The common perception is that accounting firms are concerned with accounting for their clients' transactions and calculating tax and social security liabilities. This is, of course, true, but the scope of their duties is sometimes much greater and in many respects goes beyond financial and accounting activities. 

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The services of accounting offices can be either more extensive or narrower. The basic tasks of any accounting bureau include bookkeeping, income and expense ledgers and flat-rate income records. Bureaus also keep VAT records and prepare VAT, CIT and PIT returns, as well as prepare financial statements. Often, they also store accounting evidence and other documentation prescribed by applicable law - unless clients have large office space. A large number of offices also conduct human resources activities - from drawing up employment contracts or contracts of mandate and compiling personnel files, to registering with the Social Security Administration and preparing reports, to day-to-day handling: accounting for vacations, sick leave, overtime and business trips. However, the duties of accounting offices do not end there at all.

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 What else can these types of companies do?

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AML, or the fight against money laundering and terrorism

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Starting in 2021, accounting offices must also implement their obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law (AML - Anti Money Laudering Procedure). Its provisions stipulate, among other things, that bureaus must thoroughly verify the identity of clients and so-called beneficial owners, i.e. entities that exercise actual control over the client. The bureaus have also been obliged to obtain information from serviced companies on the nature and purpose of their business. This means that there must be supervision of the client's transactions and control of the sources from which the client's assets come.  

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In addition, accounting offices must ensure that all documentation and data relating to the aforementioned issues are kept up-to-date and consistent with the information disclosed in the Register of Beneficial Owners (CBR), the Central Register and Information on Economic Activity (CEiDG) and the National Court Register (KRS). They are also required to establish procedures for anonymous reporting of any irregularities.

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Fight against tax evasion

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Another duty of accounting offices is to be vigilant against financial operations that may constitute an attempt to avoid paying taxes. Under current regulations, bureaus can prepare for their clients drafts of so-called tax schemes that reduce liabilities to the tax authorities, but they must inform the Head of the National Tax Administration. The same authority must also be notified on suspicion of any activities that may bear the hallmarks of illegal optimization.    

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Payment monitoring and collection

Payment monitoring and handling collection processes are also important tasks of accounting offices. Supervision of timely payment of receivables should be carried out from the moment of issuance of the invoice until the posting of the payment, and its role is to ensure the liquidity of the bureau's clients and protect them from losses.   

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A keen eye can also quickly detect overdue payments and take collection action. In the latter case, accounting offices first determine the cause of the delay, and then may send the debtor a summons to pay, propose an amicable solution to the case (for example, in the form of a settlement involving payment in installments) or draw up a pre-court summons for payment. If these actions prove ineffective, some offices offer their clients the possibility of cooperation with bailiffs or law firms. This involves, for example, preparing a lawsuit or initiating enforcement proceedings before a bailiff.