The two costs that never appear as a payment
Start here, because a list built from your bank statement will not contain either of them and together they usually exceed several of the lines that follow. The free expense register carries the categories below as its own sheets.
Evaporation and handling loss is fuel you bought and never sold. Nobody writes a cheque for it, so it appears in no ledger — it shows up only as a stock variance, and an outlet that reconciles monthly sees it as a single unexplained figure rather than as a cost. Price it at what you paid per litre, not at your commission: on 1.2 lakh litres a month at 0.4%, that is 480 litres, and at ninety-odd rupees a litre it is over forty thousand rupees.
Working capital is the cost of paying for every tanker load before you sell it, extended further by every credit customer. It is not a payment either — it is the interest on money that is tied up, or the opportunity cost if it is your own. It is also the thing that stops an outlet that is profitable on paper.
Why this ordering matters
Because commission is fixed per litre, a rise in fuel prices increases both of these and changes nothing else in your favour. The same volume now costs more to hold, and the same percentage loss is worth more rupees. That is the mechanism by which a rising market squeezes a dealer who is otherwise doing fine.
Staff
Cost your own time here too if you work the forecourt. An owner-operator who does not is comparing their outlet against one that pays a manager for the same hours.
- Forecourt operators — usually the largest single line.
- Manager or supervisor.
- Accountant or bookkeeper, whether employed or retained.
- Security, where the site has it.
- Cleaning and housekeeping.
- Statutory employer contributions where they apply.
- Uniforms, and any welfare the site provides.
Site and equipment
Everything the forecourt needs to stay open. Electricity is the line that surprises people — dispensers, submersible pumps and canopy lighting run whether or not anyone is buying, so a quiet month costs nearly what a busy one does.
- Rent or lease, where the land is not owned.
- Electricity — dispensers, canopy lighting, submersible pumps, office and any air conditioning. Often the second-largest variable line.
- Diesel for a generator, and its servicing.
- Water.
- Dispenser maintenance and spares.
- Air and water machine servicing.
- Canopy, forecourt and signage upkeep.
- Fire equipment servicing and refills.
- Housekeeping consumables.
Statutory and compliance
Individually small, collectively not, and every one of them is a renewal date rather than a monthly bill — which is why they are worth listing somewhere that gets looked at rather than in a file that gets opened when something expires.
- Licence renewals — explosives, trade, shop and establishment, and whatever else your state and site require.
- Legal Metrology verification and stamping of the dispensing units.
- Pollution control board consents.
- Fire service no-objection renewal.
- Professional fees — accountant, filings, any legal work.
- Insurance — the site, stock, public liability and staff cover.
Financial and transactional
The cost of being paid, and the cost of money. Both are easy to leave out because neither feels like an operating expense.
- Card acquirer settlement charges. Record these as an expense rather than netting them off the collection — netting makes the day appear to balance while understating both revenue and cost, and hides the charge from anyone reviewing what the outlet spends.
- Bank charges and cash handling or deposit fees.
- Loan or lease repayments, split into interest and principal.
- Bad debt written off from credit customers.
- Software subscriptions.
- Telephone and internet.
Using the list
Two things worth doing with it once you have filled it in for your own outlet.
First, put the total through the profit calculator alongside your throughput and commission. The break-even volume it reports is the number worth knowing, and it is higher than most people expect because evaporation scales with the volume that is supposed to fix it.
Second, group your drawer payouts by these categories every month and compare against the previous two. A category that has quietly doubled is the finding — and it is the one thing a daily cash reconciliation cannot surface for you, because a payout that was recorded balances the day whether or not it should have happened. The monthly closing checklist covers where it fits.
Frequently asked questions
What is the biggest expense at a petrol pump?
Staff, at most outlets, followed by electricity where the site is not on owned land and rent where it is. But the honest answer for many outlets is stock loss, which is not on the payments list at all — it is worth pricing yours before assuming the largest line is one you can see in a bank statement.
Should I count fuel purchases as an expense?
For a profitability view, no — a dealer buys at a set price and sells at a set price, and the difference is the commission. Treating the purchase as an expense and the sale as revenue produces enormous turnover and a tiny margin, which is arithmetically true and tells you nothing useful. Work from commission per litre instead.
How do I account for card settlement charges?
As an expense when they land, with the collection logged at the amount the customer was charged. Netting the charge off the collection makes the day look like it balances while quietly understating both sides.
Is my own salary an expense?
If you want the number to mean profit rather than drawings, yes. It is the only way to compare your outlet honestly against one that pays somebody to do what you do.