🧾 Compliance & accounting

Cash Payment Limits for a Romanian Company in 2026: What Foreign Owners Can Still Do in Cash

A Romanian SRL can pay another business at most RON 5,000 in cash per day per supplier, and RON 10,000 per day in total. With private individuals the cap is RON 10,000 per person per day, and that includes dividends. Loans between the company and any individual, including you as the shareholder, must go through a bank. Breaching a cap costs 25% of the excess; a cash loan costs 25% of the whole amount.

These caps come from Law no. 70/2015 and apply in 2026 in the form last amended by GEO no. 115/2023. Foreign founders run into them in three predictable moments: funding the company with money brought from home, paying themselves, and settling local suppliers who prefer cash. Here is what the law allows in each case.

The limits at a glance

Operation	2026 limit
Company receives cash from another business (SRL, PFA, sole trader)	RON 5,000 per day from one payer
Company pays cash to other businesses	RON 5,000 per day per supplier, RON 10,000 per day in total
Cash from or to a private individual: goods, services, dividends	RON 10,000 per day per person
Loans to or from individuals, including shareholders	bank transfer only
Cash left in the till at the end of the day	RON 50,000
New company: deadline to open a payment account in Romania	60 working days from incorporation

The limits also apply to euros, dollars or any other currency handed over in Romania. The amount is converted at the National Bank of Romania rate on the day of the transaction, so EUR 1,500 in cash counts as roughly RON 7,500 and is already over the business-to-business cap.

Funding the company: why cash is off the table

The instinct of many owners is to bring cash into the company’s till for the first months. Romanian law closes that door. Since December 2023, loans and other financing between a company and individuals must move without cash, regardless of the amount. The fine is 25% of the whole sum, with a minimum of RON 500, not just 25% of an excess.

Scenario	Cash route	Bank route
Shareholder lends the SRL RON 20,000	fine of RON 5,000	no fine; loan agreement plus transfer
SRL repays RON 8,000 of that loan	fine of RON 2,000	no fine

Wire the money from your personal account, with a loan agreement behind it. The contract terms and the tax on interest paid abroad are covered in our guide to a shareholder loan to a Romanian SRL.

The bank account is not optional. Every company must hold a payment account in Romania, and a newly formed one has 60 working days to open it. Operating without one is fined RON 3,000 to 10,000. If you are still choosing a bank, read opening a business bank account in Romania first, because onboarding a non-resident director can take longer than the deadline suggests.

Paying yourself

Dividends. Cash dividends are allowed up to RON 10,000 per day per person, and splitting a bigger payout across several days is expressly prohibited. A non-resident shareholder taking RON 30,000 of net dividends will receive them by transfer anyway, which also leaves the paper trail you need for the tax withheld. See dividends from a Romanian SRL for the tax side.

Salary. Cash withdrawn from the bank to pay salaries is outside the daily caps, and the till may exceed RON 50,000 for up to 3 working days from the payday. In practice, most employers pay by transfer, which also simplifies the monthly payroll filings.

Business trips. Travel costs such as transport, per diem and accommodation are also exempt from the caps.

Paying local suppliers

The RON 5,000 cap applies per supplier and per day, and invoices above RON 5,000 cannot be split into smaller cash payments. You can pay RON 5,000 in cash and the rest by transfer.

Example: a contractor invoices RON 12,400 for office fit-out. If you pay the full amount in cash on one day, the excess is RON 7,400 and the fine is RON 1,850. Paying RON 5,000 in cash and RON 7,400 by transfer costs nothing. Keep an eye on the daily total too: if the office manager has already paid RON 6,000 in cash to two other suppliers that day, only RON 4,000 is left under the RON 10,000 ceiling.

Cash advances to staff count toward the company’s daily limit on the day they are handed over, and each person can spend at most RON 5,000 a day from an advance.

Taking cash from customers

If your SRL sells to consumers and accepts cash, two more rules apply in 2026. The till cannot hold more than RON 50,000 overnight, and the excess must be banked within two working days. A shop closing Saturday with RON 68,000 that banks it on Thursday faces a fine of 25% × RON 18,000 = RON 4,500. Businesses that take cash must also offer card or other modern payment methods, and offering discounts for paying cash is itself fined RON 15,000 to 20,000.

Fines you cannot halve

For these offences the usual Romanian option of paying half the minimum fine within 15 days does not apply. Every fine is paid in full, which is why a single careless month of cash payments can cost more than a year of bank fees.

Key points

• Business to business: RON 5,000 per day per counterparty, RON 10,000 in total per day for payments.
• Individuals, including dividends to shareholders: RON 10,000 per person per day, no splitting.
• Shareholder loans and repayments: bank only, 25% fine on the full amount.
• Till balance: RON 50,000 at the end of each day.
• Foreign currency handed over in Romania counts at the BNR rate.

Frequently asked questions

Do the limits apply if I pay a supplier abroad in cash? Law no. 70/2015 covers cash operations carried out in Romania, including those in foreign currency. Cross-border supplier payments in practice go by transfer, which is also what a Romanian bank’s compliance team will expect to see.

Can my Romanian company pay my foreign company in cash? Between two businesses the RON 5,000 daily cap per counterparty applies, so anything above that goes by transfer. There is no practical reason to move money between group companies in cash, and intra-group payments are exactly what a tax inspector reads line by line.

Can I top up the company later without a formal loan? Money you put in after incorporation is either a share capital increase, registered with the Trade Register, or a loan. For a loan, the bank-only rule applies whatever the amount, so the cleanest route in both cases is a transfer from your personal account.

Keep the cash book clean from day one

Most fines under Law no. 70/2015 are habits rather than fraud: a till that is never banked, advances nobody settles, a shareholder topping up the company in cash. Our accounting services for Romanian companies include monitoring the cash register and moving risky operations to the bank before an inspector notices them.