What is full accounting in Poland, and who does it apply to?

Full accounting in Poland means keeping accounting books in accordance with the Polish Accounting Act. For some businesses, the obligation results directly from their legal form. For individuals and certain partnerships of individuals, it depends on net revenue from the sale of goods and products in the previous financial year. Since 2025, the statutory threshold has been €2.5 million.

Is your company ready for full accounting in Poland? Or has it reached a level of revenue that requires a change in its accounting system? It is worth understanding what full accounting in Poland is, who is required to keep accounting books and what obligations are associated with this system.

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What is full accounting in Poland?

Full accounting in Poland means keeping accounting books in accordance with the Polish Accounting Act. The system provides detailed records of business transactions affecting the financial position and assets of a company.

In practice, the accounting system applicable to a business depends, among other things, on its legal form and, for certain entities, on the level of revenue.

Businesses in Poland may be subject to, among others:

1. simplified forms of accounting records – available to businesses that meet the statutory requirements,
2. accounting books, i.e. full accounting – maintained in accordance with the Polish Accounting Act.

Not every business can therefore choose to remain with simplified accounting. For some entities, the obligation to keep accounting books results directly from their legal form.

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Who is subject to full accounting in Poland?

The Polish Accounting Act applies, among others, to commercial companies and other legal persons with their registered office or place of management in Poland, subject to the rules set out in the Act.

In practice, full accounting is therefore required for, among others:

• limited liability companies (sp. z o.o.),
• simple joint-stock companies,
• joint-stock companies,
• limited partnerships,
• limited joint-stock partnerships.

The obligation to keep accounting books also applies, among others, to branches and representative offices of foreign businesses, within the scope specified by the Polish Accounting Act.

Different rules apply to individuals carrying on business and certain partnerships of individuals. In their case, the obligation to keep full accounting may arise after reaching the statutory revenue threshold.

What is the revenue threshold for full accounting in Poland?

Since 1 January 2025, the threshold requiring certain entities to apply the Polish Accounting Act has been €2,500,000.

Importantly, the threshold is based on net revenue from the sale of goods and products in the previous financial year, rather than on all revenue generated by the business.

The €2.5 million threshold replaced the previous €2 million threshold.

The threshold applies, among others, to:

• individuals carrying on business,
• civil law partnerships of individuals,
• registered partnerships of individuals,
• professional partnerships,
• enterprises in inheritance covered by the provisions of the Act.

For the purpose of determining whether accounting books must be kept in the following financial year, the €2.5 million amount is converted into Polish zloty in accordance with the rules provided for in the Polish Accounting Act.

For a financial year beginning on 1 January 2027, the relevant exchange rate is the average euro exchange rate announced by the National Bank of Poland (NBP) on the first business day of October 2026, i.e. 1 October 2026. At an exchange rate of PLN 4.3770 per euro, the threshold amounts to PLN 10,942,500.

If a sole proprietorship is transformed, for example, into a limited liability company, the accounting requirements are determined by the regulations applicable to the new legal form.

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What elements are included in full accounting?

Full accounting in Poland is not limited to recording income and expenditure. Accounting books contain detailed information on business transactions and on the financial position and assets of the entity.

The main elements of accounting books include:

• journal – a chronological record of business transactions,
• general ledger – systematic records posted to general ledger accounts,
• subsidiary ledgers – detailed records supplementing selected general ledger accounts,
• trial balances of general and subsidiary ledger accounts,
• inventory – a list of assets and liabilities in the cases specified in the Polish Accounting Act.

Full accounting also involves, among other things, appropriate documentation of business transactions, inventory procedures, determination of the financial result and preparation of annual financial statements.

Accounting books should be kept reliably, without errors, in a verifiable manner and on an ongoing basis.

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Can a business voluntarily use full accounting in Poland?

Yes. Individuals and certain partnerships of individuals may apply the accounting principles specified in the Polish Accounting Act even if their net revenue from the sale of goods and products in the previous financial year remains below the equivalent of €2.5 million.

Voluntary use of full accounting may be considered, among others, by businesses that need more detailed information on costs, liabilities, receivables, assets and financial results.

Before making such a decision, however, the additional organisational and reporting obligations resulting from the Polish Accounting Act should also be taken into account.

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Does full accounting in Poland have to be maintained electronically?

The digitalisation of accounting books is currently an important area of change in the tax obligations of businesses operating in Poland.

Polish income tax regulations are gradually introducing an obligation for specified groups of taxpayers to keep accounting books and other tax records using computer software and to submit the data to the tax authorities in a structured electronic format.

For entities keeping accounting books, the relevant structures include:

• JPK_KR_PD – the structured file for accounting books,
• JPK_ST_KR – the structured file for records of fixed assets and intangible assets.

The obligation is being introduced in stages for successive groups of taxpayers. For financial years beginning after 31 December 2025, it covers, among others, other CIT and PIT taxpayers required to submit JPK_VAT monthly. The remaining taxpayers covered by the schedule are included for financial years beginning after 31 December 2026.

From 1 January 2026, PIT taxpayers who keep accounting books and are required to submit JPK_V7M/K must keep those books using computer software. The first submission of accounting books for 2026 will take place in 2027.

For businesses using full accounting in Poland, this means that the accounting system must support not only day-to-day bookkeeping but also the applicable structured reporting requirements.

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Full accounting and financial management in Poland

Full accounting involves more obligations than simplified forms of accounting, but at the same time provides more detailed information about the company’s financial position.

Properly maintained accounting books make it possible to analyse, among other things:

• the structure of costs and revenues,
• receivables and liabilities,
• the value and structure of assets,
• the financial result,
• changes in the company’s financial position.

The importance of this information increases with the scale of operations, the number of transactions and the complexity of the business structure.

For foreign companies operating in Poland, it may also be important to align local obligations under the Polish Accounting Act with the reporting processes of the wider corporate group.

Businesses that require support with accounting books, reporting or the organisation of accounting processes in Poland may consider full accounting and bookkeeping services in Poland.

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Summary – what should businesses know about full accounting in Poland?

1. Full accounting in Poland means keeping accounting books in accordance with the Polish Accounting Act.
2. For limited liability companies, joint-stock companies and many other commercial companies, the obligation results from their legal form and does not depend on the level of revenue.
3. For individuals and certain partnerships of individuals, the statutory threshold has been €2.5 million of net revenue from the sale of goods and products in the previous financial year since 2025.
4. Certain entities below the threshold may voluntarily choose to keep accounting books.
5. Accounting obligations in Poland are being progressively extended to include electronic reporting through JPK_KR_PD and JPK_ST_KR.

If you have questions about the obligation to keep full accounting in Poland or require support with organising your company’s accounting processes in Poland, please contact the getsix® team.

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