Alternatives to BookWorks: How FastDragon and BookWorks Compare for Jobbers, Petroleum Marketers, Wholesalers, and C-Store Owners

BookWorks and FastDragon are the two systems in this industry that make the same promise: independent, built for the mid-size operator, and priced for it. So this article is a comparison more than a case.

If you searched for an alternative to BookWorks you probably already know what you like about it. This article is for the jobber, petroleum marketer, wholesaler, or c-store owner weighing the two independents against each other, and it is written by one of them. Judge accordingly, and bring your own numbers to both demos.

BookWorks at a glance

Where BookWorks is the right answer

BookWorks has been at this since 1994 and has stayed independent through the whole roll-up era. Its module list runs across the full distribution business, wholesale through home heat and propane through lubes and cardlock, in one platform, and it built multi-state fuel tax in rather than bolting it on. The company says that when you call, you reach developers and support specialists, and customers I have talked to say the same. If home heating oil, propane routes, or a cardlock network sit at the center of your business, BookWorks covers ground FastDragon does not, and you should demo it first.

Where the two systems cover different ground

The honest difference is shape. BookWorks runs the length of the fuel distribution business: every kind of fuel you might deliver, dispatched and invoiced from one system. FastDragon runs the width of the wholesaler's whole company: the fuel, and then the other businesses that grew up around it. Commissioned-agent stations settled daily. Company-owned c-stores with the back office synced to the POS. The real estate under the sites. Separate books for each entity, in one ledger. Compliance records with dates on a calendar. Each of those is a module, switched on only if you run it.

So the question to ask yourself is which direction your business sprawls. If it sprawls across fuel types, look hard at BookWorks. If it sprawls across businesses, stores, agents, property, entities, that is what FastDragon was built for.

What FastDragon covers

• Wholesale distribution. Rack pricing, BOL to invoice in one entry, freight and motor fuel tax pass-through, purchase-to-sales allocation, dealer billing.
• Commissioned-agent stations. Daily settlement of fuel sales, card receipts, rent, and commission.
• Company-owned c-stores. Back office, pricebook, shrink, fuel reconciliation, synced to the POS you already have.
• Accounting and books. A full ledger with multi-entity built in, or posting to the QuickBooks you already run.
• Compliance. Tank, inspection, and permit records with the dates on a calendar.
• Real estate. Leases, rent, and the property side of each site.
• Fleet and haul. Trucks, drivers, and freight billing.
• Fuel rebates, loyalty, and security. Each its own switch.

Run two of those and you pay for two. Add a third when the business does. The move itself is fast. Think six weeks, not six months, depending on the client, and a couple of months for a complex one. Our team does the data work and you keep running your old system until the cutover.

How to run the comparison

Whatever you are leaving and wherever you land, the same four questions sort the field fast. Bring your own numbers to every demo: a month of BOLs, your dealer list, your tax jurisdictions, and one of your own statements.

• Show me my load. One BOL from purchase through tax through dealer invoice, with nothing typed twice.
• Show me the price. A written monthly figure for what I run today, and the figure for adding one more piece next year.
• Show me the exit. How my data leaves if I ever go, in what format, and what it costs.
• Show me who answers. Who picks up the phone at 7 am on a Monday when the rack file is wrong, and where they sit.

Who's behind it

I've been in and around fuel and convenience since the 1990s, on the technology side. I was the tech lead on the Jack in the Box c-store and gas station rollout, working beside their CEO. I also worked at Series2K for over a decade, and still recommend their c-store back office to people it fits. The years since have gone to serving jobbers, who tend to get overlooked by vendors chasing the hundred-site accounts.

Alternatives to BookWorks for a jobber, petroleum marketer, wholesaler, or c-store owner

For the independent jobber, marketer, wholesaler, or c-store owner, FastDragon is the modular option: everything above, switched on a piece at a time and priced to what you run. The other established systems worth a call are Series2K, ADD Systems, AIMS, Red River, and iRely. If PDI bought your vendor, start with the PDI article. Our vendor comparison puts the field side by side and the buyer's guide has the demo questions to bring to each.

If you have a renewal or an upgrade date in front of you, send it to us. We'll tell you in one call whether we fit.

Questions people ask

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Sources

BookWorks: keyinfotech.com (founding year, location, ownership description, module list, support and pricing positioning). FastDragon module descriptions are ours.