Have there been any significant regulatory developments in Poland over the last 12 months?

The biggest change was to introduce the National e-Invoice System (KSeF). It was supposed to happen in July 2024. However, two months before the introduction of this system, the project was postponed to February 2026. Starting with this date, paper invoices and those sent and received in PDF won’t be used anymore.

The Ministry of Finance is implementing this system to prevent VAT refund fraud.

Together with Italy, where this system has been successfully operating for several years, Poland will be the only country in the EU with this method of exchanging invoices, but ultimately by the end of 2029, as part of the ViDA EU project, it will be to be implemented and used in all EU countries, similarly to e.g. Malaysia where the system has been implemented this year and Singapore where it is scheduled for next year.

How would you describe the health of the accounting industry in Poland in terms of customer demand, fee pressure, and staff recruitment and retention?

Poland has 37.5 million citizens. There are 404 higher education institutions including 134 public ones, among which there are 18 universities. The faculty of finances and accounting is really popular among students in Poland. They can choose among 70 economic universities and economic higher schools as well as other higher education institutions which also provide students with the possibility to study this faculty.

Starting with primary school, English as a foreign language is an obligatory subject. In secondary schools, students need to study, apart from English, another foreign language and they normally choose German and Spanish. As for higher education institutions, they offer a wide range of philologies of languages from all over the world.

Thanks to this, almost 30% of Polish citizens have higher education (almost 60% for 25 and 44-year-olds). Apart from experienced accountants already working in the area of finances and accounting, the labor market in this area regularly receives young employees who already possess specialist knowledge and foreign language communication skills.

Szwak & Spółka consider the field of accounting to be in a good and stable condition. The high level of maturity and expertise of company managers results in an increasing number of not only small but also medium and large companies deciding to outsource accounting services.

In light of the fact that the National e-Invoice System (KSeF) is to be implemented and that the profession of an accountant is going to be digitalized globally, the development of outsourced accounting services in the near future seems obvious.

When it comes to process optimization (and prices of services), speed of operations, and implementation of digitalization, including AI, it is hard for individual accounting departments to compete with medium and large accounting firms.

The need to provide high-quality service and to optimize operating costs makes it necessary to implement technologies thanks to which it is possible to lower the cost of employees (we can confirm that it is possible to increase the efficiency of an individual accountant by 250% in two years). Therefore, outsourcing, as it offers constant online access to the data that is updated every second, is going to become unrivaled.

Are there any service areas where demand has grown over the last 12 months?

The demand for consulting and advisory services has increased in the fields of company management, devising strategy, and making key decisions.

Thanks to relatively low (as for Europe) tax rates, 5% CIT and PIT incentives on programming services, tax deductions regarding such areas as: research and development, processes digitalization, internationalization, and family foundations, the interest in tax advisory services has been growing.

4. Has there been any significant consolidation or merger activity in the accounting profession?

Not really. However, thanks to the M&A branch actively operating in Poland, foreign investors are penetrating this sector. Many firms in this field, including Szwak & Spółka, are asked about such a possibility. Therefore, they are considering expanding via merging.

5. What are your expectations for the next 12 months - are there any potentially significant developments in the pipeline?

In the last 5 years, Szwak & Spółka has widely implemented digitalization. This process is going to be necessary for the majority of the companies next year as they will have to adjust to the National e-Invoice System (KSeF) and in order to be able to provide services for big companies as well as to remain competitive as a service provider and employer.

Szwak & Spółka are going to continue the development of their team in the area of soft skills, including assessment of a personality type and its development. It is going to improve communication skills in this profession which, in turn, is going to facilitate cooperation with their clients as well as with artificial intelligence.