Automotive accounting challenges in Poland – 7 areas requiring close financial control

Automotive accounting challenges in Poland primarily involve manufacturing costs, inventory valuation, transfer pricing, fixed assets and group reporting. Since 2026, mandatory KSeF and expanded JPK requirements have increased the importance of accurate financial data across production, warehouse and accounting systems.

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1. How should manufacturing costs be allocated?

Under Article 28(3) of the Polish Accounting Act, manufacturing costs include directly attributable costs and an appropriate share of indirect production costs.

Automotive manufacturers must carefully allocate energy, maintenance, machinery depreciation and factory overheads. Allocation methods should reflect actual resource consumption to avoid distorting product profitability.

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2. How does unused production capacity affect accounting?

Reduced orders or production volumes can leave manufacturing capacity unused.

Under Polish accounting rules, costs resulting from unused production capacity and production losses are generally excluded from product manufacturing costs.

Fixed production overheads must be allocated with reference to normal production capacity utilisation.

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3. Why does automotive inventory require regular review?

Automotive inventory includes raw materials, components, work in progress and finished goods.

Changes in production programmes, component specifications or customer orders may increase the risk of obsolete inventory.

Finance teams should regularly monitor:

• inventory turnover and ageing,
• stock usability and recoverable value,
• necessary inventory write-downs.

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4. What are the main transfer pricing risks?

Multinational automotive groups must ensure that transfer pricing documentation reflects their subsidiaries’ actual functions, risks and profitability.

Polish local documentation thresholds are generally:

• PLN 10 million – goods and financial transactions,
• PLN 2 million – services and other transactions.

Separate rules apply to certain transactions. Monitoring profitability throughout the year helps identify deviations before significant adjustments become necessary.

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5. How do KSeF and JPK affect automotive accounting?

Poland introduced mandatory National e-Invoicing System (KSeF) requirements in stages:

• 1 February 2026 – taxpayers with gross sales exceeding PLN 200 million in 2024,
• 1 April 2026 – other taxpayers, subject to an exception available until the end of 2026.

Receiving invoices through KSeF has been mandatory since 1 February 2026. Structured invoices use the FA(3) schema.

Electronic income tax reporting obligations under JPK also extend to additional corporate income tax (CIT) taxpayers submitting JPK_V7M for years beginning after 31 December 2025.

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6. Where do fixed asset accounting risks arise?

Manufacturing investments require accurate classification, initial valuation and depreciation.

Companies should distinguish repairs from improvements, determine when assets are ready for use and reconcile fixed asset registers with the general ledger.

The JPK_ST_KR structure further increases the importance of reliable asset records.

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7. How can Polish accounting align with group reporting?

Polish subsidiaries must reconcile local accounting requirements with group reporting policies and deadlines.

Efficient month-end closing requires predefined procedures for accruals, prepayments, inventory reconciliation, intercompany transactions and consolidation adjustments.

Key takeaway: effective automotive accounting requires consistent information flows from production and warehouse systems through to financial records, tax reporting and overseas headquarters.

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If you have any further questions or require additional information, please contact your business relationship person or use the enquiry form on the HLB Poland website.

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