1. Purpose and Users
The Fuel Module controls the full fuel lifecycle in the ERP. It helps the business know which truck received fuel, which trip the fuel belongs to, which driver was involved, where the fuel came from, how many litres were issued, how much it cost, and whether the consumption looks normal. The module is mainly used by fuel controllers, fleet managers, station users, branch operations teams, and analysts who review fuel cost and efficiency.
The module now uses one main capture path: an Issue Document. The user chooses whether the document is a Goods Issue, Purchase Order, or Cash/Mpesa purchase. The form then shows the right fields for that document type and records one controlled fuel transaction that can be assigned to a trip, confirmed, reported, and printed.
2. Setup Before Fuel Is Issued
The workflow starts with master data. Fuel sources define where fuel can be obtained. A source can be a company tank, fuel card, or approved station. A direct fuel log can also use controlled cash purchase as a source type. Each source stores details such as name, branch, supplier, location, product, default price per litre, currency, stock quantity, status, approval flag, visibility flag, card number, provider, capacity, assigned asset, assigned driver, and notes.
Company tanks support reconciliation because the system can compare deliveries, issues, and physical dip readings. Fuel cards support assignment controls, so a card can be tied to a specific truck or driver. Approved stations support controlled external fuelling and may be exposed to the station portal when visible and active.
Fuel trucks are assets marked as visible in the fuel portal. Route profiles define route codes, route names, destination information, visibility, and allocated litres for single-diff and double-diff trucks. These profiles help the issue document flow check route allocations when fuel is connected to a trip.
3. Issue Document Workflow
Every fuel request starts from Issue Document. For Goods Issue, the user selects the truck, company tank, litres, and date. The system uses the tank's live theoretical balance, blocks over-issue, and reduces the tank inventory after the document is saved.
For Purchase Order, the user selects the truck, station, supplier-backed rate, litres, and date. Supplier, station, rate, currency, and VAT details are carried on the document so the fuel team can see the open supplier exposure and later reconcile it.
For Cash/Mpesa purchase, the user captures the truck, litres, rate, amount paid, payment method, reference, and station or vendor. The saved document calculates total cost, keeps the cash paid value visible, and can still be assigned to a trip for profitability.
4. Tank Inventory and Bulk Receipts
Company tanks are controlled through a live inventory view. The balance is calculated from opening stock plus bulk deliveries and adjustments, less Goods Issues. For example, if Nairobi Tank has 49,600 L and a truck receives 500 L, the available balance becomes 49,100 L.
Bulk purchases into company tanks are recorded as fuel receipts. The receipt captures supplier, reference or PO number, dispatched litres, offloaded litres, unit price, currency, and note. Once saved, it increases the tank balance and appears in recent tank movements for audit and reconciliation.
5. Station Portal Workflow
Station users can access orders assigned to their own fuel source. A station order starts as raised when a Purchase Order issue document is created for that station. When the station opens the order, the status changes to seen and the seen time is recorded. The station can then mark the order as dispensed after confirming that the truck plate and driver name were verified.
After dispensing, the station uploads a receipt file. The accepted receipt formats are JPG, JPEG, PNG, and PDF. Once the receipt is uploaded, an internal user with fuel update permission confirms the order. The final status becomes confirmed. This creates a clear trail from authorization to station action, receipt evidence, and internal confirmation.
6. Validation and Control Rules
The module protects fuel capture with several rules. If a trip is selected, the asset must match the trip truck. If a trip driver is selected, the driver must be the assigned trip driver or co-driver. Controlled non-cash transactions require a registered fuel source. Cash purchases require a vendor name and transaction reference. Fuel card and approved station transactions also require a transaction reference.
The selected fuel source must be active and must match the selected source type. Approved stations and fuel cards must be approved. A fuel card assigned to a different asset or driver cannot be used. A company tank issue cannot exceed the current theoretical tank balance. Duplicate transaction references are blocked, and odometer readings cannot go backwards compared with the previous fuel log for the asset.
When a document is assigned to a trip, the route allocation check compares the litres already issued on that trip plus the new litres against the route profile allocation for the truck differential type. If the quantity exceeds the allocation, the system stops the transaction and shows the allocated and already-issued litre values.
7. Reconciliation, Analysis, and Reporting
Company tank reconciliation compares delivered litres against issued litres to produce a theoretical balance. Dip readings record the actual physical balance. The difference between theoretical and actual readings helps teams investigate leakage, loss, measurement errors, or missing records.
Fuel analysis can be filtered by date range, driver, fuel source, supplier, and search terms such as LPO number, vendor, asset, trip, route, or station. The page summarizes litres and cost, and can group results by driver or supplier. Users can export the analysis to Excel with trip, truck, driver, station, supplier, route, country, quantity, rate, currency, exchange rate, cost, KES cost, comment, document number, and station status.
The Documents screen groups Purchase Order and issue-document records by document number and can produce a PDF for a selected document. The document includes the station or vendor, related fuel lines, total litres, and total cost. This means the fuel process starts with controlled setup, moves through issue capture, validates every transaction, records station fulfilment where applicable, updates tank stock and efficiency, and ends with reconciliation, exports, and printable evidence.