A bulk fuel delivery makes this month costs look like this month usage

The invoice and the machine hours cover different things

A hypothetical earthmoving business fills its bulk diesel tank near month end. The accounts team allocates the whole delivery to the job active that week, making its apparent fuel cost unusually high. Some of that fuel remains in storage for later work. Before deciding the job has become uneconomic, reconcile purchasing, stock and usage information with the accountant.

Identify the records available

Collect supplier delivery quantities, tank records and machine allocation information. Note where measurements are estimates or where records are incomplete. Do not invent precise litres for a job to make the totals agree. Ask the responsible operational staff to explain how fuel is issued and recorded, including any transfers between tanks or sites that affect the comparison.

Keep the cash payment on its real date

Business.gov.au's cash-flow guidance tracks incoming and outgoing money and identifies estimates. The supplier invoice still creates a cash commitment even where fuel remains unused. Show that payment in the cash forecast while the accountant assesses how consumption and remaining stock should appear in the job and financial records. The two questions should be reconciled rather than forced into identical figures.

Source: business.gov.au: Set up a cash flow statement

Use a clear stock movement explanation

In the hypothetical example, opening fuel plus deliveries, less recorded usage, should help explain the closing quantity, subject to measurement differences. Investigate material discrepancies instead of automatically attributing them to a price rise. This is an operational reconciliation, not a prescribed accounting method. Ask the accountant what adjustments or supporting records are appropriate for the business.

Revisit the job comparison

Once usage information is clearer, compare relevant consumption and current fuel prices with the estimate. Keep genuine efficiency issues visible without loading one project with fuel intended for another. If the record remains incomplete, show a range or an explicit uncertainty for advice rather than presenting a falsely exact margin. Avoid making a major pricing decision from an unexplained allocation.

Improve the next reporting cycle

Agree who records deliveries, usage and closing quantities and how the information reaches accounts. CRP can help review the wider cash implications of bulk purchasing. A useful fuel review distinguishes money spent now from fuel consumed on a particular job, so operational decisions and payment planning are both based on information suited to their purpose.