Updated for 2026 · 7 Tools Compared
Best Trucking Bookkeeping Software for Owner-Operators (2026)
Compare 7 tools: QuickBooks, Truckbase, RigBooks, Trucking Office Pro, Motive, Outgo, ATBS — what works for 1-truck owner-ops vs growing fleets.
Our pick for most owner-ops: Outgo — auto-invoicing from rate confirmations, syncs with QuickBooks, eliminates double entry.
Affiliate disclosure: We earn a commission if you sign up through our links. Costs you nothing extra.
The best trucking bookkeeping software for owner-operators in 2026 is Outgo (factoring + auto-invoicing for 1–5 trucks), Truckbase (TMS-first for 5–10 trucks), and QuickBooks (for CPA compatibility). Motive integrates ELD + IFTA + back-office for fleets that want everything in one platform.
TL;DR — Top picks by operator type
- ⭐1 truck, factoring: Outgo — auto-invoicing + QuickBooks sync, no monthly software fee.
- •1 truck, no factoring, tight budget: RigBooks (~$15/mo) — IFTA built in, simple P&L.
- •2–5 trucks: Truckbase (~$99/mo) — dispatch + per-load P&L, best TMS-first option at this size.
- •6+ trucks, ELD-integrated: Motive — auto IFTA from ELD miles, back-office features at scale.
- •Lease-on / hate paperwork: ATBS (~$175–$225/mo) — fully managed, they do everything.
- •Standard accounting + flexibility: QuickBooks Online + trucking add-on — familiar UI, integrates with Outgo.
Comparison: 7 trucking bookkeeping tools
| Tool | Type | Price/mo | IFTA | Per-load P&L | Factoring integration | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ⭐ Outgo (by DAT) ⭐ Best integrated cash-flow + bookkeeping play | Factoring + invoicing | Flat fee per invoice | Via DAT One integration | Yes (per-invoice) | Native — it IS the factoring | Owner-ops who factor; want invoicing auto-created |
| Motive (KeepTruckin) | ELD + back-office | Starts ~$35/mo per truck | Yes — auto pulls state miles from ELD | Yes (via load management) | Integrates with select factors | Fleets wanting ELD + IFTA automation in one |
| Truckbase | TMS (dispatch-first) | Starts ~$99/mo | Limited — TMS focus | Yes — per-load P&L is core feature | Integrates with select factors | 2–10 truck fleets wanting dispatch + P&L |
| QuickBooks Online + Add-on | General accounting | $35–$90/mo (QBO) + add-on varies | Via third-party add-on only | Manual setup required | Via API/integration (e.g. Outgo syncs with QBO) | Carriers who want standard accounting + flexibility |
| RigBooks | Trucking-specific accounting | Starts ~$15/mo | Yes — built in | Yes | Limited | 1-truck owner-ops on a tight budget |
| Trucking Office Pro | TMS + accounting hybrid | Starts ~$20/mo | Yes — built in | Yes | Limited | Small fleets wanting low-cost all-in-one |
| ATBS | Bookkeeping service (done-for-you) | ~$175–$225/mo | Yes — handled by ATBS staff | Yes (via reporting) | Works with any factor (you send records) | Owner-ops who want to hand off all bookkeeping |
Pricing as of 2026 — always confirm directly with the provider as plans change. "Varies" means pricing depends on volume or plan tier.
In-depth: each tool reviewed
⭐ Outgo (by DAT) — integrated cash-flow + invoicing
Best for: owner-operators who factor loads
Outgo is technically a factoring product — but its workflow doubles as bookkeeping automation. When you book a load on DAT One, Outgo can auto-generate the invoice from the rate confirmation. Submit the POD, and you get funded same-day. The transaction syncs to QuickBooks automatically. No manual double entry.
- Auto-invoice from rate confirmation
- QuickBooks sync — eliminates double entry
- Flat fee per invoice, no monthly software cost
- Same-day funding, no long-term contract
- NOA issued on signup — send with your carrier packet Day 1
- Only useful if you factor (not for carriers paying themselves from reserves)
- Does not replace full expense-side bookkeeping (still need QBO or RigBooks for expenses)
- Newer brand vs Apex or RTS
Motive (formerly KeepTruckin) — ELD + back-office
Best for: fleets 3+ trucks wanting ELD + IFTA in one system
Motive started as an ELD provider and expanded into fleet management and back-office tools. Its biggest bookkeeping advantage: IFTA mileage tracking happens automatically because the ELD already logs every mile per state. No more manual mileage logs or IFTA worksheets.
