, tachograph and compliance costs recur and should be tracked.
£15
an hour, flat
£112.50
a month for a typical five-vehicle haulier
7.5h
of bookkeeping a month, about 250 transactions a month
0
contract, stop whenever you like
Records we keep for you.
- Fuel card statements
- Vehicle finance and lease agreements
- Driver payroll and subcontractor invoices
- Tolls and maintenance
- Insurance and operator licence
- Customer invoices by route
Rules worth knowing.
VAT on fuel
VAT-registered hauliers can usually reclaim VAT on fuel, with proper invoices from the fuel supplier.
Capital allowances
Commercial vehicles can qualify for allowances, which need an accurate asset register.
Late payment
Statutory late payment interest can be charged to business customers who pay late.
General information, not tax advice. Rules change, so check GOV.UK or ask your accountant. Last reviewed November 2026.
A typical month.
A five-vehicle haulier with about 250 transactions a month, VAT registered, running payroll. Here is the time it takes and what it costs.
- Core bookkeeping (101 - 250)6h
- Limited company extras0.5h
- VAT-ready books (MTD)0.5h
- Payroll journals0.5h
Each month
£112.50
Where this sector is most common.
Using ONS business counts for 2026, transport and storage is the biggest share of local businesses in these places. We serve all of them online.
- Ipswich15% of local businesses, 3.6 times the UK share, about 705 firms
- Peterborough15% of local businesses, 3.6 times the UK share, about 1,215 firms
- Slough13% of local businesses, 3.1 times the UK share, about 895 firms
- Luton13% of local businesses, 2.9 times the UK share, about 1,020 firms
- Southampton11% of local businesses, 2.7 times the UK share, about 820 firms
- Wolverhampton11% of local businesses, 2.7 times the UK share, about 930 firms
Clients say it better than we do.
4.9300+ Google reviews of Accotax
“He took the time to explain every step of the process and made a complex situation much easier to understand.”
Hugo Alvarez
Google review of Accotax
“They take the time to understand how our business works and what our needs are.”
Mael Leboucher
Google review of Accotax
“Very prompt in responding to questions and patient with us even when we seem to be slow.”
Mansur Liman
Google review of Accotax
“The work was completed promptly, my tax return was successfully filed.”
Sergey M
Google review of Accotax
haulage and transport: your questions.
Can you show profit per vehicle?
Yes. By coding fuel, maintenance, finance and income to each vehicle, we can report profit per truck and per route.
Related sectors.
- Construction and tradesCIS deductions, reverse-charge VAT and job costing for builders and tradespeople.
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- Farms and agricultureSeasonal income, subsidies, livestock and the farmers' flat rate scheme.
- Property developersProject costing, development finance and CIS for developers and renovators.
- Holiday lets and Airbnb hostsPlatform payouts, cleaning costs and property income rules for holiday let owners.
- Cleaning companiesRecurring contracts, supplies, subcontractors and payroll for cleaning businesses.
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