People usually look for an accountant for a JDG or spółka in Poland in Facebook groups and through friends. These 12 questions help you compare offices before you sign, not after the first penalty. They apply to any office, including us.
1. Is there a written contract?
Bookkeeping can be entrusted to an office only under a written contract (art. 11(2) of the Accounting Act). It should list the work, deadlines, price and who is liable for errors. Without a contract you cannot demand anything.
2. Does the office have OC insurance?
An office keeping books for others must have civil liability insurance (art. 76h of the Accounting Act). Ask to see the policy: it protects you if an accountant error leads to a penalty.
3. Who pays the penalty if the accountant makes a mistake?
It is best when the contract says so directly: an error caused by the office is paid by the office. Without that clause, penalties and interest for missed deadlines fall on you.
4. What is included in the price and what costs extra?
Ask how many documents a month are included and whether returns, HR, letters to the office, the annual PIT and CEIDG changes are billed separately. A «from» price without a list of work usually grows in the first month.
5. In which language do they explain things?
Letters from the tax office and ZUS arrive in Polish. Your accountant should explain them in a language you speak fluently and reply in writing, so you keep a record of what was agreed.
6. When do you learn the amounts to pay?
Monthly ZUS and PIT are due by the 20th, VAT by the 25th. Ask by which day the office sends the amounts and bank details: if it is only a day or two before the deadline, the risk of paying late is yours.
7. How does the office get access to the tax office and ZUS?
The right way is electronic powers of attorney: UPL-1 for the tax office and PEL for ZUS. Do not give your accountant your login and password to profil zaufany or your bank.
8. Is the office ready for KSeF?
Invoices in Poland are moving to the KSeF system. Ask who will issue and receive your invoices in KSeF and how the office accesses them, so that no invoice gets lost.
9. Does the office work with your type of business?
A JDG on ryczałt, KPiR, full books of a spółka, VAT and OSS, employees and foreigners: these are different skills. Ask how many clients in a situation like yours the office already serves.
10. What happens to your documents if you leave?
Put in the contract in what form and how quickly the office hands over the books, returns and archive to a new accountant. Changing accountant mid-year works when everything is handed over in full.
11. Does the accountant explain options rather than decide for you?
An office can calculate tax on your figures for different forms, and you choose the form. Promises of «zero tax» or «schemes» without explaining the legal basis should be a warning sign.
12. How do you check reviews?
Under «looking for an accountant» posts you often see identical recommendations of one office from different people, with the same phone number. The same text word for word under different posts is more likely a sign of fake reviews than of experience. Ask the office to show its contract and OC policy instead.
How we answer these questions
- A written one-year contract with a fixed price and a list of work.
- An error in a return caused by us is paid by us; it is written in the contract.
- You get the amounts to pay with bank details by the 15th.
- Access to the tax office and ZUS only through UPL-1 and PEL; we never ask for your passwords.
- We explain in Ukrainian, Polish and English and handle letters from the office.
- JDG registration is free with a one-year bookkeeping contract, and the first month of service is 30% off.
We are the Polish accounting office of the MK Audit international audit and accounting group. The group’s audit practice has worked in Ukraine since 2000; in Poland we provide accounting and HR only. We work online across Poland and meet in person in Warsaw.
Ask us these 12 questions on WhatsApp and we will answer each one in writing.
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