Trucking Company Profit and Loss (P&L)

A trucking company profit and loss statement (P&L) is a financial report that shows a carrier’s income, expenses, and the resulting profit or loss over a specific period. It answers one question: did the trucking business make money? A P&L is not the same as a cash flow report — the P&L shows whether the company is profitable, while a cash flow report tracks the money actually moving into and out of the business. Both matter, because a trucking company can be profitable on paper and still be short on cash.

What Business Reports Does Your Trucking Company Need?

It doesn’t matter if you’re an owner-operator or a fleet manager, the purpose of any business is to make money. One report that can help a trucking company determine how the finances are working is the Profit and Loss Statement. The P&L, as it’s commonly known, shows whether your trucking business made or lost money over a specific period. This financial report is often requested by a bank or lending institution when filing a loan application.

A profit and loss statement shows the whole company. For a load-level view, read Profit Per Load with Trucker Stats™.

Accurate profit and loss numbers depend on clean data. See how trucking accounting software removes the re-keying that corrupts those numbers.

A P&L is only accurate when revenue and expenses are captured. Learn how to manage trucking company expenses and keep the expense side honest.

What’s the Difference Between a P&L and a Cash Flow Statement?

The P&L and cash flow statements are different documents that show different perspectives on a business’s finances. We need both, but they aren’t the same.

Cash Flow

Want to know where the money is moving? That’s the purpose of a cash flow report. It shows where cash came from, where it went, and whether the company generated enough cash to meet its obligations during that period.

That’s why a report from a TMS trucking software package that shows both income and outgoing funds is so important. The ability to identify problems, such as expenses that are abnormally high or invoice payments coming in late, allows a business owner to resolve them. It shows how much money is on hand, which would be handy to know when you’ve got enough cash for a purchase.

Profit and Loss (P&L)

P&L and cash flow statements use some of the same financial information, but they organize it differently and answer different questions.

A cash flow statement will tell a business owner that they have enough (or don’t) to make payroll. The P&L doesn’t make that distinction. A P&L provides details about revenue, expenses, and profitability, but it does not show how much cash is currently available.

Cash flow reports will show an owner if they have the money in hand to cover an emergency repair or if there’s enough cash to cover payroll. By comparing P&L reports from different periods, an owner can see whether revenue, expenses, and profits are improving. If an owner wants to expand and needs a loan, the P&L is one report that the loan officer will look at to see if there is a history of success.

What Is Included in a Trucking Company P&L?

P&L Category	Trucking Examples
Income	Load revenue, fuel surcharges, and accessorial pay
Operating expenses	Fuel, tolls, maintenance, repairs, and insurance
Payroll expenses	Employee driver wages and other payroll costs
Administrative expenses	Permits, software, office costs, professional services
Bottom line	The company’s net profit or loss

Revenue – Expenses = Profit or Loss.

In the end, that’s the critical number a trucking business needs to know. Is it making money? Or is it losing money?

TruckingOffice PRO’s Reports

TruckingOffice PRO provides both reports whenever you need them.

Instead of trying to compile all these numbers into a spreadsheet, TruckingOffice PRO takes the numbers you have already entered into the TMS – trucking software. It’s all inside the complete trucking management software to produce the reports on demand.

If you want a specific date range, you can specify those for the reports. If you want to know how a specific truck is doing, you can run that report as well.

You can get the reports you want in a matter of seconds, at any time. Even in your rig!

FAQs

What does a trucking company P&L statement show?

A trucking company P&L statement shows its income, expenses, and resulting profit or loss over a specific period.

What is the difference between a P&L statement and a cash flow report?

A P&L shows whether the trucking company is profitable. A cash flow report tracks the money actually moving into and out of the business.

Can a trucking company be profitable but short on cash?

Yes. A company may show a profit while waiting for customers to pay invoices or after making a large purchase. That is why truckers need to review both P&L and cash flow reports.

Which expenses belong on a trucking company P&L?

Common expenses include fuel, maintenance, insurance, permits, tolls, driver wages, and office costs. The report is only accurate when expenses are entered and categorized correctly.

Can trucking software create a P&L?

It depends on the software package. Some trucking software programs only track a load from dispatch to delivery and do not provide invoicing or accounting reports. If financial reporting is important to you, choose a complete trucking software program, rather than software that only manages loads.

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