Fuel station

A fuel station sells through pumps, not a scanner. Kila runs it as a shop with the Fuel rules: each attendant’s shift is cashed up from the meter readings, the tanks are dipped and compared with the books, and pump prices follow EPRA’s monthly cycle. The shop, the car wash and the fleet accounts sit beside the forecourt.

What is special

• The meters decide the cash. Attendants sell on a shift of their own, on the shared forecourt device with a PIN. At the end of the shift a supervisor types each nozzle’s closing reading: fuel pumped but not rung up becomes a meter sale, and the cash counted is compared with what the meters expect.
• Fuel sells only from a nozzle. A shift sells a fuel only while it holds a nozzle of that fuel, by the amount the customer asks for or by litres, to three decimals of a litre.
• The tanks are dipped against the books. Every tank of a fuel is dipped together, by the stick and the tank’s dip chart or from a gauge. A difference beyond the tolerance is a loss or gain for the station manager to review.
• Pump prices follow EPRA. Paste EPRA’s maximum prices for the next cycle and Kila sets the pump prices for 00:01 on the 15th. A price above the maximum is refused.
• Deliveries are checked against the dips. The tank is dipped before and after the tanker discharges. A tanker that comes short beyond the tolerance becomes a claim on the supplier.
• Fleet accounts by vehicle. The attendant finds a truck by its fleet card, QR or registration. Kila refuses the wrong fuel and a fill over the vehicle’s limits, and keeps the odometer and the driver with each fill.

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A day at the station

1. Dip the tanks. At six in the morning the night supervisor dips every tank: Dip the tanks.
2. Open the attendants. Each attendant taps their name on the forecourt device, types their PIN and takes the nozzles of their island: Sell on the forecourt device.
3. Sell and drop cash. Fuel by amount or litres, lubricants, shop goods and car washes, by cash, M-Pesa, card or a fleet account. When an attendant holds more than KES 20,000 in cash, the device asks for a drop to the cash office.
4. Receive a tanker. Dip before and after, and compare with the delivery note: Record a fuel delivery.
5. Cash up. At the end of each shift a supervisor reads the meters and counts the cash with the attendant: Cash up an attendant.
6. On the 14th, EPRA’s prices. The station manager imports the next cycle’s maximum prices: Change pump prices.

Tasks for a fuel station

• The Forecourt page: the attendants’ meter readings, tank dips, wet stock, deliveries, pump prices and the pumps, in one place.
• Set up tanks, pumps and nozzles: once, before the first shift.
• Sell on the forecourt device and Cash up an attendant: an attendant’s shift from the PIN to the count.
• Dip the tanks, Record a fuel delivery and Change pump prices.
• The shop beside the forecourt: what the shop till and the forecourt each sell.
• Selling fuel: the rules a fuel station follows and what Kila keeps for an inspector.

Who does what

Role	What Kila says it is for
Owner	Full access to the business, including billing.
Station manager	Runs the station: pump prices and EPRA schedules, wet-stock and delivery reviews and claims, attendants and their shortages, fleet accounts, and the reports.
Forecourt supervisor	Runs the forecourt device, opens and cashes up attendants’ shifts with their readings, drops and shortages, takes dips and receives deliveries. No pump prices, credit limits or write-offs.
Pump attendant	Signs in to Kila to sell fuel on their own shift from the forecourt screen and records nozzle readings. No discounts, refunds or credit limits. Attendants who only use a PIN on the shared forecourt device need no role.
Fleet and credit controller	Keeps the fleet accounts: vehicles, cards, drivers and limits, credit limits, monthly statements and collections. No till or stock.
Car wash attendant	Takes car wash jobs and sells the wash on their own shift. Nothing else at the till.
Cashier	Sells at the till and runs their own shift: at a fuel station, the shop till.

Most pump attendants are not Kila users at all. The station keeps them under Forecourt › Attendants and cash-ups, each with a PIN for the shared forecourt device, so they need no account of their own.

How Kila sets it up

The main screen is Till (scan and sell).

