Closing the accounts for a given financial year is a complex process, involving many activities ranging from taking inventory, confirming balances with counterparties and the bank, establishing required reserves and write-downs, doing balance sheet valuations, and preparing the annual financial statements and tax returns. Most of these activities are internal and are not burdened by specific statutory deadlines. However, accounting and tax regulations contain rigid deadlines within which each entity must complete the accounting and tax closing process.
Deadlines for closing the 2023 financial year
In addition to the stage of preparing the final financial figures, the process of closing the books for the fiscal year includes financial reporting, where the annual financial statements are prepared, and tax reporting, where the tax return is prepared and other reporting obligations are fulfilled.
Below are the main deadlines for the accounting closing of 2023, along with a detailed discussion of each step.
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Activity |
Deadline to* |
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|---|---|---|
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Accounting |
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Closure of the accounting books |
31 March 2024 |
|
|
Preparation of annual financial statements |
31 March 2024 |
|
|
Tax |
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|
CIT tax return |
2 April 2024 |
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|
Information IFT-2R |
2 April 2024 |
|
|
CIT-N1 and PIT-N1 information by real estate companies |
2 April 2024 |
|
|
Country-by-Country Reporting |
2 April 2024 |
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|
Information ORD-U |
2 April 2024 |
|
|
Corporate |
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Report on activities |
31 March 2024 |
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Approval of financial statements |
30 June 2024 |
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Submission of financial statements and other documents |
15 July 2024 |
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(*) For entities whose financial year is the calendar year.
Closure of the accounting books
According to the Accounting Law, the books of account must be closed within 3 months of the balance sheet date as of the end of the fiscal year. For entities whose fiscal year is the calendar year, this means that closing the books for 2023 must be done by March 31, 2024.
Before closing the books, entities must ensure that the financial data is complete and correct, so that it provides a fair and clear representation of the asset and financial position and the financial result.
To this end, the entity’s books must include all revenues earned, attributable to the entity, and costs charged to the entity related to such revenues pertaining to the fiscal year, regardless of the timing of their payment. In order to ensure the commensurability of revenues and related costs, the assets or liabilities of a given reporting period will include costs or revenues relating to future periods and costs falling within this reporting period that have not yet been incurred (accruals and provisions).
Preparation of annual financial statements
The head of the entity shall ensure that annual financial statements are prepared no later than 3 months after the balance sheet date. For entities whose fiscal year is the calendar year, this means that the annual financial statements must be prepared (signed) no later than March 31, 2024.
In accordance with the current regulations, the annual financial statements mandatorily consist of:
and in the case of entities subject to audit also:
The financial statements shall be prepared in electronic form and bear a qualified electronic signature, a trusted signature or a personal signature. Financial statements of entities entered in the Register of Entrepreneurs of the National Court Register shall be prepared in the logical structure and format made available on the website of the Minister of Finance (xml structure).
The financial statements shall be signed – at the same time giving the date of signature – by the person entrusted with keeping the books of account and the head of the entity, and if the entity is headed by a multi-member body – all members of the body or at least one person who is a member of the body.
Refusal to sign the financial statements requires a written justification attached to the financial statements. Signing the financial statements constitutes confirmation that they meet the requirements of the Act.
Report on activities
In the case of limited liability companies and other entities specified in the Accounting Law, the head of the entity prepares, together with the annual financial statements, a report on the entity’s activities (sometimes referred to as the “management board report”).
The following information should be reported in the entity’s activity report:
In addition, the report should also include, if relevant to the assessment of the entity’s situation, at least:
Unlike the annual financial statements, the regulations do not provide a template for the management report. Each entity prepares it individually in accordance with the requirements of the Accounting Law. This document is subject to the signature of the head of the entity (board of directors) under the same rules as the annual financial statements. In the case of limited liability companies and other entities registered in the National Court Register, the report on the entity’s activities shall be prepared in electronic form and bear a qualified electronic signature, a trusted signature or a personal signature.
Report on activities:
In view of the above, this report should be signed before approval and in such a timeframe that will allow those who will make the approval decision to become familiar with it. With regard to the timing of the activity report, the Accounting Law refers to the relevant provisions for the preparation of annual financial statements. For entities whose fiscal year is a calendar year, this means that the activity report must be prepared (signed) no later than March 31, 2024.
Approval of financial statements
According to the provisions of the Accounting Law, an entity’s annual financial statements are subject to approval by the approving authority no later than 6 months after the balance sheet date. For entities whose fiscal year is the calendar year, this means that the approval of the financial statements for 2023 must be done by June 30, 2024, and filed with the court by July 15, 2024.
The approving authority is the body specified in the Articles of Association, Articles of Incorporation, and for individual entities this is
Prior to the approval of the financial statements, the annual financial statements and the management report must be made available to shareholders, and if the financial statements are subject to audit, the auditor’s report must also be made available to shareholders no later than 15 days before the scheduled date for approval of the financial statements. The procedure and form of approval of the annual financial statements depend strictly on the legal form of the entity. In capital companies, the appropriate form of approval of the financial statements is a resolution of the general meeting of shareholders. Care must be taken to ensure that the content and form of the resolution are properly prepared in accordance with the requirements of the relevant regulations.
Approval of the financial statements means that the approving body has accepted the information contained therein, including the figures, and considered them reliable.
After the approval of the annual financial statements, the following should be done:
If the financial statements are not approved by the statutory deadline (no later than 6 months from the balance sheet date), then the entity is required to file two reports with the court registry:
Submission of financial statements and other documents to the court registry
According to the provisions of the Accounting Law, the head of the entity is obliged to file the report with the competent court registry. In most cases, this is the National Court Register (KRS).
The following documents are subject to submission:
– within 15 days from the date of approval of the annual financial statements.
Submission of the report and other required documents to the KRS is a technical activity, but it requires the involvement of at least one board member with a PESEL number that is disclosed in the Court Register. This is because, according to the Law on the National Court Register, an application for the filing of financial statements shall be submitted and signed by a person whose PESEL number is disclosed in the Register, who is registered, either alone or jointly with other persons, as authorized to represent the entity, a proxy, receiver, administrator in restructuring proceedings or liquidator.
From 2019, the notification can also be made by a lawyer, or legal counsel, referring to the power of attorney granted to him. Then this person signs the notification with his qualified electronic signature, trusted signature or personal signature.
The deadline for submitting the report and other documents is 15 days from the date of approval of the report, i.e. if the report was approved on June 30, the deadline is July 15.
It should be remembered that if the financial statements have not been approved by the statutory deadline (6 months from the balance sheet date), they must be submitted to the court registry within 15 days after this deadline, as well as 15 days after their approval, along with the other required documents.
Failure to file the financial statements with the competent court registry is punishable by criminal penalties. In such a case, the head of the entity is subject to a fine or restriction of liberty. In addition, the penalty may also be imposed by the competent registry court.
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