Can I do my own bookkeeping for a PFA or an SRL?
The answer differs sharply between the two forms, not because of difficulty but because the accounting law imposes a qualification requirement only on double-entry bookkeeping.
Short answer
- For a sole trader on single-entry bookkeeping, yes: the law lets the owner keep the books alone.
- For an SRL, no: art. 10 of Law 82/1991 requires an economics degree or a contract with an authorised chartered accountant.
- The requirement concerns keeping the accounts, not issuing invoices or maintaining internal records, which remain up to you.
- A sole trader who opted for double-entry bookkeeping falls under the same requirement as an SRL.
- Responsibility for the accuracy of the returns stays with the taxpayer, whoever keeps the books.
What the law says
- Law 82/1991 is the accounting act and sets out who may keep an entity's accounts.
- Art. 10 requires, for double-entry bookkeeping, an economics degree or a service contract with an authorised person.
- For single-entry bookkeeping the law imposes no qualification requirement on whoever keeps it.
- The authorised person is a member of the Romanian body of chartered and certified accountants.
- The tax obligations — filing and paying on time — remain the taxpayer's, even when execution is delegated.
Sole trader versus company
What you may do yourself, by legal form
| Aspect | Sole trader, single-entry | Company, double-entry |
|---|---|---|
| Keeping the accounts | You may, alone | Only with an economics degree or a CECCAR contract |
| Registers to keep | Cash journal, inventory, fiscal record register | Double-entry books, trial balance, annual accounts |
| Annual return | The single tax return | D101 plus annual accounts and D406 |
| Issuing invoices | You may, alone | You may, alone |
Practical examples
- A translation sole trader with 20 invoices a year can keep the registers and file the single tax return alone.
- A newly set-up SRL, even dormant, needs a contract with an authorised accountant for the accounts and D406.
- A director holding an economics degree may keep their own company's accounts, with no external contract.
- A VAT-registered sole trader stays on single-entry bookkeeping and may keep the records alone, VAT ledgers included.
Common mistakes
- Assuming a small SRL or a micro-enterprise escapes the art. 10 requirement — size is irrelevant.
- A sole trader keeps records only in a personal spreadsheet, without the separate mandatory fiscal record register.
- Believing that delegating the bookkeeping also shifts tax liability: it stays with the taxpayer.
- Switching to double-entry bookkeeping voluntarily, without noticing that the qualification requirement then applies.
How 4conta helps
If you are a sole trader keeping your own books, 4conta gives you the structure the law expects: the three registers fill themselves from the documents you upload, and net income is computed as the year progresses, so the single tax return is not reconstructed from receipts in April.
If you have an SRL, the art. 10 requirement stands — no application replaces it. What changes is the volume of work handed to the accountant: documents arrive already classified and invoices come straight from e-Factura, which shows up in the monthly fee.