Ask the expert

Using a fuel card will help track fuel usage more closely as a direct cost control measure thanks to clear invoicing and management information systems. 

It will also report on how a driver or vehicle is performing on fuel efficiency. This knowledge allows you to improve the efficiency of drivers, vehicles or your entire fleet.

By specifying controls you can reduce your fuel spend by restricting network choice to competitively-priced sites, limiting product choice through category restrictions and controlling amounts of spend with velocity limit checks.

Benefits also include simplified VAT reclaim-compliant invoicing, outlining full details of transactions as opposed to having to ensure that drivers keep receipts and fill out their expense forms.

Some fuel card providers also offer e-invoicing and other services such as a mileage management system as we do at Shell. It enables you to track the split between private and business mileage and link it to actual fuel costs to simplify benefit-in-kind reporting.

If you currently reimburse your drivers on a fixed rate per mile, you may be paying too much. Using a fuel card gives you the actual fuel cost per mile, potentially reducing your costs by using the real cost of the fuel. 

Using a fuelcard gives you the information to have greater control of your fleet, leading to improved efficiency and significant cost savings. 

The obvious benefit is the saving on fuel spend. This can be from working with a competitively-priced supplier. 

However it’s also important to look at retail network to ensure that drivers do not have to do any extra miles to fill up. Some fleets could also qualify for discounted fuel.

Almost as important, there are indirect savings through the major reduction in your administrative workload: just a single invoice to manage, instead of a receipt for every fuel purchase. 

In addition, you gain from the account management services which enable you to monitor and control your fuel expenditure more closely, helping to identify best practice. 

A further advantage derives from the security gains: your fuelcard can only be used for authorised purchases and you can set limits around fuel usage and can be alerted to any abnormal buying behaviour.

One fuelcard benefit may not be immediately obvious: you are invoiced directly rather than a driver paying for it and being reimbursed.

This is important because of the European 6th Directive, which says that if your drivers buy fuel within the EU, you can reclaim the VAT if you have been directly invoiced for it, leading to quick and simple administration and further financial benefits.

Contact: 0800 731 3137 or go to www.euroshell.co.uk

Shell ‘s Mileage Management System is a web and phone-based system that manages all fuel related costs as well as improve management reporting and control.

You can track the split between private and business mileage and it is suitable for split fleets (fleets with drivers on pay-and-reclaim as well as drivers with fuel cards). It can link to actual fuel costs, taken from the electronic invoice data and can simplify BiK reporting.

More advanced systems, including our own, allow you to enter expense records and use the HMRC rates (AFRs), actual costs or a fixed ppl cost where the employee makes good the cost of all fuel provided for private use, or where a firm repays a driver for business mileage.

But any system should be checked with local regulatory offices to ensure compliance, so always choose a reputable company that can offer you advice and support as well a system or process.

Best practice for employees receiving company-provided fuel, other than those who are fully expensed, is to issue a policy statement to the effect that “all private mileage must be reimbursed”, ensure detailed business journey and mileage records are kept, that these journeys are validated and that there is a senior manager approval process.

HMRC has discretionary powers so it is in the interest of the employer to ensure adequate, detailed records are kept.

Contact: 0800 731 3137
www.euroshell.co.uk