- IFTA auto-calculated from ELD data
- Load management + driver performance in one platform
- Scales well from 3 to 50+ trucks
- Integrates with select factoring companies
- Overkill for 1-truck owner-ops
- Pricing scales per truck — can get expensive
- Still need separate accounting software for full books
Truckbase — TMS-first with per-load P&L
Best for: 2–10 truck fleets who dispatch and want per-load profitability
Truckbase is built dispatch-first: load management, driver assignments, document tracking. The bookkeeping layer gives you per-load gross margin — revenue vs fuel vs driver pay per load. It's not a full general ledger but it answers the most important trucking question: "Did this load make money?"
- Per-load P&L is native — not bolted on
- Clean dispatch workflow + document management
- Good fit for 2–10 trucks
- Starts around $99/mo — more than pure bookkeeping tools
- IFTA reporting limited compared to ELD-integrated tools
- Still need QuickBooks for full tax-ready books
QuickBooks Online + trucking add-on
Best for: carriers who want standard accounting + CPA compatibility
QuickBooks Online is the most widely used small-business accounting software in the US. Most CPAs know it. It handles invoicing, expense tracking, bank feeds, and year-end reports well. The gap for trucking: no native IFTA, no per-load P&L, no cost-per-mile reports. You fill those gaps with add-ons or manual chart-of-accounts setup. If you use Outgo for factoring, it syncs directly to QuickBooks — so your invoice revenue lands automatically.
- CPA-compatible — the standard everyone knows
- Strong bank feed + expense categorization
- Integrates with Outgo, many payroll tools
- Good mobile app
- No native IFTA — need add-on
- No per-load P&L without custom setup
- $35–$90/mo before add-ons
RigBooks — trucking-specific, budget-friendly
Best for: 1-truck owner-ops who want trucking-specific books at low cost
RigBooks is built specifically for owner-operators and small fleets. It tracks income per load, expenses by category, IFTA mileage, and fuel. Reports are trucking-native: cost per mile, revenue per mile, profit by truck. Starts around $15/month — significantly cheaper than QuickBooks for someone who just needs trucking books.
- IFTA built in — no add-on needed
- Trucking-specific KPIs out of the box
- Affordable (~$15/mo)
- Not CPA-standard — may need QuickBooks export at tax time
- Limited factoring integrations
- Less suitable for multi-truck fleets
ATBS — fully managed bookkeeping service
Best for: owner-ops who want to hand off ALL bookkeeping
ATBS (American Truck Business Services) is not software — it's a done-for-you bookkeeping service built for truckers. They handle IFTA, quarterly estimated taxes, year-end returns, and monthly P&L reports. You submit your receipts and trip records; they do the rest. Cost is roughly $175–$225/month depending on plan.
- Zero bookkeeping time for the owner-op
- IFTA, quarterly taxes, year-end all handled
- Works with any factoring company
- ~$175–$225/mo — most expensive option
- You still must submit receipts consistently
- Less real-time visibility than software
Bookkeeping software vs TMS — what's the difference?
Many carriers conflate these two categories. They solve different problems and often you need both.
TMS (Transportation Management System)
- Dispatch and load management
- Driver and equipment assignment
- Document tracking (BOL, POD, rate confirmations)
- Per-load revenue tracking
- Examples: Truckbase, Trucking Office Pro, Motive
Bookkeeping / Accounting Software
- Income and expense ledger
- IFTA fuel tax calculation
- Tax-ready reporting
- Per-mile cost analysis
- Examples: QuickBooks, RigBooks, ATBS
Some tools overlap both categories — Truckbase and Motive each have TMS + financial features. Outgo sits in its own category: factoring + invoicing automation that feeds into QuickBooks bookkeeping. Most 1-truck owner-ops need a bookkeeping tool. As you grow past 2–3 trucks, a TMS becomes essential to track which driver is on which load and whether each load made money.
Per-mile, per-load, per-truck profitability — why standard accounting misses it
QuickBooks tells you: revenue was $85,000 last year. Expenses were $72,000. Profit: $13,000. That's a tax number — not a business intelligence number. To run a profitable trucking operation you need KPIs that general accounting software does not produce by default:
Cost per mile
Tells you if a $2.10/mile load covers your $1.85 operating cost — or not.
