Which Reports to Send Your Bookkeeper from Petrosoft, Verifone and Gilbarco
Your bookkeeper can only reconcile what they can see. This is the short list of reports, from the back office, the register and the tank gauge, that make a monthly close accurate and fast.
Your bookkeeper can only reconcile what they can see. At most gas stations the numbers are there, in the back office, at the register and in the tank gauge, but they are in the wrong format or never get sent. The result is a bookkeeper who estimates, books fuel as one line and asks for the same data three times a month.
This is a short list of the reports that make a monthly close accurate and fast. Names differ by system and version, and your own screens may label them differently. If you use Petrosoft, Verifone, Gilbarco, PDI or Modisoft, ask your vendor or rep where each one lives.
From the back office: the daily and monthly sales picture
Daily sales or shift reports
These show sales by department and tender: cash, credit, debit, fleet and other. They are the base for matching sales to deposits, as in our daily cash report guide. Export them for every day of the month, not only month-end totals.
Department or category sales and margin
Sales, cost and gross profit by category: cigarettes, beverages, snacks, food and others. This is what lets you see margin by category rather than a single blended figure.
Tax report
Taxable and non-taxable sales and tax collected, by rate. Needed for filing and for checking that categories are taxed correctly. Our multi-category sales tax guide explains why it matters.
Lottery and other pass-through reports
Instant and online lottery sales, redemptions and the settlement. Also money orders and any other third-party items. These are liabilities, not income, as in lottery, ATM and money order accounting.
Paid-ins and paid-outs
Cash taken from the register for vendors or expenses. Without this, cash over and short looks worse than it is, and expenses go unrecorded.
From the fuel controller and the pumps
Fuel sales by grade
Gallons and dollars by grade, by day. This is the sales side of any fuel reconciliation.
Pump meter totals
The gallons recorded by each dispenser. Comparing these with register gallons catches drive-offs and unrecorded sales, and shows meter drift.
From the tank gauge (ATG)
Inventory report
Volume in each tank, often with a temperature-compensated volume, ullage and water level. A reading at month start and month end gives opening and closing inventory.
Delivery report
The gauge's own record of what each delivery added. Match it to the bill of lading and invoice as described in fuel delivery reconciliation.
Alarm and leak test history
Not for the books directly, but a leak or water alarm on a tank explains a variance and needs to be on file.
From your suppliers and your bank
- Jobber or fuel supplier statement and invoices, with the bills of lading.
- Card processor and fleet statements, showing batches, fees and deposits. See payments and card reconciliation.
- Bank statements for every account, including sweep and loan accounts.
- Vendor invoices for merchandise delivered direct to the store, such as snacks, beverages and bread. See vendor DSD reconciliation.
- Payroll reports and any 1099 information.
A simple monthly package
Send the same set, in the same format, by the same day each month. A shared folder with one subfolder per month works well.
- Daily sales or shift reports for the month.
- Category sales and margin.
- Tax report and lottery report.
- Fuel sales by grade and pump meter totals.
- Tank inventory and delivery reports, with bills of lading.
- Processor, fleet and bank statements.
- Supplier statement and vendor invoices.
- Payroll summary.
Tips that save time
- Export to spreadsheet or PDF in a consistent format, and keep the naming the same each month.
- Ask your system vendor to schedule recurring reports to a shared mailbox or folder.
- Close the month in your back office before exporting, so totals do not change afterwards.
- Label anything unusual: a pricing change, an outage, a one-off delivery.
Connecting it to your books
Once the reports arrive, the data still has to be posted correctly, with fuel by grade, tenders matched to deposits and liabilities kept separate from income. Our QuickBooks setup for gas stations and our monthly service are built around these reports, and we work with the major systems your station is likely to use. If you are not sure what to export, tell us which system you run, and we will send you the list for it.
