The statutory accountant requirement
A Romanian SRL cannot keep its own books in the way a UK sole trader might. Accounting is governed by Law 82/1991 — the Legea contabilității — which requires the accounts to be organised and led by a person with recognised professional standing: a contabil autorizat or expert contabil, in practice a member of CECCAR (Corpul Experților Contabili și Contabililor Autorizați din România), or an internal financial director meeting the statutory criteria. Most SRLs, and effectively all foreign-owned ones, satisfy this through an external accounting firm engaged under contract.
This is not a formality that can be deferred. The accountant signs the financial statements and is the interface with ANAF for the recurring filings. A founder who incorporates and then delays engaging an accountant accrues filing obligations from the first month of activity — and often from incorporation itself — with no one authorised to discharge them. Engage the accountant before or at incorporation, not after the first invoice.
The filing calendar starts at incorporation, not at first revenue. An SRL with no accountant is already behind.
The relationship also shapes cost. Monthly accounting fees for a small foreign-owned SRL are modest by Western European standards, but they are a fixed running cost from day one, covered in our SRL cost breakdown. Budget for the accountant as a standing obligation, not a variable expense you switch on when trading begins.
Monthly versus quarterly rhythm
The filing frequency for an SRL depends chiefly on its VAT status and size. A VAT-registered company files on a monthly or quarterly cadence depending on its VAT period — monthly by default, quarterly only if prior-year turnover was below the leu equivalent of EUR , and it made no intra-community acquisitions of goods. A company that is not VAT-registered still has payroll and, where relevant, profit or microenterprise declarations to file, but avoids the VAT return cycle.
Payroll filing is monthly for any company with employees, regardless of VAT status. Because the microenterprise regime requires at least one full-time employee as an eligibility condition, nearly every micro-SRL carries a monthly payroll obligation from the moment it hires. The interaction of VAT frequency, payroll, and the corporate-income-tax cycle is what determines whether an SRL faces a light quarterly rhythm or a full monthly one. Map it at setup so the accounting engagement is scoped correctly.
The determining thresholds — the EUR ,VAT registration guide VAT-period line and the RON ,VAT registration guide registration threshold — are covered in our VAT registration guide. They are separate numbers doing separate jobs, and both feed the filing calendar.
The D payroll declaration
The D is the unified declaration of social contributions, income tax, and the nominal record of insured persons. Any SRL with employees files it monthly, by the th of the month following the reporting period. It carries the employee-side CAS (pension) at % and CASS (health) at %, the % income tax, and the employer-side CAM at .%, all computed on gross salary. Payment of the declared amounts is due on the same date as the declaration.
For a microenterprise, the D is unavoidable, because the regime's one-employee condition puts at least one person on payroll. Getting the D right from the first month matters more than founders expect: it is the declaration that evidences the employment underpinning microenterprise eligibility, so a gap in payroll filing is not merely a payroll problem — it can undermine the % CIT status itself. The wage thresholds and contribution mechanics are set out in our note on personal and dividend taxation.
- Frequency: monthly, by the th of the following month.
- Covers: CAS %, CASS %, income tax %, CAM .%.
- Why it is load-bearing: it evidences the employment that supports microenterprise eligibility.
The VAT declarations: D, D, D
A VAT-registered SRL runs three recurring VAT declarations. The D decont de TVA is the core VAT return, filed monthly or quarterly by the th of the month following the period, reconciling output and input VAT. The D is the informative declaration of domestic supplies and acquisitions between VAT payers, filed on the same rhythm as the D — the cross-check ANAF uses to match your invoices against your counterparties'. The D is the recapitulative statement (VIES declaration) of intra-community transactions, filed monthly whenever such transactions occur.
These sit on top of RO e-Factura submission, which is a per-invoice obligation rather than a periodic declaration, and — for many companies — the D (SAF-T) informative file, mandatory for small taxpayers since January . The point for a founder is that "being VAT-registered" is not one filing but a stack of them, each with its own th-of-the-month deadline and its own penalty for lateness. The stack is a reason to weigh voluntary VAT registration carefully rather than reflexively.
VAT registration is not a single return. It is a monthly stack of declarations, each with its own deadline.
Annual financial statements
Once a year, the SRL files annual financial statements (situații financiare anuale) — the balance sheet, profit-and-loss account, and accompanying notes required by Law 82/1991. These go to the Ministry of Finance through the SPV, and the filing is also visible to the Trade Register. Following a amendment, the general deadline is May of the following year for commercial companies — with the operative date sliding to the next working day where the st falls on a weekend or public holiday. Newly incorporated companies and certain entities have specific rules on the first-year statement.
Late filing carries graduated fines — commonly cited from a few hundred lei up to several thousand for delays beyond working days — and, more seriously, prolonged non-filing risks ANAF declaring the company inactive, a status that blocks VAT deduction and damages standing with banks and counterparties. The annual statement is the filing least visible in day-to-day operations and therefore the one most often left to the last week. It should be scheduled the moment the fiscal year closes.
Where a company pays corporate income tax on profit rather than the micro rate, the annual D profit-tax return is also due. For , under a transitional derogation, the D deadline sits at June rather than the historical March; this transitional alignment is scheduled to unwind from . Verify the operative date for the year in question — it has moved recently and is worth confirming with the accountant.
