Bookkeeping
Outsourced bookkeeping for freight brokers, 3PLs, and trucking companies
You cannot run on numbers you do not trust. ClearLane keeps the books for freight brokers, 3PLs, trucking companies, freight forwarders, and logistics providers. Transactions recorded, accounts reconciled, and a clean month-end close, so you always know where you stand.
Bookkeeping
Outsourced bookkeeping
- Transaction recording and categorization
- Bank and credit card reconciliation
- Month-end close
- Books ready for your CPA
- Multi-entity bookkeeping: separate books per company, intercompany transactions recorded and reconciled
- Owner, lender, and shareholder reporting: independent monthly packages, per entity or combined
7day
Month-End Close (Days)
Weekly
Reporting
Where do the books fall behind?
Bookkeeping is the first thing that slips when the team is busy moving freight. Transactions pile up uncategorized, reconciliations get skipped, and by month-end nobody is sure the numbers are right. Decisions get made on stale or shaky data, and tax time turns into an expensive scramble for your CPA.
Books that are behind are not just a chore, they are a blind spot. Keeping them current is what lets you actually run on your numbers.
Bookkeeping built for how freight money moves
Freight bookkeeping is not the same as bookkeeping for a shop or an office, and a trucking bookkeeping service is not general bookkeeping with trucks in the client list. Money moves per load, factoring advances and reserves have to be tracked, fuel and settlement lines hit constantly, and plenty of operations run more than one entity. General bookkeeping treats all of that as noise. We treat it as the point.
ClearLane keeps the books the way freight actually runs: transactions categorized so you can see profit by load and by lane, carrier settlements and factoring reconciled, and multi-entity setups kept clean when you run a brokerage and an asset side under one roof. It works inside QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, and Sage, so your accountant and your lender see numbers they can trust. It does not include financial statement preparation, payroll, or tax services; those stay with your CPA.
That includes multi-entity groups. If you run a parent company with an operating company, a brokerage, or a warehouse entity underneath it, each company keeps its own books in its own file: separate reconciliations, separate charts of accounts, separate closes. Intercompany transactions are recorded on both sides and reconciled monthly so the balances between your companies always agree, and combined reporting is available when ownership wants the whole group on one page. One MC or several, or entities with no MC at all, the books stay clean per company.
How we run your bookkeeping
- 1
Discovery
We map your accounts, current bookkeeping state, and how you want to see your numbers.
- 2
Onboarding
We connect to your existing TMS and accounting system. No migration, no new platform to learn.
- 3
Ongoing operations
Your dedicated bookkeeper records and categorizes transactions, reconciles accounts, and closes the month on a set cadence.
- 4
You scale
Transaction volume grows without adding headcount. The books stay current as you scale.
What do clean books do for your decisions?
Current, reconciled books mean you can see margin, cash, and trends in real time instead of guessing. Month-end becomes a quick review rather than a multi-day scramble. And when tax season comes, your CPA works from clean financials instead of billing you to untangle a year of backlog. If ownership, lenders, or a future transaction need an independent view on top of clean books, see owner and lender reporting.
Clean books record the cash. Getting it in the door faster is its own desk: AR management and collections works every open invoice on a set cadence and applies payments daily, so bookkeeping has clean receipts to reconcile.
Bookkeeping is handled by a separate dedicated team, not your freight operations desk. It covers day-to-day recordkeeping, bank reconciliation, and month-end close. It does not include audited financial statements, payroll, or tax filing.
People search for this layer under different names: freight accounting, trucking bookkeeping services, trucking accounting services, logistics accounting outsourcing. Whatever the label, the daily work is the same: transaction recording, reconciliation, and month-end close, run by a dedicated bookkeeper inside your accounting system. Tax filings and audited statements stay with your CPA, and multi-entity accounting rolls up under independent owner reporting.
And when the question moves from recording the numbers to acting on them, fractional CFO services sit at the top of the same stack.
Works inside the systems you already run
We work inside the accounting software you already use, with no migration and no new system to learn.
QuickBooksXeroFreshBooksSage
Frequently asked questions
What does outsourced bookkeeping cover?
Recording and categorizing transactions, reconciling bank and credit card accounts, and closing the month so your financials are current and accurate. You get books that are always up to date and ready for your CPA, without adding an in-house bookkeeper to payroll.
How is this different from what my CPA does?
Your CPA handles taxes, filings, and higher-level advice, usually periodically. Bookkeeping is the ongoing, day-to-day work of keeping the books accurate so your CPA, and you, have clean numbers to work from. We keep the books; your CPA does the tax work on top of them.
What does month-end close look like?
Accounts reconciled, transactions categorized, and a clean set of financials you can actually read, on a predictable timeline each month. The goal is a fast, reliable close instead of a scramble to figure out what the numbers really are.
Do you work inside our accounting software?
Yes. ClearLane keeps your books inside the accounting software you already use, such as QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, or Sage. There is no migration and no new platform for your team to learn.
What is not included in ClearLane's bookkeeping?
Bookkeeping covers day-to-day recordkeeping, bank reconciliation, and month-end close inside QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, or Sage. It does not include audited financial statements, payroll processing, or tax filing. The bookkeeping team is separate from the freight operations team.
Can you handle bookkeeping for multiple companies or entities?
Yes. Each entity gets its own books: separate bank reconciliations, categorization into its own chart of accounts, and its own month-end close. Intercompany transactions are recorded on both sides and reconciled so nothing double-counts. If you run a brokerage, a fleet, and a warehouse as separate companies, each set of books stays clean, with consolidated reporting when you want the combined picture.
Can ClearLane prepare reporting for owners, banks, or shareholders?
Yes. Monthly management reporting is part of the bookkeeping expertise: per-entity packages, combined statements across related companies, and reporting delivered directly to ownership. That includes retiring owners who hand day-to-day management to a new team but want independent visibility, shareholder groups that want third-party numbers, and lenders that require regular reporting. Audited and tax-basis statements remain with your CPA.
Close timing is counted in business days from month end, excluding items held for your CPA. See how we measure it.
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Learn more →See how POD, AP audit, billing, AR, compliance, and bookkeeping fit together.
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Start with one service, expand later
Most clients begin with POD chasing or invoice verification, then grow into full back-office management.