2025 financial year closing: a step-by-step guide and timeline

Required actions and legal basis

Selection of an audit firm as the entity authorised to audit the 2025 annual financial statements (Article 66(4) and Article 66(5) of the Polish Accounting Act).

Stocktaking of assets listed in Article 26(3)(1) of the Polish Accounting Act.

This term refers to stocktaking by means of a physical count or balance confirmation.

Stocktaking of assets and liabilities (Article 26(1) of the Polish Accounting Act), including:

• monetary assets,
• products in production,
• materials, goods and finished products, specified in Article 17(2)(4) of the Polish Accounting Act,
• assets and liabilities covered by stocktaking carried out by means of verification.

Preparation of a statement of balances and specifications of the group of assets under stocktaking.

This activity serves to compare the actual data, determined in the course of the stocktaking, with the accounting data (Article 18(2) of the Polish Accounting Act).

Comparison of the stocktaking outcome with the accounting status and explanation, accounting for and recognition of the revealed inventory discrepancies in the 2025 accounting books (in accordance with Article 27, in conjunction with Article 24(5)(2) of the Polish Accounting Act).

Preparation of the 2025 trial balance (Article 24(5)(2) of the Polish Accounting Act).

Preparation of a statement of balances of all subsidiary ledger accounts as at 31 December 2025 (Article 18(2) of the Polish Accounting Act).

Closing of 2025 accounts (Article 12(2)(1) of the Polish Accounting Act).

The status resulting from the closed 2025 accounting books constitutes the basis for preparing the annual financial statements for 2025.

Preparation of the 2025 financial statements (Article 45(1) and Article 52(1) of the Polish Accounting Act).

Signing of the 2025 financial statements (Article 52(2) of the Accounting Act).

The financial statements are signed by the person entrusted with keeping the accounting books and the head of the entity who also state the date of signature; if the entity is managed by a collective body, the statements are signed by all members of that body.

Preparation of a management report (Article 45(4) in conjunction with Article 49(1) of the Polish Accounting Act).

This report is prepared by:

• limited liability and joint-stock companies,
• limited joint-stock partnerships,
• mutual insurance companies,
• mutual reinsurance companies,
• cooperatives,
• state-owned enterprises.

Auditing the annual financial statements for 2025 (Article 64 in conjunction with Article 53(1) and Article 68 of the Polish Accounting Act).

As some entities – including limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, and cooperatives – require that the statutory auditor’s opinion and report be made available to shareholders or members, the audit must be completed no later than 15 days before the date of the shareholders' meeting. In other entities, the audit must be completed before the 2025 financial statements are approved.

Publication of the annual financial statements for 2025 (Article 68 of the Polish Accounting Act).

Certain entities – including limited liability companies, joint-stock companies and cooperatives – are required to provide shareholders or members with:

• 2025 financial statements,
• a management report, together with the opinion and report of the statutory auditor (if it was subject to mandatory audit),
• a report on the assurance of sustainability reporting (if the entity is subject to such an obligation).

Joint-stock companies are additionally obliged to make available the report of the supervisory board or audit committee.

Approval of the annual financial statements for 2025 by the approving body of the entity concerned (Article 53(1) of the Polish Accounting Act).

Appropriation of the 2025 financial result (Article 53(3) and Article 53(4) of the Polish Accounting Act).

Submission of the annual financial statements for 2025 to the tax office by corporate income tax payers (Article 27(2) of the Polish Corporate Income Tax Act – Journal of Laws of 2025, item 278).

Final closing of 2025 accounts (Article 12(4) and Article 12(5) of the Polish Accounting Act).

This action consists in irreversibly excluding the possibility of making accounting entries in the files constituting closed accounting books.

Submitting the 2025 financial statements and other required documents to the National Court Register (Article 69 of the Polish Accounting Act).

Please note: If the 2025 financial statements are not approved by 30 June 2026, they must be submitted to the National Court Register twice: if not approved, by 15 July 2026, and if approved, 15 days after their approval.

Submitting the 2025 financial statements – and other documents – for publication in their entirety in the Court and Commercial Gazette. This obligation applies to entities (including individuals) that are subject to mandatory audit but do not file reports with the National Court Register (KRS) (Article 70 of the Polish Accounting Act).

Mandatory steps and legal basis

The advance personal income tax payments (PIT) that were paid during the year must be accounted for.

This obligation involves submitting the PIT 4R form to the tax office and applies to companies that employed people under employment contracts, contracts for specific work or contracts of mandate in 2025.

The obligation to submit to the tax office – on the PIT-8AR form – information on the amounts of flat-rate income tax transferred during the year.

This step applies to companies that paid salaries up to PLN 200 per month in 2025 or paid benefits to former employees (pensioners, retirees).

Submission of PIT-11, PIT-8C, PIT-R and PIT-40 returns to the tax office.

Submission of the IFT-1R/IFT-1R return to the tax office.

Submission of the CIT-8 return to the tax office along with the CIT-8/O and CIT D attachments.