Accounting policy

What is an accounting policy?

Accounting policy is a mandatory document that must reflect the actual principles of bookkeeping in the company. Our service includes the comprehensive drafting or revision of the accounting policy - so that it complies with the regulations, is complete and fully adapted to the specific activities of your company.

What entities must have an accounting policy?

The obligation to prepare accounting policies applies to entities having their registered office or place of management in the territory of the Republic of Poland, including but not limited to:

- Commercial companies (partnerships and corporations, including those in organization) and civil partnerships, subject to the civil partnerships described below, as well as other legal entities, with the exception of the State Treasury and the National Bank of Poland.
- Natural persons, civil partnerships of natural persons, general partnerships of natural persons and partnerships, if their net revenues from sales of goods, products and financial operations for the previous fiscal year amounted to at least the equivalent in Polish currency of EUR 2,500,000.
- Organizational units operating on the basis of the Banking Law, regulations on securities trading, regulations on investment funds, regulations on insurance and reinsurance activities, regulations on cooperative savings and credit unions or regulations on the organization and operation of pension funds, regardless of the size of revenues.
- Municipalities, counties, provinces and their associations,
- Branches and representative offices of foreign entrepreneurs within the meaning of the provisions of the Act of March 6, 2018 on the principles of participation of foreign entrepreneurs and other foreign persons in economic turnover on the territory of the Republic of Poland (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1252).
- Units not listed above if they receive grants or subsidies from the state budget, budgets of local government units or special purpose funds for the implementation of commissioned tasks.

What are the consequences and penalties for missing or incorrect accounting policies?

In practice, the lack of a properly prepared or up-to-date accounting policy can be seriously questioned by both supervisory authorities and the auditor. This document is the foundation of an entity's entire accounting system, so its incorrect preparation directly affects the quality and reliability of the books kept. Consequently, it undermines the entity's credibility in terms of the prepared financial statements, which can lead to a number of negative consequences - from the need for costly adjustments, to violations of the principles of fairness and clarity, to serious formal sanctions.

The absence of an accounting policy or its conduct in a non-compliant manner is not only a technical error, but also a violation of applicable regulations. According to Article 77 of the Accounting Law, failure to keep accounting books or to keep them in violation of the law - including the lack of a formally adopted accounting policy - can result in the imposition of a fine, restriction of liberty or even imprisonment for up to 2 years. In extreme cases, the court may also impose both penalties together . This means that accounting policy deficiencies have not only an organizational dimension, but also a potentially punitive dimension, which underscores the importance of its proper implementation and updating.

Offer of Aider Polska

Preparation of an accounting policy "from scratch" for both new companies and those that have not had such documentation since the beginning of their operations
Review of the current accounting policy - verification of its correctness and completeness in the context of the company's business specifications
Updating the accounting policy - adjusting the existing document to current regulations
Review of the chart of accounts, which is a mandatory element of the accounting policy - we can verify whether the current plan is optimal in terms of business operations that occur in the company
Preparation of additional documents that can be annexes to the accounting policy. These elements are not mandatory, but can be useful, for example, inventory instructions, models for specific settlements in the company (such as long-term contracts), accounting schemes

Using our service you will receive an accounting policy fully compliant with regulations and accepted by auditors. Our experts - authors of a guide developed for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna in the area of accounting policy - will prepare a document tailored to the industry, processes and accounting system of your company, guaranteeing security during any audit.

Authors:

Agnieszka Tyczynska-Osinska, Director
Aleksandra Dobrzanska, Manager
Beata Ślusarczyk, Manager
Ewelina Klósa, Manager
Patryk Kobierski, Team Leader