Costs gathers everything a vehicle costs to run in one list: repairs, tyres, parking, fines and so on, entered by hand, together with the costs that Fleet Management posts for you when a maintenance work order is completed or a renewal is recorded. From these it works out a cost summary, the cost per kilometre or per engine hour, and a total cost of ownership for each vehicle.
Amounts follow the organization's number settings (thousands separator, decimal symbol, decimal places and where the currency label goes). Distances show in the unit chosen in Fleet settings.
Before you start
- You need the Costs row of the permission matrix: View to see costs, Create, Edit and Delete. Costs offer "all" access only, with no "own" option. Costs are also hidden for vehicles you cannot see (Vehicles › View).
- Cost categories come from the Cost categories list under Fleet lists in Fleet settings. The ready-made ones are Maintenance, Repairs, Tyres, Insurance, Registration & licences, Lease & finance, Fines & tolls, Parking, Washing, Fuel and Other.
The Costs list
Open Fleet Management › Costs. The card title shows the total of the rows listed, for example "Costs · 12,450.00".
| Column | Notes |
|---|---|
| Date | When the cost was incurred. The list starts with the newest. |
| Vehicle | |
| Category | Or "—". |
| Description | Or "—". |
| Vendor | Or "—". |
| Source | Manual, Work order or Renewal. Costs that come from elsewhere are shaded. |
| Amount | |
| Business unit | Shown only when your organization has business units. |
The drop-downs above the table filter by vehicle and category. The funnel icon opens a drawer with From and To dates (and Business unit with business units). Summary opens the cost summary and Add cost (with Costs › Create) adds a cost.
A vehicle's own Costs tab shows its latest 200 costs and an Add cost button that starts with that vehicle chosen. It is shown only if you hold Costs › View.
Add or edit a cost
- Select Add cost (or Edit on a manual cost).
- Complete the fields below and save.
| Field | Required | What to enter |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle | Yes | Only vehicles you may view are offered. |
| Date | Yes | |
| Amount | Yes | More than zero. |
| Category | No | From the active cost categories. A category archived after the cost was entered stays selectable for that cost. |
| Vendor | No | From your vendor list. |
| Odometer and Hours | No | The reading when the cost was incurred, kept with the cost for your reference. It is not entered as a meter reading. |
| Description | No | Up to 1,000 characters. |
The cost takes the business unit of its vehicle.
Delete a cost
Select Delete on a manual cost and confirm "Delete this cost?". A toast says "Cost deleted". Needs Costs › Delete.
Costs that come from elsewhere
Three kinds of cost are not typed in. Fleet Management and Fuel Management post them, and they are locked: they show a Work order, Renewal or Fuel source, have no Edit or Delete, and trying to change one is refused with "This cost comes from Work order; change it there." (or Renewal, or Fuel). Change the cost where it comes from and the locked cost follows.
| Source | When it is posted | Category | Changes with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work order | When a Maintenance work order for the vehicle is completed with a Cost above zero. Dated the completion date, with the vendor of the work order and the description "Work order #number". | Maintenance | It is removed if the work order is cancelled. See Maintenance. |
| Renewal | When a vehicle renewal is saved with a cost above zero. | Insurance for a type with insurance fields, otherwise Registration & licences. | The renewal's cost, issue date and provider. Removed when the cost is cleared. |
| Fuel | When a fuel fill is recorded. Dated the fill date, for the fill's total, with the vendor of the station when it has one and the description "Fuel n l". | Fuel | The fill: editing it changes the cost, voiding it removes the cost. Change the fill, not the cost. |
Each work order, renewal or fill produces at most one cost, so saving or completing it again never duplicates the cost.
The cost summary
Select Summary on the Costs list. It rolls costs up for the vehicles you may view.
- Period: This month, Last 3 months, Year to date or Custom (pick From and To, then Apply). A custom range with a missing date or run backwards is treated as this month.
- Group by: Vehicle, Vehicle group, Vehicle type or Cost category.
- With business units, the funnel icon filters by Business unit.
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Vehicle / Vehicle group / Vehicle type / Cost category | The row name. A vehicle without a group or type is listed as "Unassigned"; a cost without a category as "Uncategorised". |
| Vehicles | How many vehicles are in the row (not shown when grouping by vehicle). |
| Costs | The recorded costs in the period (manual, work orders, renewals). |
| Lease | The computed lease cost, see below. |
| Total | Costs plus lease. Rows with nothing in the period are left out. |
| Distance, Cost per km (or mile), Hours, Cost per hour | See below. Not shown when grouping by cost category. |
A total line sums the rows.
Cost per kilometre and per hour
Distance is how far the vehicle was driven in the period: the latest accepted odometer reading in the period minus the reading at its start (the latest accepted reading up to the end of the first day or, for a vehicle with no reading by then, such as one that arrived during the period, its first accepted reading in the period). Hours works the same way for engine hours. Cost per km is the period's recorded Costs divided by that distance, and Cost per hour the same for hours. Lease is not included in these.
- A vehicle needs at least two accepted readings that frame the period. Without them the figure is "—".
- Readings held for review and void readings do not count.
- For a group or type, distance and hours add up the vehicles that have them, and the cost per unit divides only the costs of those vehicles by it.
Lease cost
A vehicle that is Leased, Rented or Hired, with a Monthly cost and a lease start date on its profile, is charged that monthly cost for each calendar month the lease touches within the period, up to the lease end date. A month counts once, in full, even if the lease starts or ends part-way through it. The lease is calculated, not stored as cost rows, so it appears in the summary's Lease column and the total cost of ownership but not in the Costs list.
Total cost of ownership
On a vehicle's Overview tab, a Total cost of ownership card (shown to people with Costs › View) covers the vehicle's whole life up to today.
| Figure | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Total cost of ownership | Purchase price minus disposal proceeds, plus costs recorded, plus lease. |
| Purchase price | The vehicle's Price from its acquisition details. If that is empty and the vehicle is linked to an asset record, the asset's acquisition cost is used. "—" if neither exists. |
| Disposal proceeds | The amount recorded when the vehicle was sold or disposed of. |
| Costs recorded | All costs on the vehicle. |
| Lease (n months) | The computed lease cost and the months counted. |
| Cost per km and Cost per hour | Costs recorded divided by the distance or hours driven since the vehicle's first accepted reading. |
| Asset book value and Asset depreciation to date | From the linked Asset Management record, shown only when the vehicle is linked to an asset that has a purchase cost and a current book value and you may view that asset. Depreciation is acquisition cost minus book value. They are for information and are not added to the total. |
Costs by category lists the recorded costs under the card. Without permission to view the linked asset, the asset figures and an asset-based purchase price are left out for you.
Errors you may see
| Message | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| This cost comes from Work order (or Renewal); change it there. | A locked cost was edited or deleted. | Change the work order or renewal. |
| The selected vehicle is invalid. / The selected category is invalid. | The record was removed or archived after the form opened. | Reload and choose another. |
| 403, you do not have permission | Your permissions do not include the action, or you cannot see the vehicle. | Ask an administrator. |
Current limitations
- Fuel purchases are recorded in Fuel Management; each fill adds a locked Fuel cost here. Fuel bought and not recorded as a fill can still be entered as a manual cost in the Fuel category.
- Costs are not posted to Finance; they are for fleet reporting only.
- Lease and purchase costs are not stored as cost rows, so they appear in the total cost of ownership and the summary but not in the Costs list.