Bulgaria joined the euro in 2026: what changed for business accounts, invoices and contracts

On 31 December 2025 a Plovdiv furniture exporter had BGN 400,000 in its account. On 2 January 2026 it had €204,516.75. Nothing was spent; Bulgaria had joined the euro area, and every lev balance was converted at the fixed rate of 1.95583.

The rate had been fixed in practice for years under Bulgaria's currency board. What changed is that the conversion step between leva and euros is gone for good.

What happened on 1 January 2026

• Bank accounts in leva became euro accounts at the fixed rate, automatically and free of charge. Account numbers and IBANs stayed the same.
• Leva and euro notes and coins circulated together until the end of January 2026. After that, leva can still be exchanged at banks and the Bulgarian National Bank.
• Prices are shown in both currencies during a transition period running into August 2026.

Contracts and invoices

Contracts that refer to leva stay valid. The euro adoption law reads lev amounts as euros at the fixed rate, with rounding to the cent. Many companies used the changeover to amend contracts anyway, so that payment terms and prices are written in euros.

Invoices issued from 1 January 2026 are in euros. Accounting systems switched their base currency, and opening balances were converted at the fixed rate.

What gets easier

For a Bulgarian company selling to EU clients, the change is large. A German or Italian buyer pays euros by SEPA, and those euros no longer need converting into leva. Euro-priced costs, such as EU raw materials, machinery and software, are paid in the company's own currency.

What does not change

Clients outside the euro area still pay in their own currencies. A US client still prefers to pay in dollars, a UK client in pounds. A Bulgarian company billing American clients still faces international wires, possible intermediary deductions and a bank conversion on arrival, now into euros instead of leva.

Paying into Bulgaria: the local rail

Source: European Payments Council: SEPA Instant Credit Transfer. Checked when this guide was last updated; the scheme's own page has the current figures.

Where Rivet fits

A Rivet business account gives a Bulgarian company US account details in its own name on every plan, so American clients pay by ACH, and from the Growth plan euro details with an IBAN and sterling details. Payments are matched to invoices and dollar or pound balances can be held or converted to euros at a rate shown before you confirm. Rivet is not a bank; regulated partner institutions hold the funds.