A fuel card statement is a document from your fuel card provider listing the fuelling for a period: which card was used, how much fuel was taken and for what amount. Reconciling it means checking 7 things: do the line items add up to the total, is it a duplicate, is it issued to your company, does every fuelling belong to your vehicle, does the plate match, is it the right card, and is the mileage free of errors.
What a fuel card statement is
A fleet fuels up with fuel cards, and the card provider regularly sends a statement or invoice for all the fuelling. It is usually a PDF attached to an email, with fuelling for many vehicles in one document. For your records, each line has to go to its own vehicle and be checked against the total and the mileage before the invoice is paid.
Done by hand, mistakes in this flow are noticed late. In the Fleet Control case study, automatic checks detected 30 fuel anomalies, and in the first week they caught an extra €500 invoice that another contractor was supposed to pay.
How to import statements from email
- Mailbox. A dedicated address or an existing mailbox the system collects new emails with attachments from, on schedule.
- Recognition. Rules are set up for each supplier's documents. Hard cases are read by an AI model, and its output goes through the same checks.
- Sorting. Each line is linked to a vehicle and a cost category.
- Checks. Anything that does not add up goes to an issue list with the reason, and important issues arrive in Telegram right away.
- Archive. The original file goes to Google Drive, and every document keeps a link to the email it came with.
This is how Fleet Control, our fleet ERP, works. Our general approach to invoices and receipts from email is on the email and document automation page, and the client's story is in the article on fleet document management.
Fuel card statement reconciliation checklist
Fleet Control runs these checks automatically on every document:
| Check | What it catches | When it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Line items vs total | Lines do not add up to the printed total: the system shows the mismatch and posts the printed total | When invoices are paid by the total |
| Duplicate document | The same statement arrived twice | So you do not pay twice |
| Recipient | Document issued to another company: not posted, Telegram alert | When the supplier also serves other companies |
| Vehicle | A line for a vehicle outside your fleet: kept out of the records, critical issue | When one statement covers many vehicles |
| Plate without an exact match | A typo in the plate number: the system asks if it is the same vehicle | So fuelling does not land on another vehicle |
| Another vehicle's card | Fuelling with a card assigned to another vehicle | So costs land on the right vehicle |
| Mileage | A wrong odometer reading or suspicious mileage | Cost per kilometre is based on mileage |
What else to look out for
This is general advice for any reconciliation, not a list of Fleet Control features:
- a fuelling volume larger than the vehicle's tank can hold;
- a fuel type that does not fit the vehicle;
- fuelling on days when the vehicle was not in use;
- a price per litre noticeably different from the usual one;
- no statement at all for some period.
Fuel card API vs importing statements from email
There are two ways to get fuelling data. The differences below are general: what is actually available depends on the card provider.
| Criterion | Card API | Email import |
|---|---|---|
| What it needs | The provider offers an API and gives you access | The provider sends statements by email |
| Format | Structured data | A PDF or other file that has to be recognised |
| How often | As the API allows | When the statement arrives |
| Several providers | A separate integration for each | Separate recognition rules for each |
| What gets checked | Fuelling records that still need matching to the invoice | The document you actually pay |
Email import fits when there is no API or access is hard to get, and when it matters to check the very document that goes for payment. In the Fleet Control case, statements and invoices arrive by email.
What it costs
In Fleet Control, setting up parsers for 20 suppliers costs a one-off €4 000, and the subscription is €360 a month. The subscription includes bug fixes, updates within the plan and support in day-to-day use. All prices are on our pricing page.
FAQ
What is a fuel card statement?
It is a document from your fuel card provider listing fuelling for a period: card, amount of fuel and price. It usually arrives by email as a PDF and covers many vehicles.
How do you import fuel card statements from email automatically?
The system collects attachments from the mailbox on schedule, recognises them using rules for each supplier, sorts the lines by vehicle and checks them. This is how Fleet Control, the fleet ERP by Riadov Systems, works.
What should you check when reconciling a fuel card statement?
Whether the line items add up to the total, whether it is a duplicate, whether it is issued to your company, whether every fuelling belongs to your vehicle, whether the plate and card match the vehicle, and whether the mileage has errors.
Which is better: a fuel card API or importing statements from email?
An API gives structured data, but only if the card provider offers one. Email import works with the statements you already receive and checks the very document you pay.
How much does automatic fuel statement import cost?
In Fleet Control, setting up parsers for 20 suppliers costs €4 000 one-time, and the subscription is €360 a month. The subscription covers bug fixes, updates within the plan and support in operation.