How to Reconcile Jobber Statements and Catch Missing Fuel Credits

Your fuel jobber (supplier/distributor) sends you a monthly statement showing every delivery, every price adjustment, every credit, and every fleet card settlement. Most gas station owners glance at the total, compare it to what they think they owe, and pay it. That is how thousands of dollars in overcharges, missed credits, and delivery shortages go undetected every year.

Jobber statement reconciliation is the process of matching every line on that statement against your own records - delivery tickets, ATG readings, pricing agreements, and fleet card batches - to verify that what you are paying is what you actually owe.

What to Reconcile on Every Jobber Statement

1. Delivery Volumes

For every fuel delivery, match three documents:

1. Bill of lading (BOL): The delivery ticket from the truck driver showing gallons loaded at the terminal
2. ATG readings: Your tank gauge reading before and after delivery showing gallons actually received
3. Jobber invoice: The line item on the statement showing gallons billed

All three should match within temperature adjustment tolerance (fuel expands when warm and contracts when cool, so small variances are normal). A consistent pattern of BOL showing more gallons than ATG received is a delivery shortage that needs investigation.

2. Pricing Per Gallon

Verify that the price per gallon on each delivery invoice matches your supply agreement. Common pricing structures:

• Rack plus: Terminal rack price + a fixed margin (e.g., rack + $0.05/gallon)
• DTW (dealer tank wagon): A delivered price set by the supplier
• Contract price: A fixed price for a set period

Pricing errors are surprisingly common. A 2-cent-per-gallon overcharge on a 8,000-gallon delivery is $160 per delivery. If you receive 4 deliveries per month, that is $640/month - $7,680/year - from a single rounding or pricing-tier error.

3. Credits and Rebates

Your jobber may owe you credits for:

• Volume rebates (tiered pricing based on total gallons purchased)
• Promotional allowances
• Price protection adjustments
• Quality claims (contaminated fuel, wrong grade delivered)
• Environmental fee adjustments

Credits are the most commonly missed item in jobber reconciliation. They require manual tracking because the jobber does not always apply them automatically. If you do not claim them, you do not get them.

4. Fleet Card Settlements

Fleet cards (WEX, Comdata, Voyager, Fuelman) generate transactions at your pumps that settle through your jobber, not through your regular credit card processor. The settlement amount on the jobber statement should match the fleet card transaction totals from your POS, minus the fleet card processing fee.

Discrepancies in fleet card settlement are common because the settlement cycle (weekly or biweekly) does not align with daily POS totals. This creates timing differences that need careful matching.

5. Taxes and Fees

Verify that fuel excise taxes, environmental fees, and delivery charges on the statement match the applicable rates for your state and locality. Tax rates change (sometimes mid-year), and errors in the jobber's tax calculation flow directly into your fuel COGS.

How Often to Reconcile

Best practice:

• Each delivery: Match BOL to ATG readings the same day
• Weekly: Verify pricing on all deliveries received that week
• Monthly: Full reconciliation of the jobber statement - volumes, pricing, credits, fleet cards, taxes - before paying

Never pay a jobber statement without reconciling it first. The 2-3 hours it takes to reconcile saves thousands in undetected errors over the course of a year.

Common Jobber Statement Errors

• Short deliveries not credited: You reported a 200-gallon shortage but the credit never appeared on the statement
• Wrong pricing tier: You qualified for a volume discount but were billed at the standard rate
• Duplicate invoices: The same delivery billed twice (rare but costly)
• Missing rebates: Quarterly or annual volume rebates that require manual claim
• Tax rate errors: State fuel tax changed but the jobber is still billing the old rate
• Fleet card fee overcharges: Processing fees higher than your agreement specifies

FuelCFO performs jobber statement reconciliation for every station we serve - matching every delivery, verifying every price, and chasing every missing credit. Book a free books review to see what your current jobber statements might be hiding.