Do financial statements need a certified translation?

It depends on the recipient. At ANAF, the Romanian tax authority, financial documents in a foreign language are filed with a translation certified by an authorized translator. Banks and contracting authorities in tenders may also require this form under their own rules. For the parent company or investors, a specialised translation is usually enough.

Do you keep the table layout?

Yes. The translation follows the structure of the financial statements, and with desktop publishing (DTP) the tables and pagination stay as in the original, so the document can be compared line by line.

How does terminology stay the same from one year to the next?

We use the translations from previous years and the company glossary, if there is one. That way, the same balance sheet item has the same name every year, and auditors or banks can compare financial years without confusion.

Guide · Companies

Translating financial statements: who requires them, in what form and what to watch

Q: Can financial statements be apostilled?

Not directly, because they are a private document. The apostille can only be issued after a notarial procedure, for example certification of the director's signature. The steps are explained in the guide on company documents for use abroad.

Updated: 25 September 2026 · Kalimera, translation agency in Bucharest since 2005 · all guides

In short: financial statements are most often translated for banks, the parent company, public tenders, investors and ANAF, the Romanian tax authority. Each recipient requires a different form: some a certified translation, others only an accurate specialised translation. Whatever the form, three things decide quality: accounting terminology kept consistent year to year, figures reproduced exactly and the table structure kept as in the original.

1. Who requires the translation and in what form

ANAF. The Fiscal Procedure Code (art. 8) requires documents submitted in a foreign language to be accompanied by Romanian translations certified by translators authorized by the Ministry of Justice. This matters, for example, for the parent company's financial statements or for group documentation requested during a tax audit.
Banks, for financing or customer due diligence, and contracting authorities in public tenders, to prove economic and financial standing. Each sets the form in its own rules or in the tender documentation.
The parent company, for consolidation and internal reporting. A specialised translation without authorization is usually enough, but in the group's terminology.
Investors and advisers, in due diligence, mergers or acquisitions. Speed and consistency between documents matter most.
Institutions abroad, which may require a notarized and apostilled translation. This is where the private document rule, explained below, applies.

2. What Romanian annual financial statements contain

Under the Romanian accounting regulations (Order of the Minister of Public Finance no. 1802/2014), the content depends on the size of the entity:

medium and large entities: balance sheet, profit and loss account, statement of changes in equity, cash flow statement and notes;
small entities: abridged balance sheet, profit and loss account and notes; the other statements are optional;
micro-entities: at least an abridged balance sheet, an abridged profit and loss account and additional information.

The package sent to a recipient often also includes the directors' report and, for audited statements, the auditor's report. Check first which part the recipient needs: the whole package is not always required.

3. Terminology: the same from year to year

A bank or an auditor compares financial years with one another. If the same item is translated differently in two years, the comparison becomes confusing. Some common Romanian–English equivalents:

cifra de afaceri netă — net turnover;
rezultatul exercițiului — profit or loss for the financial year;
capitaluri proprii — equity;
active imobilizate — fixed assets;
datorii curente — current liabilities.

For statements prepared under IFRS, some names differ from those in the Romanian regulations. For example, the balance sheet appears as the statement of financial position. The translation must follow the standard under which the statements were prepared, not mix the two.

4. Figures and tables

Separators: in Romanian, a comma separates decimals and a point separates thousands; in English it is the other way round. A figure transcribed wrongly changes its value by three orders of magnitude.
Negative values, often in brackets, and the currency in which amounts are expressed are kept exactly.
The table structure stays as in the original, so the translated document can be compared line by line with the source.

5. When an apostille is needed

Financial statements are a private document, so they cannot be apostilled directly, not even as a notarized translation. The apostille becomes possible after a notarial procedure, for example certification of the director's signature. The steps, in order, are in the guide Romanian company documents for use abroad. Many recipients, however, do not require an apostille: ask first.

How we work at Kalimera

Financial statements and audit reports are at the core of our work. They are translated by translators who know accounting terminology, including IFRS. We use the translations from previous years and the company glossary, so terminology stays the same year after year. We keep tables and pagination through desktop publishing (DTP), work under strict confidentiality procedures and sign a non-disclosure agreement on request. For extensive reports we assign a dedicated team and, when needed, handle notarization and the apostille. Details on the page financial translations.

Sources

Order of the Minister of Public Finance no. 1802/2014 approving the accounting regulations on annual financial statements;
Law no. 207/2015 on the Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 8;
the Regulation on the methodology for issuing the apostille or legalization by the chambers of public notaries (2013), art. 8 (consulted in September 2026).