Year-end accounting close in Poland for 2025 – deadlines, stages and key risks for businesses

A year-end accounting close in Poland for 2025 is one of the most critical processes in a company’s annual finance cycle. Its quality directly affects the reliability of your financial statements, your tax compliance position, and business decisions based on trustworthy data. For organisations using full accounting (pełna księgowość; statutory accounting under the Polish Accounting Act), year-end close is also a test of process maturity: whether document workflows, reconciliations, inventory counts, and communication between finance and the business operate in a predictable, audit-defensible way.

In practice, year-end close is not only an accounting department task. It requires cooperation with operational teams (procurement, sales, logistics), HR, and management, because key items in the profit and loss statement and balance sheet often result from business decisions, contracts, risks, and non-routine events that cannot be understood from invoices alone.

Additionally, improving document workflow in the context of the National e-Invoicing System (KSeF) in Poland is becoming increasingly important, as it affects the completeness and timeliness of data used in year-end close.

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Closing the books vs closing the financial year – what’s the difference?

In everyday business language these terms are often used interchangeably, but in Poland they describe different scopes of work and responsibility.

Closing the accounting books is the formal, technical step of finalising entries in the accounting records for a given financial year. Once the books are closed, you generally do not post entries for that period (except in cases allowed for corrections and error-handling procedures).

Closing the financial year is broader. It typically includes inventory counts, reconciliations, recognising provisions and accruals/deferrals, preparing and signing the financial statements, and — if the entity is subject to a statutory audit — cooperation with the statutory auditor. It also covers approval and submission of documents to the relevant registers and authorities.

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Key deadlines for a financial year ending 31.12.2025 – 2026 timeline

For entities whose financial year matches the calendar year, three dates are usually the most important:

• By 31 March 2026 – closing the accounting books for 2025 (in practical terms: the baseline for preparing the financial statements) and preparing and signing the annual financial statements,
• By 30 June 2026 – approval of the financial statements by the approving body; where an audit is required, this period typically includes finalising the audit process,
• Within 15 days from approval – final closing of the books and completion of filing obligations (scope depends on the entity type and the filing path).

Keep in mind that some tasks — especially inventory counts of selected items — are performed across Q4 2025 and Q1 2026 within legally permitted windows, provided documentation requirements are met and results are properly linked to the accounting records.

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Year-end close in a company using full accounting – a process approach

A smooth year-end close relies on a repeatable operating model: a clear schedule, assigned ownership, evidence standards, and ongoing communication with the business. The structure below works well for larger companies, including foreign-owned businesses and organisations where full accounting is delivered through outsourcing.

Organisational readiness: timeline, responsibilities, and complete inputs

The most common cause of delays is not missing postings, but missing source documents and business inputs — such as delivery/acceptance protocols, contract annexes, counterparty confirmations, warehouse documents, dispute updates, or bonus and incentive data.

At the preparation stage, it’s worth formalising:

• deadlines for submitting documents and information (with cut-off dates per department),
• the scope of data required from sales, procurement, logistics, and HR,
• year-end rules for recognising costs and revenue, including how to report events that do not yet have an invoice,
• a list of risk areas and accountable owners responsible for providing explanations.

If the company uses external support, market practice shows that the best results come from a model where the accounting partner does more than just record documents and postings, and actively supports reconciliations and the close of key balance sheet areas. In this approach, accounting outsourcing in Poland is a process-led service — not merely transaction processing.

Inventory count: a statutory obligation and a quality control step

Inventory counts are a pillar of reliable financial statements. What matters is not only performing them, but also documenting them properly, settling differences, and ensuring consistency with accounting records.

Three methods are commonly used:

• physical count – typically inventories/stock and cash on hand,
• balance confirmations – e.g., bank accounts, receivables and payables (depending on policy and risk),
• verification – for hard-to-count items and items requiring judgement (e.g., land, disputed receivables, tax settlements) by comparing the books with supporting documentation.

For companies with warehouses, it is particularly important to separate own stock from consignment/third-party stock and to control goods movements during the count to reduce discrepancies.

Reconciliations: aligning records with documentation and tax settlements

Year-end close requires balances to be evidence-based and defensible. In practice, this means reconciling key areas such as:

• bank accounts (statements and confirmations),
• counterparty balances (confirmations, reconciliations, explanations for disputed items),
• taxes (consistency between registers and settlement accounts),
• fixed assets (additions/disposals/transfers, depreciation, consistency between the register and the ledger),
• payroll (payroll lists and settlements with the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) and personal income tax (PIT)).

Differences often result from operational processes such as complaints, offsets, compensations, or work-in-progress settlements.

Provisions, impairments, and accruals/deferrals: the biggest impact on profit

A reliable close depends on recognising costs and revenue in the correct reporting period.

For the 2025 close in Poland, the most significant areas typically include:

• provisions for 2025 costs where invoices arrive in 2026,
• employee provisions (unused leave, bonuses — based on company rules),
• provisions for disputes, warranties, and contractual penalties where recognition criteria are met,
• accruals/deferrals (utilities, rent, subscriptions, insurance, continuous services),
• impairment allowances (especially overdue and disputed receivables).

Management input is crucial here, because accounting teams need information about business risks that are not visible in invoices or postings.

If the company needs support in assessing tax implications in Poland (for example, corporate income tax (CIT)) and managing tax settlement risks, a natural extension of the year-end accounting close is professional tax advisory in Poland.

Revenue cut-off: getting period allocation right around year-end

In service and project-based businesses, and in companies with milestone contracts, the most common risk is allocating revenue to the wrong period.

This requires checking whether:

• completed services were recognised in 2025 even if the invoice is issued later,
• acceptance protocols, delivery reports, or other evidence align with postings,
• annual rebates, bonuses, and commercial adjustments were correctly included for 2025.

A well-designed cut-off reduces the risk of later corrections and stabilises the tax base.

Post-balance-sheet events and going concern: management responsibility

Events occurring after 31.12.2025 may require:

• adjustments if they provide evidence about conditions existing at the balance sheet date,
• disclosure if they are material but relate to 2026.

In parallel, the entity should assess going concern for at least 12 months. If risk indicators exist, management assumptions and decisions should be properly documented and consistently reflected in the financial statements.

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The National e-Invoicing System (KSeF) in Poland and the 2025 close – impact on document workflow and data controls

The National e-Invoicing System (KSeF) in Poland is often framed as a technology shift, but for finance teams it is also an operational one. It drives stricter discipline in document workflows, data verification, handling corrections, and timely submission of information to accounting.

For year-end close, improving document flow in line with e-invoicing requirements typically means:

• fewer unposted documents around year-end,
• faster reconciliations with counterparties,
• better reporting data quality — which shortens month-end and year-end close cycles.

Early 2026 is a good moment to refine invoice circulation policies, substantive approval rules, and accountability for timely document submission, especially if the organisation is preparing for KSeF.

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Who is responsible for closing the books in Poland: what management should know (e.g., in a Polish limited liability company)

In Polish capital companies (such as a limited liability company – sp. z o.o. or a joint-stock company – spółka akcyjna, S.A.), responsibility for proper accounting and the timely preparation of the annual financial statements rests with the head of the entity – in practice, the management board.

Even if full accounting in Poland is handled by an external accounting firm, the management board remains responsible for ensuring the conditions for a reliable year-end close: access to documentation, visibility of business risks, approval of key estimates, and meeting statutory deadlines.

In foreign-owned organisations, an additional critical factor is the quality of communication with the group: agreeing reporting principles, consolidation package deadlines, and ensuring that local accounting treatment aligns with group requirements (to the extent applicable in the given structure).

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Most common 2025 year-end accounting close risks in Poland — and how to reduce them

1. Missing documents and underestimated costs

Often caused by delayed invoice workflows and no formal list of 2025 costs arriving in 2026. A simple solution is a standard reporting method for incurred costs based on purchase orders, contracts, and performance confirmations.

2. Inventory count without settling differences

A mature inventory process ends not with the count protocol, but with difference settlement and documented decisions on causes and accounting treatment.

3. Unreconciled balances and no documentation for disputes

High risk for key counterparties and long-outstanding balances. Prioritise confirmations and maintain clear case descriptions and expected settlement scenarios.

4. Revenue cut-off errors

Common in staged projects. Ensure performance evidence is consistent with posting logic and apply clear year-end rules.

5. Incomplete post-balance-sheet event reporting

If there is no procedure for reporting material events (disputes, damages, lost contracts, reorganisations), omissions are more likely. A formal channel for reporting to accounting in the first weeks after year-end is an effective control.

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What to prepare to speed up the close – a practical information pack for businesses operating in Poland

Close efficiency depends on the quality of inputs delivered to accounting or your outsourced partner. From management’s perspective, the most helpful bundles include:

• confirmations and reconciliations: bank balances, key counterparty reconciliations, lists of items needing clarification,
• inventory: count protocols and reports with decisions on difference settlement,
• year-end costs and liabilities: list of 2025 costs without invoices, continuous services and periodic settlements,
• HR and employee benefits: unused leave, bonuses, employee-related liabilities,
• key risks and material events: dispute status, complaints, penalties, warranties, and post-balance-sheet events.

A structured pack reduces back-and-forth, speeds reconciliations, and lowers late-stage adjustment risk.

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When external support is worth considering in Poland

External support tends to deliver the most value in Poland when a company needs more than day-to-day transaction posting — namely a structured year-end close process, strong internal controls, and predictable reporting aligned with local requirements. This is especially relevant if you:

• are growing fast in Poland and transaction volumes are increasing (which typically puts pressure on document circulation, approvals and reconciliation routines),
• have complex contracts (projects, implementations, milestone billing) where Polish year-end cut-off and evidence requirements (e.g., acceptance protocols and performance confirmations) materially affect revenue recognition,
• are preparing for the National e-Invoicing System (KSeF) in Poland and need to rebuild invoice workflows, responsibility matrices and data validation steps,
• are subject to a statutory audit in Poland (e.g., due to size thresholds or group requirements) or need stronger management reporting that is consistent with statutory accounting under the Polish Accounting Act,
• choose outsourced accounting from a Poland-based provider, which often gives you a practical advantage: local teams understand Polish statutory requirements, common documentation standards (including what auditors typically expect), and the day-to-day realities of working with Polish authorities and filing processes — so issues are identified earlier and resolved in a way that is defensible locally.

Depending on your needs, external support in Poland may include outsourced full accounting, a structured year-end close review focused on reconciliations and balance sheet areas, and tax advisory in Poland covering corporate income tax (CIT) impacts and settlement risks.

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A year-end accounting close in Poland for 2025 should be treated as a structured control process, not merely a formal obligation. For businesses using full accounting in Poland, it requires aligning accounting work with business inputs: contracts, acceptance evidence, risk data, provisions, and post-balance-sheet events. At the same time, strengthening document workflows in the context of KSeF improves process discipline, directly supporting timely and complete year-end close.

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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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