Fuel and charging during the summer: who checks whether everything was charged correctly?

The summer holidays are over. Company cars are back on their usual routes, and HR, finance and fleet managers are already focusing on the months ahead.

But September is also a good time for a simple fleet management check: were all fuel and charging transactions during the summer correctly charged?

During holiday periods, company cars are used more frequently for private journeys, drivers travel abroad more often, and refuelling or charging takes place at locations outside their normal routine.

As a result, private expenses can more easily end up on a company fuel or charging card, sometimes completely unintentionally.

It does not necessarily mean that a driver deliberately did something wrong. At a petrol station in the south of France, with impatient children in the back seat, it is easy to reach for the wrong card in your wallet.

A quick post-summer check can therefore provide valuable insight.

Why fuel and charging costs deserve extra attention during holiday periods

During the rest of the year, company car usage tends to be relatively predictable: commuting, customer visits, charging at home or at the office, and recurring business journeys.

In July and August, that pattern changes.

Typical examples include:

• long journeys abroad;

• charging at public fast chargers, often at significantly higher rates;

• partners or family members occasionally driving the company car;

• fuel or charging cards accidentally being used for another vehicle;

• higher fuel or energy volumes without a proportional increase in mileage.

Higher consumption during the summer is therefore not automatically suspicious. The key is to identify unusual patterns and understand the reason behind them.

5 anomalies you can easily check

1. Fuel and charging transactions abroad

Start by creating an overview of all transactions outside Belgium.

Exports from fuel card and charging card providers usually allow you to filter by country, location or country code. This quickly shows which drivers refuelled or charged abroad during July and August.

A foreign transaction is obviously not necessarily a problem. The important question is whether it complies with the rules set out in your company car policy.

Tip: clearly define whether fuel and charging cards may be used during private trips abroad. This prevents discussions afterwards.

2. Unusually high consumption

Do not look only at the total cost. Pay particular attention to the number of litres or kWh consumed.

Higher charging costs may be perfectly reasonable if a driver used expensive public fast chargers during a holiday. However, if fuel or electricity consumption rises sharply while mileage barely changes, it may be worth investigating.

Tip: where possible, compare consumption with mileage. The relationship between kilometres driven and litres/kWh consumed often tells you more than the total amount on the invoice.

3. Transactions during weekends and holiday periods

Compare transaction dates with the driver's holiday periods.

Refuelling or charging during a holiday is not necessarily incorrect, especially if private use of the company car is allowed. However, it is a useful control point when certain private costs are excluded by the company policy.

Tip: manage by exception. There is no need to manually check every transaction. Start by filtering transactions made during holidays, abroad or above a certain volume.

4. Multiple transactions within a short period

Another useful control is to identify fuel or charging transactions that occur unusually close together.

Two full tanks within a very short period could, for example, indicate that the same fuel card was used for different vehicles.

Again, an unusual transaction is not proof of misuse. It is simply a reason to take a closer look.

5. Using the card for another vehicle

In households with both a company car and a private vehicle, people sometimes switch cars during a holiday but forget to switch payment cards.

This may be completely accidental, but it means the cost is ultimately charged to the wrong party.

Tip: for fuel cards, check not only the total volume but also whether the number of litres is realistic compared with the vehicle's fuel tank capacity.

How to perform a quick check in September

This does not need to become a major administrative project. A targeted approach can identify most unusual transactions relatively quickly.

Step 1: export the fuel and charging history for July and August.Create an overview per driver, vehicle or card.

Step 2: compare transactions with holiday periods.This makes it easier to identify unusual activity during a driver's leave.

Step 3: filter transactions made abroad.Then check whether they comply with your company's policy.

Step 4: compare consumption with mileage.Look at litres and kWh rather than focusing solely on total cost.

Step 5: identify unusual patterns.Examples include multiple transactions on the same day, exceptionally high volumes or transactions occurring within a very short period.

Step 6: ask the driver when something needs clarification.Do not automatically assume misuse. A short, neutral question is usually enough to understand what happened.

Make the rules clear in your company car policy

Checking afterwards is useful, but setting clear rules beforehand is even more important.

A good company car policy should provide clear answers to questions such as:

• Can the fuel card be used for private journeys?

• Does this also apply during holidays abroad?

• Do the same rules apply to the charging card?

• Are foreign fuel and charging costs fully covered by the employer?

• Is a partner allowed to drive the company car?

• What happens if the card is accidentally used for a private vehicle?

• How should incorrect transactions be reimbursed?

The clearer the rules, the less time HR, finance or fleet teams need to spend on discussions and corrections afterwards.

Why consumption monitoring is about more than a few euros

An incorrect €60 transaction may not seem like a priority. But across a fleet of twenty, fifty or one hundred vehicles, small discrepancies can quickly add up.

More importantly, it is about consistent fleet management.

When company car policy rules are not followed consistently, uncertainty develops. What is accepted for one driver can quickly become perceived as normal practice by others.

It is also important that costs are correctly allocated and documented, including for accounting and tax purposes.

From an annual check to structured fleet management

The real issue is usually not that companies consider these checks unimportant. The problem is that nobody has the time to analyse hundreds of fuel and charging transactions every month.

Instead of checking only after the summer holidays, it therefore makes sense to monitor unusual consumption patterns throughout the year.

At Fleetastic, we include these checks as part of our operational fleet management services. We monitor fuel and charging consumption, flag unusual patterns and help ensure that company car policy rules are applied consistently in practice.

This means HR, finance and business owners no longer have to spend their time chasing invoices, drivers and exceptions.

Who is monitoring your fleet?

September is an ideal time to review your fleet's fuel and charging transactions from the summer. But perhaps the more important question is:

Who is monitoring them during the other eleven months of the year?

Fleetastic supports companies with the operational and strategic management of their company car fleet. From fuel and charging costs and driver questions to vehicle orders, contracts, suppliers and company car policies.

Want to find out where your fleet is costing you unnecessary time or money?

Contact Fleetastic for a no-obligation conversation.