Own accounting office – the dream of many young people studying finance, accounting or economics. This is one of those professions that we can do at home, in slippers and with good coffee. Freedom, freedom and good earnings – it must be admitted that the vision of running your own accounting office is very tempting. But what does it look like in practice?
Access to work in the accounting industry was greatly facilitated by the deregulation of the accounting profession. Since 2014, everyone can keep both simplified accounting (KPiR) and full accounting (Trading Books). Previously, an Accounting Certificate of the Ministry of Finance was required. What’s more, to run your own office, you don’t even need to complete accounting studies. This is a great help for all young people who want to start their business adventure.
Scope of accounting services
The range of services offered by accounting offices is very wide. It depends primarily on the experience and qualifications of the employees themselves. Of course, in the basic scope it only covers simple accounting, i.e. a register of issued and paid invoices. With appropriate competences, an accounting office can successfully conduct HR and payroll policies for companies, advise on loans and credits, and even be an external legal consultant. The most common services offered by accounting offices include:
- bookkeeping,
- keeping tax ledgers of income and expenditure, KPiR,
- keeping records (registers) for the purposes of settling value added tax (VAT),
- formal and accounting control of documents,
- comprehensive service of settlements with the Tax Office, preparation and submission of declarations,
- representation before the Tax Office,
- assistance in setting up business entities,
- carrying out transformations of the legal form of the company,
- clearing accounting arrears,
- supervising the accounting in the company.
Prices for services and costs of running an accounting office
We checked the average prices of accounting services in Poland. How much can you earn by running an accounting office? Most companies offer settlement based on the number of documents booked. And so, when we are dealing with a tax revenue and expense ledger.
VAT payer:
from 1 to 9 documents per month: from PLN 150 to PLN 250 + VAT per month
taxpayer exempt from VAT:
from 1 to 9 documents per month: from PLN 100 to PLN 150. + VAT per month.
The prices are different in the case of an accounting book, here we will pay from PLN 350 to PLN 450 + VAT per month for a package of up to 9 documents per month. When our client is a larger company providing more than 150 documents per month, we can count on earnings of about PLN 2,000 net per month.
Many accounting offices, in addition to standard accounting services, also offer HR services to clients. Employed employees must be accounted for at the Tax Office and the Social Insurance Institution. The average price for servicing one employee ranges from PLN 30 to PLN 50 + VAT.
And what are the costs of running an accounting office? The basic cost is the purchase of a license for specialized accounting software plus its regular updating. Depending on which program we decide to buy, it can cost from 1500 to even several thousand zlotys. To this should be added a few hundred zlotys a year for servicing and updating the software. Another cost is the rental of the premises. Running a one-person office, you can resign from this cost by running your business from the comfort of your home or significantly reduce it by renting space in virtual offices. An additional cost is the purchase of liability insurance. Many potential clients may ask about it, because it protects the interest of not only the office, but also the client. In the event of errors on the part of the office, the insurer will pay the appropriate compensation. You should also add the costs of purchasing office equipment – printers.
Qualifications
After the deregulation of the regulations in 2014, the profession of accountant was freed. Currently, in order to run your own accounting office, you do not need any licenses, permits or even completion of major studies. However, it is worth having the right qualifications, because they positively affect the image of the company. People who have obtained accounting certificates or qualification certificates issued before the change in regulations can still use them to confirm their professional qualifications. The list of persons who have obtained such authorizations can be found on the website of the Ministry of Finance.
Changes in laws and regulations have a great impact on the financial and accounting industry, hence the great need to participate in specialized training and courses to improve one’s knowledge and qualifications. There are several companies on the market that regularly offer such training for employees of accounting offices. Participation in such a course is associated with the expenditure of several hundred zlotys, but it can provide new customers in a very competitive market.
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