Microenterprise declaration timing
A microenterprise pays its % tax on turnover quarterly, declared and paid on the D by the th of the month following each quarter. For the fourth quarter, a transitional rule for pushes the declaration and payment of that final quarter to June of the following year, aligned with the profit-tax timetable during the transitional period. From , microenterprise taxpayers are scheduled to return to the earlier January deadline for the fourth quarter, while profit-tax payers keep the June date — so the two regimes diverge again.
Movement into or out of the regime is notified to ANAF on form . A company that crosses the EUR ,microenterprise guide turnover ceiling, loses its single employee, or takes on an excluded activity must notify the change and move to % CIT from the quarter in which the trigger occurs. The reverse — re-entering the regime — is also a form event. These are not automatic; the obligation to notify sits with the company. The full eligibility mechanics are in our microenterprise guide.
Document retention
Retention periods were shortened by Law /, amending Law /. The headline change: accounting registers and supporting documents are now kept for years, calculated from July of the year following the financial year in which they were drawn up — reduced from the previous years. Payroll statements (state de salarii), which used to demand -year retention, were brought into the same -year rule, a significant easing for employers.
- Accounting registers and supporting documents: years.
- Payroll statements: years (down from ).
- Annual financial statements: years.
The distinction matters for a foreign owner running a lean structure: the underlying invoices and ledgers can be archived after five years, but the annual financial statements themselves must be kept for ten. Retention is electronic in practice for most SRLs, but the obligation is on the company, not the accountant — if you change accountants, the archive has to come with you.
What founders underestimate in year one
The recurring surprise is that the compliance calendar is front-loaded and unforgiving, not something that ramps up with revenue. Three things catch first-year founders most often:
- Obligations start at incorporation, not at first revenue. Payroll, SPV, and — once registered — VAT declarations run whether or not the company has traded. A dormant first quarter still generates filings.
- The declarations stack. A VAT-registered micro-SRL with one employee is filing D, D, D, e-Factura submissions, and quarterly D — several deadlines clustered around the th, every month.
- The one-employee condition is load-bearing. It is not a nice-to-have for the micro rate; lose it and the company drops to % CIT. The payroll filing that evidences it is therefore a fiscal control, not just an HR task.
None of this is onerous with an accountant engaged from the start and a clear split of duties. It becomes expensive only when a founder treats accounting as something to sort out once trading is under way. Treat the first fiscal year as the one where the discipline is set, and the rest of the SRL's life follows the pattern you establish. Our SRL formation guide frames where these obligations sit in the wider incorporation picture.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Romanian SRL have to use a licensed accountant?
In practice, yes. Law / requires the accounts to be led by someone with recognised professional standing — a contabil autorizat or expert contabil, typically a CECCAR member — or a qualifying internal financial director. Almost all foreign-owned SRLs meet this through an external accounting firm, which signs the financial statements and handles the recurring ANAF filings.
When are the main monthly declarations due?
The core recurring declarations — the D payroll declaration, the D VAT return, and the D informative declaration — are due by the th of the month following the reporting period. The D VIES statement is filed monthly when intra-community transactions occur. Payment of declared amounts is generally due on the same date as the declaration.
When must annual financial statements be filed?
Following a amendment to Law /, the general deadline for commercial companies is May of the following year, sliding to the next working day where that date is a weekend or holiday. They are filed to the Ministry of Finance through the SPV and are visible to the Trade Register. Late filing risks graduated fines and, if prolonged, an inactive-company declaration.
How long must accounting documents be kept?
Since Law /, accounting registers and supporting documents — including payroll statements — must be kept for years, calculated from July of the year following the financial year concerned. Annual financial statements must be kept for years. The retention obligation rests on the company, so the archive should move with you if you change accountants.
When does a microenterprise pay and declare its % tax?
The % tax is declared and paid quarterly on the D, by the th of the month following each quarter. Under a transitional rule for , the fourth-quarter declaration and payment move to June of the following year. From , microenterprise taxpayers are scheduled to return to the earlier January deadline for the fourth quarter.
What do first-year founders most often underestimate?
That obligations begin at incorporation rather than at first revenue, that the declarations stack into several deadlines clustered around the th each month, and that the single-employee condition underpinning the % regime is a fiscal control rather than an HR detail. Engaging an accountant from day one and agreeing a clear split of duties removes almost all of the difficulty.
Talk to us
The Romanian filing calendar is manageable but front-loaded, and the first fiscal year sets the pattern. We connect foreign-owned SRLs with a CECCAR-member accountant, scope the monthly and annual filings to your actual activity, and keep the microenterprise and VAT positions aligned. Talk to us about ongoing compliance, or see our pricing for formation and accounting support.
Related guides
- Romanian VAT registration in 2026 — the thresholds that drive filing frequency
- RO e-Factura: mandatory electronic invoicing — the per-invoice obligation that sits on top of the VAT stack
- The 1% microenterprise rate — the regime whose eligibility the D evidences
- Personal and dividend taxation in Romania — the contribution rates behind the D
- SRL formation cost breakdown — where accounting fees sit in the running cost
- Romanian SRL formation: the complete 2026 guide — the pillar that frames incorporation and setup