What must a trip sheet contain?
The trip sheet has no imposed standard form, but it does have a mandatory minimum content. If one of the four required elements is missing, the sheet no longer justifies using the vehicle for business purposes.
Short answer
- A trip sheet must contain the vehicle category, the purpose and place of the trip, the kilometres covered and the company's own fuel consumption norm.
- The requirement is set out in point 68 para. (2) of the methodological norms applying art. 298 of Law 227/2015 (the Romanian Fiscal Code).
- The trip sheet is not a mandatory pre-printed form, so a company may use its own format as long as it covers the minimum content.
- In practice companies also record the company name, the registration number, the driver, the date, the odometer at departure and arrival, and the refuels.
- Without this data, the vehicle expense cannot be justified as being exclusively for business use.
What the law requires and what practice adds
The minimum content is set by the methodological norms to art. 298 of the Fiscal Code. The remaining fields are not imposed, but they make the sheet verifiable against the odometer. Order MFP 2634/2015 does not list the trip sheet among the standard forms, so the format is left to the company.
Trip sheet content: mandatory vs. recommended
| Element | Status | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle category | Mandatory | Establishes whether the vehicle falls under the deduction limit |
| Purpose and place of the trip | Mandatory | Proves the trip served the business activity |
| Kilometres covered | Mandatory | The basis for the consumption calculation and the vehicle mileage |
| The company's own fuel consumption norm | Mandatory | Allows the normed consumption to be computed for the distance covered |
| Company and registration number | Recommended | Identifies the vehicle and the expense holder beyond doubt |
| Driver and date | Recommended | Attributes the trip to a person and a day |
| Odometer at departure and arrival | Recommended | Makes the distance verifiable against the odometer |
| Refuels in the period | Recommended | Closes the month's fuel balance |
An example of a completed trip sheet
Example: a passenger car (category M1), plate B-99-ABC, driven on 14 May by Andrei Popa. Purpose of the trip: goods delivery to a client; place: Bucharest – Ploiesti – Bucharest. Odometer at departure 84,320 km, at arrival 84,500 km, so 180 km covered. The approved consumption norm for this vehicle is 6.2 l/100 km, so the day's normed consumption is 180 × 6.2 / 100 = 11.16 litres. On the monthly sheet, an opening stock of 8 litres and one 20-litre refuel give a closing stock of 16.84 litres.
Common mistakes when filling in a trip sheet
- Recording only the destination, without the purpose — the very element that justifies business use is missing.
- Omitting the company's own consumption norm — the sheet no longer allows the normed consumption to be computed.
- Writing the kilometres down only at month end, from memory — the figures no longer match the odometer.
- Using a template downloaded from the internet without checking that it has the four mandatory elements.
How 4fleet helps
- The trip sheet form contains the four mandatory elements from the start, plus the recommended fields.
- You set the company's own consumption norm per vehicle, and the normed consumption is calculated automatically on every sheet.
- You generate a month's sheets from a saved route, across working days, with the odometer chained from one day to the next.
- You download the printable monthly sheet, with the fuel balance: opening stock plus refuelled minus normed equals closing stock.