Vehicle Costs

Profit, commissions, and even the asking price are all determined by the costs accrued on a vehicle. That’s why tracking vehicle costs is a key aspect of running an efficient, profitable dealership. 

Thankfully, adding costs to DeskManager Online is simple and straightforward. And if your DeskManager is interfaced with QuickBooks, you can transfer your costs directly from DeskManager Online and avoid the errors and time spent on double-entry. 

Adding Purchase Costs 

DeskManager Online tracks purchase costs separately from other expenses.

To add a purchase cost such as flooring, click on the Purchase Info tab. 

The Purchase Info tab is comprised of several fields, referenced below. 

Begin by entering the Purchase Cost. 

Record the Purchase Date. 

In the Purchase From field, click the three blue dots and select a vendor from the list.

If the vendor is not here, you can click Add New to add them now. 

Specify the Purchase Method. The Consignor and Flooring purchase methods will add additional fields to this window. If a vehicle is a Trade-In or Repossession, that purchase method will be automatically selected. 

For more information, read our articles on adding a consignor (link) or flooring costs (link). 

The Purchase Channel is the purchase medium, such as from an auction or individual. 

Specify the Payment Method.

If further payments are required, enter a Due Date.

Include a Reference Number, such as a check number, if applicable.

Enter the name of the Buyer.

Specify a Pack Amount, if applicable. If you’re not sure how to set up your Pack amount, read our article here: 
How to Add Pack

Enter the Mileage at the time of purchase.

Select the Odometer Status. 

Lastly, include any custom Notes about the purchase.

Adding Other Costs 

To add an expense other than the purchase, navigate to a vehicle and click Costs along the top banner. 

This expense list includes all expenses that have been entered on the vehicle, including the purchase information added in the Purchase Info tab. 

Clicking on New Cost in the top-left. 

You should now see the Vehicle Expense Details, referenced below. 

Begin by entering the Amount. 

Next choose an expense Category from the list. 

Currently there is no option for custom expense categories. If you need to add an expense from a category that does not exist, select Other Asset or Other Expense accordingly. 

The Purchase Date field denotes the day this expense was incurred.  

When using the Paid To field, you can type in a Vendor Name for one-time use, or by clicking the three dots you can add or search for an existing vendor. 

The Payment Method tracks how the expense was or will be paid. 

Enter a Due Date if applicable. The due date will be sent to QuickBooks if you are using our QuickBooks integration. Due dates are not required.  

Invoice Numbers and Reference Numbers can be entered as well if applicable. 

These fields could be used to record the check number, an electronic transaction ID/reference number, or a credit card transaction ID. 

Feel free to record any notes regarding this expense in the Notes area.

Marking the Add to Vehicle Cost checkbox will cause the expense to be added to the vehicle’s Total Cost. This box is marked by default. 

Unmarking this box allows you to record an expense that should be applied to the dealership as a whole. It does not specifically belong to this particular vehicle.   

When the Send to QuickBooks checkbox is marked, this item will be on the list of items to be sent to QuickBooks.  

When finished, click Save & Close to return to the Vehicle Expenses list. 

To edit an expense, click on the expense to be updated. 

To delete that expense, click the trashcan icon. This is located to the right of an expense. 

The Accounting History option will show all expenses belonging to a vehicle that are marked to be sent to QuickBooks. On the right, you can see if the expense was sent, or is waiting to be sent. 

This area can be used to send transactions to QuickBooks as well. For more information, read our article on transferring transactions to QuickBooks here: