Formal registration of companies has many immediate benefits for the companies and for business owners and employees. Legal entities can outlive their founders. Resources are pooled as several shareholders join forces to start a company. Formally registered companies have access to services and institutions from courts to banks as well as to new markets. And their employees can benefit from protections provided by the law. An additional benefit comes with limited liability companies. These limit the financial liability of company owners to their investments, so personal assets of the owners are not put at risk. Where governments make registration easy, more entrepreneurs start businesses in the formal sector, creating more good jobs and generating more revenue for the government.
Below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm in Romania. It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income.
| No. | Procedure | Time to Complete | Associated Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Obtain a certificate from the Trade Registry proving the availability of the proposed company name and make a reservation of the name | 1 day | RON 64 |
| 2 | Deposit funds in a bank and obtain a document confirming bank deposit of sufficient funds | 1 day | bank commission ranges from zero to 0.5% of capital. |
| 3 | Obtain a certificate from the fiscal administration agency giving clearance for the headquarter of the offices | 1 day | no charge |
| 4 | Register with the Unique Office (Biroul Unic) of trade registry Registrul Comertului (BASC), Bucharest Tribunal; obtain court registration, publication of notice, and registration for statistical purposes and social security | 3 days | RON 120 (registration fee) + RON 30 for each mandatory element of the basic information of the company to be registered, such as social capital, firm, associates, administrators, headquarters, main object of activity + RON 104 for each 2,000 characters publication fee in the Romanian Official Gazette + RON 30 for filing with the Trade Registry ("ascertaining certificate") + liquidation fund fee (50% of taxes applied by the Trade Registry offices) + RON 10 (Single Registration Code) + bulletin fund tax (5% of taxes applied by the Trade Registry offices) + RON 10 (fee for Trade registry to send the documents that need publishing to the Romanian Official Gazette) |
| 5 | Register for VAT | 3 days | no charge |
| 6 | Register the employees contracts with the Territorial Labor Inspectorate (TLI) online | 1 day | no charge |