Guides

Answers to common questions about trucking costs, car-sharing profit, farm and breeder records, home daycare bookkeeping and party games. Each one explains the method first, with worked examples; our products are listed as one option.

HaulMath Trucking Tools

• How do owner-operators calculate cost per mile?
  The cost per mile formula for owner-operators, what goes in fixed and variable costs, a worked example, and how to turn it into a breakeven rate per loaded mile.
• How do I know if a trucking load is worth taking?
  How to calculate net profit and net per day on a load offer (fuel on all miles, factoring, fixed costs for days out) and why profit per day beats rate per mile.
• How do owner-operators track IFTA miles and fuel by state?
  What records IFTA needs, the quarterly math (fleet MPG, taxable gallons, net taxable gallons), filing deadlines, and the tools owner-operators use to track it.
• What does it cost to start an owner-operator trucking business?
  The startup costs to plan for when getting your own authority (authority and compliance, insurance, truck, equipment, working capital) and how to build a 12-month cash flow before you launch.

Car Sharing Tools

• What's the best spreadsheet for Turo hosts to track profit per car?
  What a car-sharing profit spreadsheet needs (trips, expenses by car, per-car P&L), the formulas for utilization, daily rate and RevPAD, a worked example, and your options.
• How many days a month does a Turo car need to be booked to break even?
  The breakeven utilization formula for car-sharing hosts, a worked example, the breakeven daily rate at a target utilization, and what moves the numbers.

Farm & Homestead Tools

• How do small farms track income, expenses and profit by enterprise?
  Enterprise accounting for small farms and homesteads: setting a budget, tagging every sale and cost to an enterprise, handling overhead, and comparing budget to actual.

Dog Breeder Tools

• How should a dog breeder keep litter and whelping records?
  What small breeders typically record for each litter: dam and sire, whelping weights and gain, puppy IDs and microchips, buyers, deposits and balances, and litter income and expenses.

Home Daycare Tools

• How do home daycare providers track tuition payments and expenses?
  A simple bookkeeping setup for family child care: weekly charges per family, payments, balance owed, expenses by category, and the household-shared items your tax pro needs.

Porchlight Party

• What are good printable party games for a milestone birthday?
  Printable games that work for 30th to 90th birthday parties: born-in-year trivia, who-knows-the-honoree, mingling bingo, memory cards. How many to plan, and how to adjust by age.
• How do you make a scavenger hunt fun for teenagers?
  How to run an at-home scavenger hunt that tweens and teens (10-17) actually enjoy: puzzle clues instead of picture clues, a difficulty ramp, a code key, and a real prize.
• What games can the whole family play at Thanksgiving or Christmas?
  Printable and no-prep games that work for mixed ages at holiday gatherings: trivia, bingo, table topics, gift swaps and kids' table pages.