Why the monthly hisab goes wrong
- Advances are given in several instalments, by different people, and not all of them are written down.
- Diesel, toll, loading and police or RTO expenses are paid in cash and the slips are collected at month end, if at all.
- Bata is promised verbally and calculated from memory.
- The settlement mixes several trips, so a loss on one trip is hidden by a profit on another.
- Nobody can say what a particular trip actually cost, so freight rates are set by guesswork.
The wallet-ledger method
Treat each driver as having a running wallet. Money given to the driver is a credit. Expenses he incurs on the trip, backed by a slip, are debits. Bata earned for the trip is owed to him. At trip close the balance is either returned by the driver or paid to him. No month-end guessing.
| Entry | Example (500 km trip) | Amount (₹) |
|---|---|---|
| Advance given to driver | Cash at start | 20,000 |
| Diesel | 125 litres at ₹90 (500 km at 4 km per litre) | − 11,250 |
| Toll | As per slips | − 2,400 |
| Loading and unloading | Paid by driver | − 1,200 |
| Police, RTO and miscellaneous | As per slips | − 600 |
| Balance with driver | 4,550 | |
| Bata earned | 3 days at ₹500 | + 1,500 owed to driver |
| Driver returns | ₹4,550 − ₹1,500 | 3,050 |
Total trip cost here is ₹15,450 of expenses plus ₹1,500 bata, which is ₹16,950. If the freight on this trip was ₹38,000, the trip contribution is ₹21,050 before fixed costs such as EMI, insurance and permits. That number, per trip, is what lets you decide whether a route and a rate are worth taking. Work it out for your own trips with the trip profit calculator and the fuel cost calculator.
Rules that stop disputes
- One advance register for every vehicle, entered at the time of giving, by whoever gave it.
- No expense counts without a slip or a reference, and the slip is attached to the trip, not collected later.
- Bata rate fixed per vehicle type and route, and calculated from the days on trip, not from memory.
- Settlement at trip close, not month end, and one trip at a time.
- Fuel is compared against km run, so a drop in mileage is caught on the trip it happens. See trip costs transporters forget.
Doing this in software
In Transport ERP, driver advances, a driver wallet ledger and settlement per trip or period are built in, and trip expenses such as fuel, tolls and loading are logged against the trip sheet, so the hisab above is produced from entries rather than rebuilt from slips. A free starting point is the vehicle expense sheet, and the fleet cost management guide covers the fixed costs.
Frequently asked questions
How should a transporter record a driver advance?
Record it against the driver and the trip at the moment it is given, with the amount, date and who gave it. Expenses the driver incurs are then set against that advance, so the balance is always known.
What is bata and how is it calculated?
Bata is the daily allowance paid to a driver while on trip. Fix a rate per vehicle type or route and multiply it by the days on trip, instead of calculating it from memory at settlement.
Should I settle drivers monthly or per trip?
Per trip. Settling at trip close keeps each trip’s cost clean and stops a loss on one trip being hidden by a profit on another.
Practical, India-specific guides from the team behind WebSoftOS cloud ERP, by Ridhi Technologies, Zirakpur, Punjab.