ATMs and money orders on a PDI store
ATMs and money orders move a lot of cash through your store, but most of it is not yours. This page explains which part is pass-through money and which part is real income, how to record each, and what to check so the numbers do not inflate your sales. We do not sell PDI or any ATM or money order program.
Works with your POS, back-office & accounting stack
Most of the cash is not income. ATM cash loaded and money order sales are pass-through amounts held in liability or clearing accounts. Only your share, such as a surcharge split or a money order commission, is income. Match every settlement to its provider statement. Programs differ, so confirm yours with the provider.
By the FuelCFO team. Where this page describes a vendor's product, the details come from the vendor's own public descriptions and can change, so confirm them with the vendor. Figures in diagrams are illustrative.
ATMs and money orders bring customers in and generate fee income, but the cash itself belongs to someone else. How these appear in PDI, if at all, depends on your setup and providers, so confirm with PDI and the providers. We work from the reports your PDI setup already produces, your statements and your QuickBooks Online file. We are not part of PDI, we do not set up or change anything in it, and what your own plan reports is something to confirm with PDI.
Cash loaded into an ATM is funded by you or the provider and paid out to customers. A money order sold for $100 is owed to the provider. Neither is revenue. Counting them as sales can make a store look far busier than it is.
Your income is the part you keep: a share of the ATM surcharge, or a commission per money order. These are usually small compared with the cash moved, so they are the only amounts that should reach income.
ATM and money order providers settle in batches, net of what they keep. Match each settlement to the provider statement, not to the register. The statement shows what was sold, what you owe and what you earned.
If you fund the ATM from your own cash, the cash you load is a transfer to an ATM clearing account, and what the ATM dispenses is paid back to you by the provider. If the provider funds it, you only track your share. Know which applies to you.
Selling money orders and moving cash can carry reporting and record rules. We keep the bookkeeping clean and visible, but we give no compliance advice. Ask your provider and your advisor what applies to your store.
For what to check each month, go to the table. For the common mistakes, go to where it goes wrong. The full service is described on our lottery, ATM and money order accounting page, and for lottery see PDI lottery. To have a team own it, see what we do.
Cash moved goes to clearing or liability accounts.
Surcharge shares and commissions go to income.
Settlements are tied to what was sold and loaded.
Cash you load is recorded as a transfer, not an expense.
Statements are filed by month for easy review.
ATM and money order provider statements for the month.
Each provider has its own statement and schedule.
You also send the bank statement.
Pass-through goes to clearing or liability.
Your share goes to income.
Each store is kept separate.
Deposits and withdrawals are tied to the statements.
Timing is separated from real differences.
Anything that does not tie is listed.
Clearing and liability accounts at month end.
Old balances are chased, not carried.
ATM funding transfers are checked.
You get the books and a short note.
Income from ATMs and money orders is shown on its own line.
You keep the provider statements.
Programs and report names vary. Ask your providers what yours are called.
The store looks far busier than it is.
Profit looks lower than it is.
Revenue is overstated.
Your share cannot be proven.
A missing settlement is forgotten.
You want to know what you really earn from it.
You want pass-through money kept apart from income.
You want to know if they are provider settlements.
Not sure how your ATM is funded? Your provider can tell you, and we can work from that.
A 30-minute call and about 48 hours of review, free, of how PDI ATM and Money Order Accounting shows up in your PDI reports and in QuickBooks today.
We write down the QuickBooks account each item goes to, and why.
The first month is posted that way and tied to the bank.
Any fuel side of PDI ATM and Money Order Accounting recorded where it belongs.
5 services →PDI ATM and Money Order Accounting: store income and cost of goods kept in separate accounts.
9 services →Tax and pass-through money from PDI ATM and Money Order Accounting recorded as a liability.
4 services →PDI ATM and Money Order Accounting handled the same way at every store.
3 services →FAQ
More guides on the same system, or send us a day or a month for a free review.
Monthly bookkeeping for stores that run PDI: daily reconciliation, month-end close and PDI totals posted into QuickBooks Online.
Read more →How we find the first bad day, fix the map and close the months.
Read more →A step-by-step month-end close checklist for a gas station running Verifone, PDI and QuickBooks Online.
Read more →Send us a day or a month and we'll show you where the three systems disagree.
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