Deadhead %
Empty miles cost money. If 30% of your miles are empty, your effective rate drops significantly.
Fuel as % of revenue
Benchmark: fuel should be 25–35% of gross. If it is 45%, your lane selection or idle habits need to change.
Per-load gross margin
Revenue minus fuel minus driver pay minus tolls on that specific load. Tells you which loads to take and which to pass.
Broker concentration
If 70% of revenue comes from 2 brokers, your business is fragile. Good books reveal this.
Revenue per truck per week
If one truck earns $8K/wk and another earns $4K/wk, you have a driver or lane problem to investigate.
Trucking-specific tools like RigBooks, Truckbase, and Motive produce these KPIs natively. QuickBooks requires manual chart-of-accounts setup or a trucking add-on to get there.
IFTA reporting automation — why ELD + bookkeeping integration matters
IFTA (International Fuel Tax Agreement) requires quarterly reports showing how many miles you drove in each state and how much fuel you bought in each state. The math determines whether you owe money to or receive a refund from states with higher or lower fuel tax rates than where you bought your diesel.
The manual way: log every fuel purchase (state, gallons, price), track odometer readings at every state line, calculate total miles per state per quarter. It is hours of work and error-prone.
The automated way with Motive: your ELD records GPS location continuously. State crossings are logged automatically. Miles per state accumulate in real time. At quarter-end, Motive generates your IFTA report from actual ELD data — not your memory of where you were.
RigBooks and Trucking Office Pro also have IFTA calculators, but you manually enter miles per state. Motive's ELD integration eliminates that manual step entirely.
Why factoring + bookkeeping integration matters
Most carriers who factor their invoices run a manual double-entry process: create an invoice in QuickBooks, send it to the factor, wait for funding, then manually reconcile the QuickBooks entry when the factor sends the advance. When the broker pays the factor 30 days later and the reserve releases, another manual entry. That's 3–4 accounting events per load.
Outgo changes this. When you book a load on DAT One, Outgo auto-creates the invoice from your rate confirmation. You submit the POD, get funded same-day, and the transaction syncs directly to QuickBooks. The factoring fee, advance amount, and reserve are all recorded automatically. You go from 3–4 manual entries to zero.
For an owner-operator running 3–4 loads per week, that eliminates 10–15 manual accounting entries weekly. Over a year: hundreds of hours of bookkeeping time, and far fewer reconciliation errors at tax time.
DIY spreadsheet vs software vs ATBS service
Spreadsheet (free)
- No cost
- Fully customizable
- Works for very simple operations
- Error-prone — formulas break
- No IFTA automation
- No per-mile KPIs
- Not audit-ready
Software ($15–$99/mo)
- IFTA, per-load P&L, tax reports built in
- Factoring integrations available
- Affordable for most owner-ops
- You still do data entry
- Requires consistency — garbage in, garbage out
ATBS managed service (~$175–$225/mo)
- Zero bookkeeping work for the owner-op
- IFTA, quarterly taxes, year-end all handled
- Trucking-specific expertise
- Most expensive option
- You must submit receipts consistently or accuracy suffers
- Less real-time visibility
Recommendation: most 1-truck owner-ops running 3+ loads/week should use software. ATBS makes sense if you are consistently running and want zero administrative overhead. Spreadsheets are adequate only in your first 30 days.
When to upgrade from QuickBooks to a trucking-specific tool
QuickBooks is a solid starting point — especially if your CPA already uses it. But there are clear triggers that signal you've outgrown it as your only tool:
- You have 2–3 trucks and need to know which truck (and which driver) is profitable — QuickBooks cannot tell you that without custom class tracking setup.
- You need per-load P&L without manually creating a job in QuickBooks for every load — RigBooks and Truckbase automate this.
- IFTA is taking more than 2 hours per quarter — ELD-integrated tools like Motive eliminate this completely.
- You're factoring and doing double entry — Outgo + QuickBooks sync solves this without switching away from QuickBooks.
- You don't know your cost per mileand your CPA doesn't run trucking-specific reports — this is the sign you need trucking-native software.
