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Fuel Billing Software for Distributors
Fuel billing software earns its place when it builds each invoice from the document that measured the delivery: the delivery ticket for a metered drop, the bill of lading for a load taken whole. It should keep gross and net gallons on the line, say which one is priced, and pass the finished invoice to your books without retyping.
Which quantity should a fuel invoice bill?
A single delivery produces up to three quantities: what the customer ordered, what the terminal loaded (the bill of lading), and what came off the truck at the site (the delivery ticket). Each one is the right billing basis somewhere. The software has to let you choose per customer and per delivery type, not pick one for the whole business.
| Quantity source | Measured | Bill on it when | Wrong when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordered | Not measured; a request | Quoting, a credit check or a prepayment request before the load moves | The final invoice for anything delivered. A round number on an invoice usually means this happened. |
| Bill of lading | At the terminal rack, at pickup | The customer takes the whole load as lifted, such as a full transport to one site, and the contract prices on loaded gallons | A split load or a partial drop: the BOL covers the whole truck, not one customer's share |
| Delivery ticket | At the truck's meter, at the drop | Metered deliveries into customer tanks, and each stop of a split load | The ticket's basis (gross or net) differs from the contract and nobody converts it |
Then the basis. The same delivery has a gross and a net figure, and the invoice has to price the one the contract names:
| Basis | What it is | Usually used for |
|---|---|---|
| Net | Gross gallons corrected to 60°F | Wholesale: the fuels industry has long accounted for fuel on a net basis |
| Gross | Gallons as measured, at whatever temperature the fuel was | Retail and heating-fuel deliveries, where temperature compensation generally does not happen |
Whether net billing is allowed at all depends on state law, and NIST's model code says a buyer or seller on a temperature-compensated basis keeps that basis for at least 12 consecutive months unless both sides agree otherwise in writing. Put the basis in the customer record, not in someone's head.
What should the software do with the BOL and the ticket?
- Keep both documents on the load. The BOL proves what was lifted, the ticket what was delivered. A dispute is settled by opening them, so they should travel with the invoice record.
- Show ordered, loaded and delivered side by side, so a short delivery is visible before the invoice goes out rather than when the customer calls.
- Carry the ticket's basis onto the invoice. NIST's model weights and measures law asks a delivery ticket to show the quantity delivered and, if it differs, the quantity the price is based on. The invoice should use the same figure.
- Split one BOL across several tickets on a split load, one invoice per customer, each from its own ticket.
- Hold a draft for review rather than sending the moment a delivery is recorded. A person reading the draft against the ticket catches what a rule misses.
The federal shipping-paper rules do not require gallons for bulk shipments: they accept an indication of total quantity such as “1 cargo tank”. If you bill from the BOL, the gallons on it are there because your terminal and your contract put them there.
Your customers see the result from the other side. Why your fuel invoice changed after delivery is written for them, and how to read a fuel delivery ticket walks through the fields your invoice should match. For the dispatch side, see fuel dispatch software: what it has to do.
Can fuel billing software send invoices to QuickBooks or Business Central?
Some can, and the detail matters more than the logo on the integrations page. Before you connect any billing tool to your books, ask:
- What moves, and in which direction? Invoices only, or customers, items, payments and attached documents too?
- What happens to an invoice already sent? A tool that rewrites a sent invoice in your ledger changes a document your customer already has.
- Do the delivery documents go with it? An invoice in your books with no ticket attached sends your bookkeeper back to the dispatcher.
- What does it not do yet? Whether payments come back from your books is worth asking directly.
If you deliver a few dozen loads a week with one person on billing, your accounting package and a careful read of each ticket may be all you need. Software pays off when tickets arrive faster than one person can match them to orders.
How Energy Connect handles it
A draft invoice is held for review: unless you turn on auto-issue, it is not sent until someone issues it. You can edit the draft, issue it to the bill-to party and download a PDF copy, and the bill of lading and other delivery documents can be attached to the load.
The bill-to party can dispute an issued, unpaid invoice with a reason, and you can respond on the invoice. See the QuickBooks Online and Microsoft Business Central integration pages, and the supplier portal page for the rest.
Sources
- NIST Handbook 130 (2025), Uniform Weights and Measures Law §17: a delivery ticket shows “the quantity delivered and the quantity upon which the price is based, if this differs” (a NIST model law)
- NIST Handbook 44 (2026), §3.31: vehicle-mounted meters record each sale and the customer gets a copy of the ticket (UR.2.2); net volume at 60°F “where not prohibited by state law” (S.2.5.1); a temperature-compensated basis held for at least 12 consecutive months unless both sides agree otherwise in writing (UR.2.5.2)
- Texas Comptroller, Motor Fuels Audit Manual, ch. 9: net gallons are gross gallons corrected to 60°F, and the fuels industry has for many decades generally accounted for fuel on a net basis
- NIST testimony on hot fuels: temperature compensation has taken place at the wholesale level, not at the retail pump or for home heating fuel deliveries
- 49 CFR 172.202: for bulk packages, a shipping paper may show the quantity as “1 cargo tank”