Conducting a business activity, both in Poland and abroad, is connected with many formalities. There is no doubt that some of the most important ones are related to accounting. Having in mind the significant number of provisions, regulations, and requirements concerning accounting, entrepreneurs more and more often decide to outsource accounting services to qualified accounting offices. What is the cost of such services? What are the responsibilities of the accounting office? How much does accounting for a company in Poland cost? The answers to these questions can be found in this article.
What does it mean to provide accounting services?
Before we move to discuss the costs of accounting services for a company in Poland, it should first be established what such services include. It is worth mentioning that the nature of an accountant’s work has experienced a complete change over the last several years. Today’s accounting offices are very often highly specialized units, covering within their activity not only bookkeeping in the strict sense but also tax consulting, operational and financial controlling and payroll services. What does each of these services consist of?
Accounting services for companies
Accounting services for companies constitute the most popular business profile of accounting offices. At the same time, it is the closest to the standard, typical understanding of the accountant’s work. As part of their services, accounting offices most often deal with:
- bookkeeping,
- preparing financial statements,
- keeping record of fixed assets,
- Preparing monthly settlements and income statements (CIT, VAT, PIT).
Tax consulting
Tax consulting is a service particularly sought-after by entrepreneurs. It results from the complexity of tax regulations and from the surprising (especially in recent times) frequency of their changes. The best example of this is the relatively recently adopted Polish Deal that has already been amended many times. It is very difficult for entrepreneurs to keep up with these changes, therefore, the demand for professional tax consulting services is constantly growing.
Operational and financial controlling
Financial controlling offers entrepreneurs greater possibilities for optimising their costs. It is based on a constant and comprehensive analysis of the company’s financial results. Its goal is to increase the effectiveness and competitiveness of the enterprise. It is also one of the most sought-after types of services, even though it appeared on the accounting services market quite recently. Having in mind its specific nature, particularly including the proficient knowledge of accounting regulations and processes as well as the quick analysis of the company’s functioning in the context of constant changes, the interest in this type of service exceeds its availability at the moment.
Payroll services
As part of their payroll services, accounting offices most often offer:
- calculating remuneration and preparing payrolls for employees,
- preparation and settlement of contracts of mandate and contracts for specific work,
- keeping records of employees’ remuneration,
- keeping employees’ personnel files,
- Registration of employees in the Social Insurance institution [Polish: ZUS],
- preparing and submitting ZUS and PIT declarations for reporting and settlement purposes, and many more.
What determines the costs of accounting services for a company?
Being aware of the scope of activities that can be conducted as part of the services provided by accounting offices, it is easier to understand what the rates of their remuneration are based on. At the same time, it should be remembered that their range does not only depend on the scope of the provided services. They are also influenced by factors such as:
- the location both of the company and the accounting office because, as a rule, the smaller the city, the lower the pay rates;
- the reputation of the accounting office and experience of its employees,
- the legal form of the conducted business – sole proprietorship, company or branch of a foreign company,
- the type of accounting – revenue and expense ledger, fixed amount tax, accounting ledgers, registered lump sum,
- the number of documents,
- the number of employees and contracts,
- the scope of conducted activity – e.g. whether the company buys or sells goods (services) abroad.
As you can see, there are quite a few factors that influence the cost of accounting services.
How much does accounting for a company in Poland cost?
As there are many factors affecting the cost of accounting services, it is extremely difficult to answer unequivocally the question about their cost. Nevertheless, while analysing individual offers in various cities, one can reach a certain conclusion. Below, we present exemplary rates for the three most popular types of services.
Cost of accounting for a company in Poland in the case of keeping revenue and expense ledger
In this case, the cost depends mainly on the number of documents submitted to the accounting office. If their number does not exceed 10 documents, the cost (depending on the voivodeship) ranges from 250 PLN to 380 PLN gross. However, when the number of documents is between 90 and 100, the cost ranges from 880 gross to 1.300 PLN gross.
Cost of accounting for a company in Poland in the case of accounting ledgers
Similarly to the previously described keeping of the revenue and expense ledger, also, in this case, the cost depends mainly on the number of documents. If their number is up to 10 documents, the cost (depending on the voivodeship) ranges from 900 PLN to 1.300 PLN gross. On the other hand, if the number of documents ranges from 90 to 100, the costs range respectively from 2.500 PLN to 3.600 PLN gross.
Payroll services
As an example of the range in the costs, let us also indicate one of the most popular services of accounting offices, i.e. payroll services. A popular factor affecting the cost of such service is the number of employees hired by a given employee. Therefore, the cost of payroll service for one employee can range from 83 PLN to 110 PLN gross.
In the end, it is worth mentioning that the costs indicated above constitute only an average. Thus, depending on the circumstances, the costs may be lower or, in justified cases, even several times higher. Therefore, only a thorough analysis of the client’s individual needs conducted by the office allows for preparing a fair valuation of the services.
Are you looking for a reliable, trusted and experienced accounting office? For many years we have been outsourcing accounting and payroll services for international and local