Articles

Managing Driver Pay Settlements

Posted Aug 14, 2020

Q7, Tips

As a trucking business owner, you know how common it is for drivers to ask for another copy of their pay settlement, sometimes one from last month. Whether you are working on invoicing, payroll, or dispatch, the last thing you want is to waste time digging through records just to reprint or re-email a settlement. Managing driver pay settlements should be a painless task, and with Q7, it is.

Q7 makes it easy to access posted driver pay settlements any time. In this month’s issue of Tips & Tricks, we are covering three different places you can instantly generate driver settlements, even after they have been processed and posted. Whether your trucking company has owner operator drivers, carriers, or payroll drivers, you have some flexibility. Which option you choose will depend on the type of driver and what you are doing in the moment. In addition, Q7 has a great deal of flexibility when it comes to user security. The access you have in Q7 may determine where you can get a copy of a posted driver pay settlement.

 

Why Managing Driver Pay Settlements in Q7 Matters

Generating driver payroll and pay settlements is simple, and we all know why that matters. But why is it important to be able to access posted pay settlements?

  • Management and other users who work with pay settlements need quick access for corrections or audits.
  • Drivers often request copies later on down the road.
  • Tidy record keeping saves you time at the end of the year.
  • You generated the settlements, but forgot to email or print them. Now they are posted.

 

Option 1: Driver Setup Profile

NOTE: Your ability to access a pay settlement from this view may be limited to user security. The Q7 Administrator can determine which types of Setup lists each user accesses. Furthermore, the type of profile within that Setup list can be driven by permissions. For example, your Employee Setup list may contain office staff and company drivers. Permissions can be defined by Setup type and profile type within that Setup list.

Within the Vendor Setup or Employee Setup list, optionally use smart search to look up the driver or carrier. Click on the Action button and open the transaction history linked to the profile.

Frontline Q7 Trucking Software_Managing Driver Pay Settlements_Setup Open Transactions

Locate the pay settlement transaction, then print or email it.

BEST FOR:
  • Quick one-off requests from drivers or carriers.
  • Quick one-off record look ups.

 

Option 2: AP Invoices for Vendor Drivers or Carriers

If you pay carriers or have owner operator driver on your fleet, you have the option to create their pay settlements as accounts payable invoices. This is a beneficial technique for extra reporting capabilities and for allowing you to zip up pay period data into a transaction even if the driver’s deductions outweigh their revenue.

NOTE: Q7’s robust user security can be utilized to allow pay settlement users to access the accounts payable program to manage driver or carrier records, but hide regular expense records.

If your pay settlements are created as AP invoices, you have a couple of options for grabbing historical records.

To get one pay settlement at a time, just set the appropriate date range and use smart search to locate the driver or carrier’s transaction(s). Get to the pay settlement just by clicking the Action button, where you can print or email it.

Frontline Q7 Trucking Software_Managing Driver Pay Settlements_Vend Inv Quick Print

BEST FOR:
  • Quick one-off requests from drivers or carriers.
  • Quick one-off record look ups. You can also open the record and review the transactions.

If you need to print or email a batch of posted pay settlements after the pay settlement process has been completed, you can do that from here, too. Click the Batch Invoice button. Set some optional filters like a post date range or a sub-class.

Frontline Q7 Trucking Software_Managing Driver Pay Settlements_Vend Inv BatchBEST FOR:
  • During the regular driver pay settlement process, you forgot to email or print settlements.
  • Accounting or management needs a batch of data.

 

Option 3: Payroll Checks (Company Drivers)

Since managing driver pay settlements is using Q7’s single source data entry model, company drivers are settled using payroll checks. Instead of having the report in one place and the paycheck (paper or direct deposit) in another, they are combined into a single record. This makes it easy to pull them back up after the fact – either individually or in batch.

If you have access to the Check Register, use smart search to locate the payroll check. Click the Action button to print or email the driver pay settlement again. If you need to print or email a check stub, you can do that from here, too, even though the check has already been processed and posted.

Frontline Q7 Trucking Software_Managing Driver Pay Settlements_PR Check IndividualBEST FOR:
  • Quick one-off requests from drivers or carriers.
  • Quick one-off record look ups. You can also expand the detail to view more in-depth information (i.e., accounting postings).

If you do not have access to the master Check Register or if you need to reprint or email a batch of posted company driver pay settlements, use the Batch Settlement tool in the Banking category. This tool lets you apply several different optional filters. You can narrow your reporting down to a single driver, or a subset of drivers, or by date range.

NOTE: Since driver pay settlements double as the payroll check, user security is essential. The Q7 Administrator can define which types of employees each user can access throughout the system, including this reporting tool.

Frontline Q7 Trucking Software_Managing Driver Pay Settlements_PR Check BatchBEST FOR:
  • During the regular driver pay settlement process, you forgot to email or print settlements.
  • Accounting or management needs a batch of data.

 


Managing driver pay settlements doesn’t have to be complicated. Whether you’re working with payroll drivers, leased operators, or carrier vendors, Q7 gives you the tools to easily view, print, or email past settlements. That means fewer headaches, faster response times, and better record keeping for everyone.

If you’re just starting to streamline your payroll or driver settlement process, it’s worth checking out how Q7 handles creating pay settlements, tracking driver history, and tying it all together with full-cycle accounting. Reach out to us today for a complimentary demonstration. Q7 works for you, not the other way around.