Petrol Pump Management
Shift closing from nozzle readings and dip, with credit party accounts that reconcile at month end instead of being argued.
A pump's accounting is decided three times a day, at shift change. Nozzle readings taken, litres sold worked out, cash counted against it, and a difference either explained or quietly absorbed. Do that correctly for a month and you know your business. Do it from memory on a busy evening and the shortage at month end has no traceable origin.
What gets built here follows the actual shift: opening and closing nozzle readings per DSM, testing litres returned to tank, dip readings against book stock, cash and credit split out, and the tanker decantation that resets everything. Plus the other half of a pump's business that is invariably the messier one — credit customers running monthly accounts against slips.
What it fixes
- Nozzle readings noted in a register and totalled later, so a misread is found at month end with no way to place it
- Dip readings taken but never reconciled against book stock, leaving tank shortage undetected until it is large
- Testing and measure litres returned to the tank but counted as sold, which quietly distorts every shift
- Credit customers signing slips all month, with the monthly bill compiled by hand from a bundle of paper and disputed line by line
- Rate changes taking effect overnight, with closing stock valued at the old rate and the gain or loss never worked out
- Lubricants, oil and tyres sold from the same counter and tracked as an afterthought, so dry stock shrinkage is invisible
What gets built
A starting point, not a fixed list. The build is scoped to your own process before anything is written.
Shift closing
Opening and closing nozzle readings per nozzle and per DSM, testing litres deducted, litres sold valued at the rate in force, and cash, card and credit reconciled against it before the shift is closed.
Tank stock and dip
Book stock per tank from sales and decantation, dip reading entered against it, and the variation shown per tank so shortage is visible daily rather than monthly.
Tanker decantation
Tanker received with invoice quantity, decanted quantity, density and any shortage against the supply, recorded against the tank and the supplier account.
Credit party accounts
An account per credit customer with vehicle-wise slips, a running balance, a credit limit visible at the point of fuelling, and a monthly bill generated from the slips already entered.
Rate changes
Rate per product with effect from a date and time, applied to shifts automatically, and the stock gain or loss on a rate change calculated rather than ignored.
Dry stock and daily position
Lubricants, oils and accessories with their own purchase, sale and stock, plus a one-page daily position — litres sold, cash collected, credit extended, stock remaining — which is what the owner actually looks at.
Who this is for
Pumps with multiple nozzles, shift staff and a credit customer book — typically anywhere the owner is not personally present at every shift change. It is most valuable where credit sales to transport companies, government departments or local businesses are a significant share, because that is where the money sits. Pump chains with two or more sites benefit further from a consolidated position. A single small pump run by the owner himself, cash only, with no credit customers, does not need this. Also worth saying: this cannot stop pilferage on its own. It makes a shortage visible and traceable to a shift and a nozzle, which is a precondition for dealing with it, not a solution to it.
Questions
Can it take readings from the dispensers automatically?
Sometimes. Some newer electronic dispensers and forecourt controllers can be read over an interface; many older mechanical and semi-electronic units in use here cannot, and some are under the oil marketing company's control and cannot be touched without their approval. It depends on the make, the model and your OMC. We would confirm it against your actual equipment before putting it in a quotation, and if it cannot be read, readings are entered at shift change and the system is still worth having.
Will this stop the shortage we are seeing?
Not by itself, and anyone saying otherwise is selling you something. What it does is attribute a shortage correctly — to a shift, a nozzle, an unreconciled dip, testing litres counted as sales, or genuine evaporation. A good proportion of what pumps call pilferage turns out to be arithmetic. Once the arithmetic is right, what remains is a management matter.
Our credit customers want a monthly bill with every vehicle listed.
That is the main reason to build this and it should be specified properly — vehicle number, date, product, litres, rate and slip number, grouped as the customer wants to receive it. Worth bringing a sample of the bill format a large customer currently accepts, because matching what they already approve saves a month of argument.
Tell us how your pump runs.
We scope it first — what it takes, how long, what it costs. No obligation.