Romania's audit thresholds in 2026: still RON 16 million / RON 32 million / 50 employees

Since financial year 2024, a Romanian company is classified as medium or large when it exceeds at least two of three size criteria, RON 25,000,000 in total assets, RON 50,000,000 in net turnover or an average of 50 employees, with the category changing only after two consecutive financial years (Order 4164/2024, amending the accounting regulations approved by Order 1802/2014). These higher figures are sometimes read as new audit thresholds. They are not the audit test.

The audit thresholds in Romania sit in a different provision, and they were not touched. Under point 563 of the same regulations, the annual financial statements must be audited when the company exceeds, at the balance sheet date, at least two of three criteria in two consecutive financial years: total assets of RON 16,000,000, net turnover of RON 32,000,000 or an average of 50 employees. As of October 2026, no increase of these audit thresholds has been adopted.

Types of audit in Romania, from the full guide

The consequence is easy to miss. A subsidiary with RON 40 million in net turnover, RON 20 million in total assets and 30 employees can be a small entity for reporting purposes, yet it exceeds two of the three audit criteria. If it did so in both 2025 and 2026, its 2026 financial statements, filed in 2027, must be audited. And because they are audited under the law, the company must also organise internal audit (Law no. 162/2017, art. 65 para. 7).

Both obligations carry penalties. Failing to have the annual financial statements audited when required attracts a fine of RON 30,000 to 40,000 (Accounting Law no. 82/1991, art. 41 point 7 and art. 42 para. 1). Failing to organise internal audit, where the statements are subject to statutory audit under the law, exposes the company’s management to an administrative penalty of RON 10,000 to 100,000, applied by ASPAAS (Law no. 162/2017, art. 40 para. 7 letter a, as amended by Law no. 137/2025).

Two checks are the starting point for a Romanian company: compare the last two financial years against the RON 16 million / RON 32 million / 50 employees test, not against the size criteria, keeping in mind that an audit already required stops only after two consecutive years below that test; and look for the grounds that apply regardless of the test, such as medium or large entity status, public interest entity status, a two-tier SA or the branch of a company resident outside the European Economic Area.

Still choosing how to be present in Romania? See how a subsidiary differs from a branch, a representation office and a tax representative.

For the steps after the test is met, see First statutory audit in Romania: the timeline to 31 May 2027.

Our full guide, Audit in Romania: The 2026 Guide to Statutory, Voluntary and Internal Audit, covers who is subject to audit, the deadlines, the penalties and how statutory and internal audit fit together.

This post is general information as it stood in October 2026; it is not legal, tax or audit advice on a specific situation. Drafted with AI assistance; references were verified against the primary sources.