Payload / How it works

How Payload works

The long version. For the owner who wants to see how it works, and the accountant who wants to know if the numbers can be trusted.

One trip, start to finishWho sees whatWhat it keepsThe ten rulesWhat it is notHow a firm starts
One trip, start to finish

Every cost goes on the trip it belongs to.

Costs are saved in shillings, at that day's rate. Revenue in dollars. The profit at the end is just the sum.

Example figures · TZS 2,610 per $

TRP-152 · T218 DAJStep 1 of 10
Booked
Price
$9,000
Cost
$0
Profit
—
12 Aug

Booked

Client, route, cargo, truck, driver, price. One price for the whole load. Under a minute on the clerk's phone.

  • One price, whole load$9,000
  • Client advance agreed70%
13 Aug

Client advance

Bank, cheque or fuel. Agreeing it isn't receiving it. It's marked received when the money comes in.

  • Cheque receivednot yet cleared$6,300
14 Aug

Left Dar

The day it left and the odometer. The first mileage goes to the driver by mobile money. It's his to spend. It still goes on the trip.

  • Fuel, Dar · 800 LTZS 2,496,000$957
  • Mileage · 1 of 3TZS 900,000$345
16 Aug

Border

Transit and border costs paid at Tunduma. The second mileage. The tyre that went on the road.

  • Border & transitTZS 1,450,000$556
  • Mileage · 2 of 3TZS 700,000$268
  • Tyre, ChinsaliTZS 850,000$326
21 Aug

Delivered

The day it arrived, and a photo of the signed delivery note. That photo gets the invoice paid.

23 Aug

Return load

The load home is its own trip. TRP-152-R is created, linked to this one, priced per tonne, with its own invoice.

  • TRP-152-R · 26 t @ $85warns below $60/t$2,210
29 Aug

Home

The odometer back. The last mileage. Fuel at Mbeya. And the service every truck gets after a round trip.

  • Fuel, Mbeya · 500 LTZS 1,560,000$598
  • Mileage · 3 of 3TZS 600,000$230
  • ServiceTZS 980,000$377
30 Aug

Invoiced

One invoice per trip, numbered in order. The balance is worked out. Nobody types it.

  • IHL/2026/079$9,000
  • Less client advance, cleared 18 Aug−$6,300
  • Balance owed$2,700
12 Sep

Paid

Cash, bank or cheque. A cheque counts when it clears. If it bounces, the money goes back on the balance and you're told.

  • Cheque clearedreceived 5 Sep$2,700
20 Sep

Closed

Only when the invoice is paid and the service is done. Revenue $9,000. Cost $3,657. Profit for this round trip:

  • Profit · TRP-152$5,343
Who sees what

Four roles. They don't change.

No switches to set per person. If you can't explain who sees what in one breath, everyone ends up sharing one login.

RoleSeesCan do
Ownereverythingeverything, and adds people
Managereverythingeverything except people
Clerkthe trips he books and recordsbooks and records. No profit, no salaries, no edits, ever
Auditoreverythingnothing. Read only
What it keeps

Everything points at a trip.

Costs in shillings at that day's rate. Revenue in dollars. An old entry keeps its old rate.

Tripsout and back as two linked trips. Own client, own price, own invoice.
Invoices and paymentscash, bank, cheque. A cheque is received, then cleared or bounced. The balance is worked out, never typed.
Costsfuel, trip costs, repairs, fixed costs. Each at its own day's rate.
Mileagethree payments per trip, by mobile money, on the trip.
Salary advancespart of the month's salary, paid early, taken off at month end.
Salariesone salary a month, paid in two parts. Can be undone.
Documentsinsurance, LATRA, COMESA, carbon and road permits, carrier licence. Each with its expiry and a 30-day warning. Renewing keeps the old one.
What needs youbounced cheques, invoices over 30, 60 and 90 days, documents about to expire, breakdowns, trips delivered but not invoiced, client advances not received, return loads under $60 a tonne. Nothing to set up.
Services and breakdownswhat was done, what it cost, days off the road.
Photosdelivery notes, receipts, slips, broken parts. Only your firm can see them.
The ten rules

Ten rules the database enforces.

An app can be changed. These can't be got around by one. For your accountant and your auditor.

01
No firm can see another firm.Every record carries the firm's id. The database refuses anything that crosses the line, even if the app asks.
02
A clerk adds. A clerk never edits or deletes.Anything that looks like an edit is done by the database, and kept.
03
Who saved it is stamped by the database.From the login, every time. The app can't set it and nobody can change it.
04
Every change is kept.Adds, edits and deletes, with who and when, on every table.
05
Hide, never delete.A truck, driver, client or route leaves the lists and keeps its history.
06
A month can be locked.Once locked, nothing in it can be added or changed.
07
A plate can be corrected and keeps its history.Every trip, cost and document moves with it, in one step.
08
Balances are worked out, never typed.A payment can't disagree with an invoice. There is nothing to disagree with.
09
Nobody signs themselves up.A person is there because the owner invited them, by email.
10
We can't see your firm unless you let us.For support, the owner adds us as an auditor. That is kept on record too.
What Payload is not

Three things it doesn't do, on purpose.

Not a general ledger

Your accountant keeps QuickBooks or Tally. Payload keeps the trips, and gives the accountant a record instead of a pile of receipts.

Not GPS or dispatch

No tracking. No route planning. No load board. Payload records what happened. It doesn't watch the truck.

Not self-service

There's no sign-up page. We set up every firm with its owner. Every person is there because the owner asked.
How a firm starts

Your clerk is recording within the hour.

1
We set up your firm and you, the owner.In person, or on WhatsApp.
2
You add your trucks, trailers, drivers, clients and routes.Everything else picks from these.
3
You add your people.A clerk to record. A manager to run it. Your accountant to read it.
4
Each person gets an email and sets a password.They see only the screens for their role. You never type anyone's password.

The notebook stops. Your accountant gets a record instead of a pile of receipts.

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