Tax write-offs your trucking software should track
Owner-operators and carriers have a long list of deductible business expenses. Your bookkeeping software should have categories (or let you create them) for all of these:
This is not tax advice — consult a CPA familiar with trucking. Keep receipts for everything. Most bookkeeping software lets you attach photos of receipts to expense entries.
Trucking bookkeeping FAQ
What is the best bookkeeping software for owner-operators?
It depends on what you need most. If you factor your invoices, Outgo handles invoicing automatically from rate confirmations and syncs with QuickBooks — eliminating double entry. If you want trucking-specific books without factoring, RigBooks or Trucking Office Pro are built for owner-ops. If you want someone to do it for you, ATBS at around $175–$225/month is a fully managed service.
Can I use QuickBooks for trucking?
Yes, but with limitations. QuickBooks Online is general-purpose accounting — it does not natively track per-load P&L, IFTA by state, or cost per mile. You can set it up manually with custom categories and reports, or add a trucking-specific QuickBooks add-on. Most owner-operators find a trucking-specific tool or the Outgo + QuickBooks combo more practical.
Do I need trucking-specific accounting software?
If you run one truck and only care about basic income and expense tracking for taxes, QuickBooks or even a spreadsheet can work. Once you need per-load profitability, IFTA reporting, fuel-as-a-percent-of-revenue tracking, or deadhead analysis, trucking-specific tools like RigBooks, Trucking Office Pro, or Truckbase become significantly more efficient.
How much does trucking bookkeeping software cost?
Software ranges from about $15/month (RigBooks) to $35–$90/month for QuickBooks to $99+/month for TMS platforms like Truckbase. ATBS is a managed service at roughly $175–$225/month. Outgo charges a flat fee per invoice (no monthly subscription for bookkeeping) as part of its factoring service.
What's the difference between TMS and bookkeeping software?
A TMS (Transportation Management System) handles the operational side: dispatching loads, tracking delivery status, managing driver assignments, and per-load profitability. Bookkeeping software handles the financial side: income and expense records, IFTA reporting, tax categories, and year-end reporting. Some tools like Truckbase and Trucking Office Pro overlap both. Many owner-operators use a TMS plus QuickBooks or ATBS for financial books.
Does my factoring company replace bookkeeping software?
No — factoring replaces waiting for broker payment, not bookkeeping. Your factor does not track your expenses, calculate cost per mile, file IFTA, or generate year-end tax reports. However, Outgo auto-creates invoices from rate confirmations and syncs with QuickBooks, which eliminates manual double entry and makes your bookkeeping cleaner.
Can I deduct my ELD subscription as a business expense?
Yes. ELD subscriptions are a deductible business expense for carriers and owner-operators. Other deductible items include fuel, factoring fees, broker commissions, insurance premiums, tolls, scale tickets, repairs, lease or depreciation, per diem (if you qualify), and accounting software subscriptions. Keep receipts and track these in your bookkeeping tool.
Is ATBS bookkeeping service worth it?
For owner-operators who hate paperwork and want zero involvement in financial record-keeping, ATBS can be worth the $175–$225/month. They handle IFTA, quarterly taxes, and year-end reporting. The tradeoff: you still need to submit receipts and mileage logs consistently. If you are disciplined about submitting records, ATBS saves significant time. If you are not, gaps in your records create problems regardless of who handles them.
How do I track per diem with bookkeeping software?
Per diem for truck drivers is a daily deduction for meals and incidentals when away from home overnight on a run. Most trucking-specific software lets you log days away from home and calculates the deduction automatically (currently $80/day for transportation workers under IRS rules effective Oct 1, 2025, with 80% deductible for self-employed). QuickBooks requires manual category setup. ATBS handles it as part of their managed service.
Stop doing bookkeeping twice
Outgo auto-creates invoices from your rate confirmations and syncs to QuickBooks. Same-day funding, flat fee, no contract.
Affiliate disclosure: We earn a commission if you sign up through our links.
Reviewed by Don Grazio · UC Bureau Compliance Lead
Don has 12+ years working with motor carriers on FMCSA compliance, including new entrant audits, MCS-150 filings, BMC-91 insurance setups, and ELD compliance. UC Bureau researches FMCSA regulations (49 CFR Parts 380–399) directly with carriers across the U.S. and Canada. Content is fact-checked against current federal regulations. UC Bureau is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Transportation or FMCSA — we provide tools and guides to help carriers stay compliant. Learn more about UC Bureau →