Buying a store that runs PDI
When you buy a gas station that runs PDI, most of its financial history sits in the seller's PDI records and bank accounts. This page lists what to ask for before you commit, what to tie to the bank, and what to check in the first month so you start from numbers you can trust.
Works with your POS, back-office & accounting stack
Ask for as many months of daily PDI reports as possible, bank and processor statements, the last fuel inventory report, the lottery statement, a vendor balance list and the user list. Tie PDI to the bank yourself, and have your lawyer check whether the agreement transfers.
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.
When you buy a gas station that runs PDI, most of its financial history lives in the seller's PDI records and bank accounts. What you can see, copy or take over depends on the sale agreement and on PDI's own terms, which we cannot speak for. PDI Technologies is a software company for convenience retail and fuel, and we are not part of it. This page covers what to ask the seller and what to check.
Request as many months of daily PDI reports as the seller will provide, and ask for at least a full year so you see every season. Reports for the sale period matter most. A seller who can only produce recent months, or reports that are not in date order, is telling you something about how the store has been run.
PDI reports what the store says it sold, and the bank shows what actually arrived. Ask for the matching bank and card processor statements and compare them with the expected deposits in PDI. A steady, explainable gap for card fees is normal. A gap that moves around, or cash that never reaches the bank, is a question for the seller.
Fuel on hand, the lottery balance and what is owed to vendors all pass to you in some form. Ask for the last PDI fuel inventory report, the latest lottery statement and a vendor balance list. These set your opening position, so an error here becomes your cost after closing.
Ask for the list of PDI users and which of them are administrators, and whether reports were ever corrected after a day was closed. A few edits are ordinary. Many late changes, or changes by one person every time, can hide cash problems. The answers also tell you whom to remove on day one.
The PDI agreement and any leased hardware have terms on notice, transfer and how long they run. Whether they pass to a buyer is for your lawyer and PDI or the reseller to confirm in writing. Do not assume the seller's contract and logins move across automatically at closing.
To see what to request, go to the seller request list. To see the warning signs, go to where it goes wrong. If you want a team to review the numbers with you, what we do explains how. For the wider deal, see our store acquisition support.
We check the daily reports for gaps, late edits and unusual cash differences.
Expected deposits are compared with statements, so you see what actually came in.
Fuel, lottery and vendor balances are set from final reports and statements.
The first month is reconciled so problems show up while you can still raise them.
Send the seller a written request list.
Send the seller a written request list.
Written requests leave a record if there is a dispute later.
Look for gaps, late edits and odd cash.
Look for gaps, late edits and odd cash.
These can be a sign of unreported sales.
Fuel, lottery and vendor balances are written down.
Fuel, lottery and vendor balances are written down.
Both sides sign off so there is no argument afterwards.
New logins and admin rights are set up, and old ones removed.
New logins and admin rights are set up, and old ones removed.
Do this on day one.
Every deposit is tied to a day before you relax.
Every deposit is tied to a day before you relax.
The first month is the one that shows what you bought.
Report names and what can be shared depend on the seller's PDI modules and agreement. Ask the seller or PDI what each is called.
Days or weeks are missing with no explanation.
Many days were corrected after they were closed.
Cash or card totals in PDI differ from the bank in a pattern.
The inventory shows negative fuel or large unexplained variances.
The amount owed does not match the statement.
Old bills that become yours at closing.
You want to know what to ask before you sign.
You already run PDI and want the new site mapped properly.
You need the store's numbers to hold up.
Still negotiating? Send what you have and we will tell you what is missing.
A 30-minute call and about 48 hours of review, free, on the records the seller has shared so far.
We write down what to ask for and what to check before closing.
The first month after you take over is tied to the bank.
Opening fuel inventory set from the seller's last PDI report.
5 services →Lottery balance and vendor accounts checked before they become yours.
9 services →Sales tax history checked against PDI before you inherit it.
4 services →A purchase supported with clean numbers for your lender and your books.
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 →Which Verifone records to request, what to tie to the bank, and what to check after closing.
Read more →Send us a day or a month and we'll show you where the three systems disagree.
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