The first process to digitalize in a company is the one that happens most often, takes the most time each time and has rules you can write on a single page. It isn't “everything”, it isn't “an ERP” and it isn't necessarily the most visible process. The guide below starts from the Romanian context, goes through the obligations that have already moved part of the work online and ends with a prioritisation method you can apply in an afternoon.
Where we stand: the Eurostat figures
Eurostat's data describe the gap clearly. In 2023, Romania was the member state with the highest share of enterprises with “very low” digital intensity: 72.1%. In 2024, 74% of EU enterprises had reached a basic level of digital intensity (73% of SMEs), against the Digital Decade target of more than 90% of SMEs by 2030. Also in 2024, more than 13% of EU enterprises used AI technologies, with Romania last at 3%; and 15% of Romanian enterprises made online sales, compared with an EU average of 24%.
The figures don't say that Romanian companies work badly. They say that many processes still depend on the phone, email, Excel and the memory of a few people — which means the first process digitalized properly usually brings a visible gain.
What the state has already moved online
Two obligations have forced change in the tax area, regardless of company size:
- RO e-Factura. Since 1 January 2025, the reporting obligation also covers invoices to consumers (B2C), not just those between companies. Since 1 January 2026, the submission deadline is 5 working days from issue, and missing it is fined on a sliding scale, from RON 1,000 for small taxpayers up to RON 10,000 for large ones.
- SAF-T (D406). Since 1 January 2025, small taxpayers also submit the Standard Audit File for Tax, with a grace period for the first reports.
The practical conclusion: invoicing and accounting are already digital processes, with deadlines and penalties. If they are still done through manual downloads and data entry, they are the natural candidate for the first project — see also the 5 processes to evaluate for automation.
The method: three criteria, one table
Write down all the processes that bother you, however small. For each one, score from 1 to 5:
- Frequency × duration. How many times a week it happens and how long it takes each time. A daily 20-minute process beats a monthly 3-hour one.
- Clarity of the rules. Could a new colleague carry it out from a written procedure? If the answer is “it depends”, the process isn't ready yet; documenting it is the first step.
- Dependencies. How many systems, people and approvals does it depend on? The fewer, the shorter and safer the project.
The process with the highest score on the first two criteria and the lowest on the third is first. Not second, not “in parallel”.
What “digitalized” means, concretely
A process is digitalized when it has four things, not when it has a new program:
- A shared record, in which information exists only once, with a clear source of truth (not three spreadsheets that contradict each other).
- Owners, for each step, visible in the system.
- Rules for the usual situations — who approves, within what time, what happens on rejection.
- A route for exceptions, which reaches a person with the full context.
Sometimes configuring an existing tool is enough; other times forms, automations or an application are needed. The decision is made after the process has been described, not before.
Acceptance criteria: written beforehand
Before implementation starts, write down how you'll know the project has succeeded. Examples of criteria that can be verified:
- “No request remains without an owner after one hour.”
- “All invoices received in SPV are in accounting the next day, and the exceptions are in a single list.”
- “The team no longer uses the old spreadsheet after two weeks.”
Vague criteria (“make it more efficient”) produce projects that never end.
Adoption: the part that decides the result
Most digitalization projects fail after delivery, not during it: the team goes back to the old spreadsheet because the new tool needs an extra step or doesn't cover an exception. What works:
- Involving the people who carry out the process from the first week, not just those who manage it.
- Migrating real data, not samples, so the tool is useful from day one.
- Training on their concrete cases and a short guide with screenshots.
- A period of a few weeks in which exceptions discovered are handled quickly, not collected for “phase 2”.
Why a single process
Because it changes how the team sees the rest. Once the first process works — with a shared record, owners and exceptions handled — the next ones choose themselves, and people start asking for automation on their own. “Top-down” digitalization, with every process at once, usually produces a program that nobody uses fully.
See how we approach a project in Digitalization and how we estimate cost in How much does it cost to automate a business process.