Rules it follows:

• Fuel: Pumps, nozzles, meter readings and wet stock

Its words:

Kila's standard words: customer, product, sale, receipt and branch.

Its set-up steps

1. Business details and KRA PIN
2. First branch, opening hours and till
3. Products with prices and VAT
4. Tanks: the fuel each holds, its capacity and dip chart
5. Pumps
6. Nozzles: the tank each draws from and its meter reading
7. Pump prices (import the EPRA cycle)
8. Opening stock
9. Suppliers
10. Reorder levels
11. Staff and roles
12. Pump attendants and their PINs
13. M-Pesa till or paybill
14. Cash office: the safe for attendants’ drops
15. Fleet accounts and vehicles (if you sell on credit)
16. Car wash price list (if you have one)
17. KRA eTIMS and item codes
18. Scanner, receipt printer and drawer
19. Returns policy and till rules
20. First attendant shift on the forecourt device
21. First sale

Its home page

• Forecourt today: litres and takings by fuel
• Pump prices and the EPRA cycle
• Tank levels, room for a delivery, days of cover
• Attendants on shift, cash-ups and shortages
• Wet stock: dips to review and the month’s variance
• Deliveries this week and claims open
• Fleet accounts this month
• Sales today against the same day last week
• Tills open and their takings
• Top sellers today
• Low or out of stock
• Gross margin and Margin watch
• Payments waiting for confirmation
• Approvals and reviews waiting
• Products without a KRA item code
• Licences, permits and returns due
• Services due and reminders

Roles it starts with

• Till supervisor: Runs the tills on the floor: reviews shifts and counts, approves discounts and voids within limits. No prices, settings or purchasing.
• Merchandiser: Keeps products, prices and shelf labels up to date; suggests prices below the minimum margin. No money or tills.
• Pump attendant: Signs in to Kila to sell fuel on their own shift from the forecourt screen and records nozzle readings. No discounts, refunds or credit limits. Attendants who only use a PIN on the shared forecourt device need no role.
• Forecourt supervisor: Runs the forecourt device, opens and cashes up attendants’ shifts with their readings, drops and shortages, takes dips and receives deliveries. No pump prices, credit limits or write-offs.
• Station manager: Runs the station: pump prices and EPRA schedules, wet-stock and delivery reviews and claims, attendants and their shortages, fleet accounts, and the reports.
• Fleet and credit controller: Keeps the fleet accounts: vehicles, cards, drivers and limits, credit limits, monthly statements and collections. No till or stock.
• Car wash attendant: Takes car wash jobs and sells the wash on their own shift. Nothing else at the till.

Reports that matter here

The forecourt’s reports are in Kila’s menu under Forecourt, and with the others under Money › Reports, in the Fuel group. Start with these:

Report	What Kila says it shows
Daily station report	Each fuel by day: opening dip, deliveries, meter sales, the litres expected, the closing dip and the variance, with the cumulative variance as a % of the litres sold.
Attendant cash-ups	Each pump attendant’s shift: litres by meter, takings by tender (cash, M-Pesa, card, fleet and credit, vouchers), drops, the cash expected and counted, and shortages.
Meter reconciliation	Each attendant’s shift: litres pumped by the meters against litres rung up on the till, by product, and the cash the meters expect against the count.
Wet stock by tank	Each tank by day: previous dip plus deliveries less meter sales against the dip, the tolerance, and the cumulative variance.
Delivery variances	Every tanker delivery: delivery note against litres received from the dips, the variance and the tolerance, and claims to the supplier.
Fleet sales by vehicle	Every fill to a fleet vehicle: the account, registration, driver, odometer, order number, fuel, litres and amount, and kilometres per litre.

Try it in the demo

Highway Petrol Station runs as a fuel station, with made-up data: four pumps on two islands, four tanks, a forecourt shop, LPG and a car wash. The link fills in the person’s email: add the demo password the Kila team gave you. Sign in as the Forecourt tablet (Island 1) to try the forecourt device; the Kila team gives the attendants’ demo PINs with the password.

• Highway Petrol StationFuel stationSign in as Stephen Kyalo (owner) (opens in a new tab)