Let's begin with entering a settlement. We recommend entering your settlements first because when you have expenses deducted on your settlement, you do not want to also enter them in the Monthly Expense section or else that expense will be doubled on your reports. For example, if your fuel cost is deducted on your settlements you will enter that expense when entering your settlement expenses and not when doing your monthly expenses in the Expense section of ProfitGauges.

To start a new settlement, click on Settlements on the left-hand side of the page. Then click in the Date box and select the settlement date from the calendar that pops up. You want to use the date you were paid and not the date of the trips. This is to keep everything in the correct taxable year. For example, if you made a trip the last week of December but you weren't paid until the first week of January, you do not want to enter the December date or your taxable income won't match your 1099 revenue for that year.

Next, add the carrier you’re leased on to by selecting 'New Carrier' from the list. Once you add the carrier name, when you enter your next settlement you can select the name from the carrier drop-down menu.

The next page is the settlement entry page. The sections are broken down by Income, Reimbursements, and Expenses. You will enter your total gross revenue under the Income section, any reimbursements under Reimbursements, and each expense deducted from your settlement under the Expense section.

When entering your first settlement you will need to set up custom subcategories for each deduction. ProfitGauges will remember these new subcategories for quicker settlement entry in the future. 

To create a new subcategory:

• Click on the drop-down under one of the categories and select 'Add New'. This will open new fields.
• Enter your desired subcategory name and click 'Add'.
• When creating a custom subcategories for expenses / deductions you need to choose the appropriate category the expense is associated with.

Once you have your gross revenue entered under Income, any reimbursements added under Reimbursements, and your expenses entered under Expenses, always remember to balance ProfitGauges with the settlement from your carrier.

To do this, look at the summary box on the right-hand side and make sure that the Net Settlement amount matches the total you were paid after expenses on your settlement sheet. If it does not match, that means something was not entered correctly. The easiest way to figure out why it's not balancing is to figure out the difference between the two amounts (what ProfitGauges has versus what your settlement is) and review what you have entered. Once you make the corrections and everything matches, be sure to click the green 'Save' button to save your work.