IFRS

Commercial enterprises in Poland are required by law to submit annual international financial reporting in electronic or paper form. The scope of this document depends on the size and specifics of the business. The filing of financial statements is regulated at the national level by the Commercial Code, the Accounting Act and a number of other regulations. Most Polish commercial enterprises file reports on their financial flows with the National Court Register (KRS).

IFRS accounting standards

Companies with a certain status must adhere to the requirements of IFRS Poland. This means that all accounting documents, records and reports must be prepared in Polish language and in Polish currency (PLN). One of the requirements is to provide reliable information on the financial position of the business. Companies must prepare and submit financial documents to the above mentioned authorities in a timely manner and act in accordance with the Accounting Act, adhering to all its clauses.

Mandatory filing of cash flow documents and statement of changes in equity must be performed by companies:

limited liability companies;
subject to audit;
listed on a stock exchange.

The listed companies must file quarterly, semi-annually and annually. All these documents are mandatorily filed with the National Court Registry once a year in electronic format. It is also possible to file through third-party agencies that provide bookkeeping services. Companies that are not required to file financial statements according to IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) may voluntarily apply the standards issued by KSR.

IFRS implementation process

The KSR of the Ministry of Finance issues internal accounting standards that supplement the Polish Accounting Act. If a specific accounting issue is not regulated by the Accounting Act or KSR standards, companies have the option to use IFRS international recommendations. However, it is important to choose one or the other. If a company plans to follow KSR standards, it is not possible to apply IFRS recommendations.

The procedure of IFRS implementation is long, expensive and labor-intensive, it should take into account all financial standards. Its costs depend on the size of the company and often exceed the benefits. These costs include staff training, software changes, external technical, tax, valuation consultations, additional external audit.

Financial statement according to IFRS: important points

With regard to accounting, companies in Poland, depending on their status, must comply with Polish Accounting Standards (PAS) or international standards. Companies are required to keep records in the national language and in the national currency and to ensure that accounting records are properly retained for five years or more. As of 2024, Poland has introduced an electronic invoicing system, which requires companies’ accounting systems to be reconfigured to comply with the new standards.

What companies need to know about Financial reporting

The submission of financial reporting under IFRS in Warsaw must be done on time, clearly in accordance with the requirements of Polish law. In order to do everything correctly, without the need for revisions, you can seek the assistance of experienced IFRS Poland accounting specialists.

Financial statement preparation process

Reporting can be prepared using primary (parallel) IFRS accounting or by transforming national reporting into the international IFRS format. The first option is of higher quality, but it is too labor-intensive and may be economically unprofitable. Transformation of reporting allows to reduce preparation costs. Here, reports created according to national standards should be harmonized with international standards. There are no uniform rules and stages for performing this transformation. A specialist may independently determine the methodology and stages of work with reporting, and make his own adjustments.

IFRS international standards: prepare with professionals

Modern accounting requirements are actually the International Financial Reporting Standards IFRS. But in order not to understand regulatory and financial documents on their own, owners of companies and businesses engage specialists who have sufficient experience, competence and help in the execution of accounting documents in accordance with international financial reporting standards. This is comfortable and beneficial for both parties.