Things You'll Need:
- A calculator A working odometer or tripometer
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Step 1
Find out if your employer is paying you per mile or reimbursing you for the gas spent. If you are being paid a certain amount per mile, all you need to do is keep track of how many miles you've driven for work and your job is done. Reset your tripometer back to zero at the beginning of your trip. Note the miles traveled at the end of your trip.
If you are being reimbursed for the gas you purchase and use, you have a few more steps to complete. -
Step 2
Reset the tripometer on your car. The tripometer is often located directly below the odometer, which is the device in your car's dashboard that keeps track of your car's lifetime miles. The tripometer keeps track of how many consecutive miles you've driven until you choose to reset it. To keep track of miles driven for work, you need to reset your tripometer to zero by pushing in the button located next to it.
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Step 3
Figure out how many miles per gallon your car gets. This information is often included in your car's user manual. If not, you can also figure it out by completely filling your gas tank, noting how many miles you were able to get on a full tank, and then dividing that number of miles by how many gallons your tank can hold. For example, if you drove 100 miles on a 10-gallon tank, you'd get 10 miles per gallon.
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Step 4
Figure out the average price of gas you paid while driving for work. If all else fails, simply look at the price of gas at the gas station you normally fill up at.
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Step 5
Divide the number of miles you've driven for work by your car's miles per gallon. For example, if you drove 1000 miles for work and you get 10 miles per gallon, you'd have used 100 gallons of gas. Next, multiply that number by the price of gas. So if you used 100 gallons of gas for work and the price of gas was $2.00, then you would have spent $200 on gas to complete your job. This is the figure you should turn into your employer to be reimbursed for. If you are not being paid a flat fee per mile, this is the calculation they'll need. This is an accurate figure detailing how much money in gas you've spent per mile you've driven, which is what your employer will need to see. You can also give this calculation and the receipts for your gas to your tax preparer at the end of the year and write the gas off on your taxes as a business expense.
