Why collections drift from sales
Revenue at a fuel outlet is calculated in litres and collected in five different forms, and each form has its own way of going missing. Cash walks. UPI shows a screen that says success on a transaction that later fails. Cards settle a day or two later net of charges. Fleet cards reconcile against a statement you receive weekly. Credit customers do not pay today at all — that is the definition of credit.
The mismatch is therefore normal and expected on any given day. What is not normal is not knowing which of the five is responsible. A pump that records one lump figure called 'collection' has thrown away the only information that would let it tell a UPI failure from a short drawer.
How payment reconciliation works in PumpDesk
Collections are logged by type as they are taken — cash, UPI, card, fleet card and credit, kept as five separate lines rather than one total. That split is most of the value, because it is what turns a shortfall into a question about a specific channel.
On the Payments page you enter the revenue the day was expected to bring in, and PumpDesk compares it against the total collected, states the difference, and flags a mismatch either way.
- Cash, UPI, card, fleet card and credit are recorded as distinct types, never pooled.
- Credit sales are slips on each customer's account, and the day's slips are counted in automatically, so a sale on account never reads as missing cash.
- Expenses are recorded separately, so drawer payouts do not masquerade as a shortfall.
- The comparison is shown against the day you are looking at, on the Payments page.
The expected figure is computed, not entered
PumpDesk values the day's meter readings at each fuel's rate for that date and compares the total against what was collected, so the two sides are independent: one comes from the meters, the other from the till. If a fuel sold that day has no rate set, it says so and names the fuel rather than quietly leaving it out of the total — a figure that drops a fuel looks exactly like a quiet day.
Credit customers, without a separate notebook
Credit is where most pumps keep a second set of records, and a second set of records is where reconciliation goes to die. A transport operator fills up on Tuesday, the fuel leaves the tank and the sale is real, but no money arrives until the account is settled at the end of the month.
PumpDesk gives each credit customer an account. Every fill is a slip, with the vehicle number, the fuel, the litres and the amount at that day's rate, and the day's slips add up to the Credit line on Payments, so Tuesday balances without anyone typing the total twice. Payments received go against the same account, the balance is worked out from the slips and what has been paid, and a statement for any date range downloads as PDF or Excel. It does not age receivables into 30/60/90-day buckets, and it does not send reminders on its own; chasing settlement is still your process, with the statement in hand.
Frequently asked questions
Does it connect to my UPI or bank account?
No. PumpDesk records what you collected by type; it does not pull statements from a bank or a payment gateway, and it does not reconcile against one. Comparing your recorded UPI and card totals against the settlement statements that arrive later is a weekly job you do yourself — but because the five channels are kept apart rather than pooled, you have a per-channel figure to compare rather than one lump total.
How are card settlement charges handled?
Log the collection at the amount charged to the customer, and record the settlement charge as an expense when it lands. Netting the charge off the collection makes the day appear to balance while quietly understating revenue.
Can I see what a credit customer owes?
Yes. Each credit customer has an account with a running balance: their opening balance, every slip, and every payment received. You can download a statement for any date range as PDF or Excel, or open WhatsApp with the balance already typed. A credit limit can be set per customer; going over it shows a warning rather than blocking the sale. It does not age receivables into 30/60/90-day buckets.
What if the rate changed during the day?
Rates are dated: each one applies from its effective date until a newer one replaces it, so the day is valued at the rate in force. Meter readings are recorded per day rather than per hour, so a rate that changes mid-day is valued at one of the two — enter the rate that covered most of the day's volume. Indian RSP revisions land at 06:00, before most outlets open, so this is rarer than it sounds.