A completed delivery tells dispatch where the job ended. It does not tell finance what happened to the money sent along the way. Closing the journey means matching each payment with its purpose and evidence, then explaining every remaining balance.
Start with the trip reference, not a pile of screenshots
Collect the vehicle, driver, customer, operating dates and trip reference first. Link each payment and receipt to that reference. A driver may complete two jobs in the same week; a transfer to the right person can still be attached to the wrong journey.
Use a simple register with amount, date, recipient, purpose, payment reference, evidence and review status. The reviewer should be able to follow a line from the original request to the actual payment and then to the expense or returned money. Keep an exception visible until somebody resolves it.
Separate the purpose before the money leaves
“Advance” is too broad a description. Money for an authorised trip cost and money drawn early from the driver's pay have different meanings. Ask which it is at request time, not when the settlement is already being calculated.
- Trip expense money: funds business spending, with the trip and expected purpose recorded.
- Pay advance: compensation paid early, linked to the driver and the recovery arrangement.
- Supplier payment: goes directly to a station, workshop or other supplier rather than through the driver.
Keep the company's trip expenses outside the driver's pay recovery calculation. A pay advance also should not appear as another operating expense after the full driver earnings have already been counted. The driver settlement guide shows how those records meet without being counted twice.
Match requests, decisions and actual transfers
A request for KES 8,000 might be approved for KES 6,000 and paid later. The cash record follows the amount actually transferred. Do not count all three stages as expenses or treat an approval screen as proof that cash changed hands.
Check the recipient and transaction reference against the payment evidence. For cash, record the handover and acknowledgement. A forwarded screenshot needs enough context to identify the payment it supports. When one transfer funds several purposes, show the allocation and keep the total equal to the transfer amount.
Work through one cash reconciliation
Suppose a driver actually receives KES 12,000 for trip expenses. The reviewer accepts evidence for loading of KES 4,500, parking of KES 1,500 and lodging of KES 3,000. The driver returns KES 2,000. These figures illustrate the method; they are not standard charges or an endorsement of any particular fee.
- Supported expenses: 4,500 + 1,500 + 3,000 = KES 9,000.
- Supported expenses plus returned cash: 9,000 + 2,000 = KES 11,000.
- Unresolved balance: 12,000 − 11,000 = KES 1,000.
Assign the remaining KES 1,000 for follow-up. It could be an omitted receipt, an unrecorded return, a mistake or another issue. The reconciliation identifies a question; it does not establish its cause. If the company also paid a station KES 30,000 directly, that payment belongs in the trip's cost review but outside this driver cash balance.
Check fuel spending without confusing purchase and use
Match the station payment with the receipt's litres, unit price and total. Keep the actual fill time and vehicle reading where available. Buying diesel is a cash event; consuming it happens over the vehicle's work. Opening and closing tank levels matter if you want to attribute consumption to a particular journey.
Count the station expense once even if it appears as a bank transfer, a receipt and a fuel log. A sensor reading can support a fill review, but it does not prove what was paid. See the fuel monitoring guide for what receipts, CAN data and tank sensors each contribute.
Close exceptions with an owner and evidence
Mark each line supported, awaiting evidence, disputed or corrected. Record who reviews it and the next action. If a payment is duplicated or refunded, preserve the original and the correction so another reviewer can reconstruct what happened. Avoid deleting the awkward line to make the total look tidy.
An internal acceptance of an expense is separate from its accounting or tax treatment. The finance team still needs to apply the requirements that fit the business. This checklist explains an operating reconciliation, not a tax deduction test.
Keep the cash close separate from the profit review
A balanced cash record does not prove that the trip made money. Once the payment exceptions are resolved, compare revenue with the consistently defined costs, including driver earnings and attributable vehicle costs. State which costs remain unallocated.
Kora keeps trip-linked advances, fuel records and payment evidence available for review. Its trip cost summary uses the records entered and can include approved expense advances; that summary is not proof of disbursement or a final receipt reconciliation. Confirm actual payments and outstanding balances before treating the close as complete. The company makes the transfer; Kora does not send the money.