In a trades, delivery or rental business, every vehicle produces dozens of receipts a month: fuel, oil changes, tires, repairs, parking. Most of them end up in a glove box, a jacket pocket or an email nobody can find. The result: expenses you can't tie to the right vehicle, sales tax you don't recover, and hours lost at the end of every quarter.
Here is a simple method to get every receipt to the right place.
What a receipt needs to show
For management purposes, a useful receipt tells you:
- who sold it (the vendor's name);
- when (the date);
- how much (the total and the sales tax paid);
- for which vehicle (add it yourself: unit number or plate).
To recover sales tax (VAT, GST or equivalent), invoices often need extra details, such as the vendor's tax registration number. Requirements vary by country; your accountant can tell you which ones apply.
How long to keep them
Most tax authorities require you to keep records and supporting documents for several years, often between 3 and 10 depending on the country and the type of document. Check the period that applies to you with your accountant or tax authority.
Electronic copies are generally accepted, as long as they stay readable and intact for the whole retention period.
A practical point: receipts printed on thermal paper (most fuel receipts) fade within months. A photo taken the same day is often more reliable than the original.
A method in 5 rules
1. The photo at the moment of purchase
The rule that changes everything: the driver photographs the receipt before leaving the station or the shop. Not at the end of the week, not "when there's time". A receipt photographed right away doesn't get lost.
2. Every expense tied to a vehicle
An expense with no vehicle is useless for management. Give each vehicle a simple unit number (V-01, V-02…) or use its plate, and make sure every receipt is tied to it.
3. Mileage at every fill-up
Use the fill-up to record the odometer reading. It's the best moment, and it's what lets you calculate the true cost per kilometre.
4. A weekly review
Ten minutes a week is enough to spot the gaps: a vehicle with no fuel receipt in 10 days, a repair invoice with no vehicle, an unusual amount.
5. A per-period export for your accountant
At the end of each month or quarter, send your accountant an export by vehicle and by category (fuel, maintenance, repairs, insurance…) with the supporting documents. It's much faster for them than a box of loose receipts, so it costs you less.
Fuel cards help, but they're not enough
A fuel card per vehicle simplifies fuel tracking. It doesn't cover everything: repairs, tires, maintenance at an independent shop or emergency expenses paid on another card still need to be captured. The photo rule applies to everything that isn't on the card.
And when a driver leaves?
If receipts live in an employee's personal phone or email, they leave with them. Documents should belong to the vehicle, and so to the company. See our guide: keeping a vehicle's history when drivers change.
Doing it automatically
With CarFai for fleets, drivers photograph receipts and invoices in the app. AI extracts the amount, date, vendor and category, ties the expense to the vehicle, and every document stays stored with the vehicle. You then export reports in PDF or CSV for your accountant.
This guide gives general pointers and doesn't replace advice from your accountant.