e-Factura for Small Businesses: What You Actually Need to Know

If you run a business in Romania, you've probably heard about e-Factura by now. Maybe your accountant mentioned it. Maybe you got a letter from ANAF. Maybe you've been ignoring it and hoping it goes away. It won't — it's the law, and the fines are real.

But the good news is that it's not as complicated as it sounds. Most of the confusion comes from the fact that the rules were rolled out in stages and keep getting updated. So let's clear it up.

What is e-Factura?

e-Factura (formally RO e-Factura) is Romania's national electronic invoicing system, run by ANAF. Instead of sending invoices as PDFs by email or printing them on paper, you submit a structured XML file to ANAF's platform (called SPV — Spațiul Privat Virtual). ANAF validates the invoice, and the buyer can download it from the same system.

The XML must follow a specific European standard called CIUS-RO, which is Romania's version of the EU's EN 16931 e-invoicing norm, based on UBL 2.1. You don't need to understand what any of that means — your invoicing software handles the format. But it's worth knowing that this isn't just a Romanian thing. The EU is pushing all member states toward mandatory e-invoicing, and Romania was one of the first to implement it.

The timeline: what's mandatory and when

The rollout happened in stages, which is where most confusion comes from:

B2G (business to government): Mandatory since 2022 for suppliers to public institutions. If you sell to the government, you've been doing this for years.

B2B (business to business): Mandatory since January 1, 2024. There was a grace period without penalties until March 31, 2024. From July 1, 2024, e-Factura became the only accepted way to transmit invoices between businesses. A non-e-Factura invoice between two Romanian businesses is essentially not valid.

B2C (business to consumer): Optional from July 1, 2024. Mandatory from January 1, 2025. Penalties apply from July 1, 2025. So if you issue invoices to individuals (not companies), you need to send those through e-Factura too.

Who has to do it?

Every business in Romania that issues invoices. SRLs, SAs, PFAs, freelancers — if you issue a factură, it needs to go through e-Factura. There is no size threshold. A one-person PFA with 3 clients per month has the same obligation as a large corporation.

The main exception: fiscal receipts (bonuri fiscale) from cash registers are not subject to e-Factura, even if they technically qualify as simplified invoices.

Foreign companies with a Romanian VAT registration that sell to Romanian businesses are also required to use the system.

The 5-day rule

Once you issue an invoice, you have 5 calendar days to upload it to the e-Factura system. The clock starts the day after the invoice date.

This changes on January 1, 2026, when the deadline becomes 5 working days (excluding weekends and public holidays) — which is actually more generous.

If ANAF's system is down for more than 24 hours, the deadline is suspended until it comes back online.

What happens if you don't comply

This is the part people care about most, so let's be specific.

Late submission (you uploaded the invoice, but after the 5-day deadline): - Large taxpayers: 5,000 – 10,000 RON per infraction - Medium taxpayers: 2,500 – 5,000 RON - Small businesses and PFAs: 1,000 – 2,500 RON

The fine is per calendar month — so if you have multiple late invoices in the same month, it counts as one infraction.

Non-submission (you didn't upload the invoice at all): 15% of the total invoice value. This is the big one. If you issue a 50,000 RON invoice and never upload it to e-Factura, the fine is 7,500 RON.

Receiving non-compliant invoices: If you accept and book a supplier's invoice that wasn't transmitted through e-Factura, you face the same 15% penalty. Yes, you can be fined for your supplier's mistake.

For B2C, there's currently a grace period — penalties only apply from July 1, 2025.

How it works in practice

The process is straightforward once you have the right tools:

1. You create an invoice in your invoicing software (or CRM, or accounting tool) 2. The software generates the XML in CIUS-RO format with all required fields: seller details, buyer details, line items, tax rates, payment terms 3. The XML is uploaded to ANAF via their API, using OAuth2 authentication tied to your company's SPV account 4. ANAF validates it — you get back a status: processing, validated, or rejected with error messages 5. If validated, ANAF assigns an index number and the buyer can download the invoice from their own SPV

The whole thing takes seconds once it's set up. The key is having software that generates the correct XML format and handles the ANAF communication automatically.

Common mistakes

From talking to small business owners who've been through the transition:

Wrong or missing CUI. The buyer's tax ID must be exact — including the RO prefix for VAT-registered companies. A typo means the invoice gets rejected.

Forgetting about B2C. Many businesses set up e-Factura for their B2B invoices but didn't realize it also applies to invoices issued to individuals since January 2025.

Not checking the status. Uploading the invoice isn't enough — you need to verify that ANAF actually validated it. If it's rejected and you don't notice, you're in non-compliance.

Relying on your accountant's tool alone. If your accountant submits e-Factura on your behalf but does it monthly instead of within 5 days of each invoice, you're technically non-compliant. Make sure the timing works.

What to look for in an invoicing tool

If you're shopping for software that handles e-Factura, here's what matters:

- Automatic XML generation in CIUS-RO / UBL 2.1 format — you shouldn't have to touch XML files - Direct upload to ANAF SPV via API, not manual upload through the ANAF website - Status tracking — see whether each invoice was validated or rejected, with error messages - CUI auto-lookup — enter a tax ID and the system fills in the company name, address, VAT status from ANAF's database - Both B2B and B2C support — some tools only handle B2B

Dedicated Romanian invoicing tools like SmartBill, Facturis, and Oblio handle this well. But if you're also using a CRM to manage clients, deals, and campaigns, having e-Factura built into the same system means less double entry. That's why we built it directly into Foxlab CRM — you close a deal, convert it to an invoice, and submit to ANAF from the same screen where you manage the client relationship.

The bottom line

e-Factura is here to stay. The deadlines have passed for B2B, and B2C enforcement starts in July 2025. If you haven't set up your workflow yet, now is the time — not when ANAF sends you a fine.

The system itself is not difficult. The hard part was the uncertainty during rollout. Now that the rules are settled, it's just a matter of having the right tool and a 5-day habit.

*Note: This article reflects the e-Factura rules as of April 2025. Romanian tax legislation changes frequently — always verify current requirements with your accountant or on anaf.ro.*