Leinonen – A Year of Stabilization in the Polish Accounting Landscape

Leinonen Poland, a subdivision of the Leinonen Group, provides accounting, tax, payroll management, and other services to foreign-owned businesses, facilitating their integration into the Polish market. The group operates in 11 countries and recently celebrated 15 years in Poland. We spoke with Maria Onikki-Gorski, Managing Director of Leinonen Poland, about accounting trends in 2025.

First of all, you have been in Poland for quite a long time – do you feel more Finnish or Polish?

I have around 25 years of experience working in finance and performing accounting tasks in Poland. But I am still Maria from Finland! Only my mother-in-law calls me Marysia here in Poland.

Last year, you mentioned that accounting and tax rules were changing so fast that you felt like the head of a detective agency. How is it now?

Things have definitely calmed down after the elections, and no major changes have occurred this year. It's a good situation right now. Hurriedly prepared regulatory changes are challenging as there are many small details to resolve. At times, it felt like no one really had any answers about the specifics of the new accounting principles.

Are there any major trends or changes in the pipeline?

Nothing major seems to be happening at the moment. The KSeF project – the electronic invoicing mandate – is now scheduled for 2026. Along with a few other Nordic companies, we participated in a roundtable discussion with the Ministry of Finance, which gave us the chance to share our views. The Scandinavian-Polish Chamber of Commerce organized the event.

It seems that the regulatory side is calm. How has business been this year, and how is the team doing?

We now have over 30 accountants and payroll professionals, with clients ranging from small one-person entities to large corporations. Finnish clients naturally make up a significant part of our portfolio, but recently we've seen an interesting increase in new clients from the Baltic States, especially IT and SaaS companies. They seem to be entering the Polish market.

The Polish accounting sphere has some local nuances. Do clients usually implement their own ERP systems in Poland, or do they rely on yours?

I’d say that 25% of our clients choose to use their own ERP systems in Poland, with the rest operating on our platform. Poland has its own accounting rules, which means that implementing a group ERP requires localization packages. Some ERPs, like those from Microsoft, have robust packages and support, allowing partners to implement the projects effectively. Of course, there are also some ERPs where the Polish implementation can be a very complex project. 

Yes, there are several factors to consider during onboarding, such as month-end close scheduling issues. Does this require a lot of special attention?

We always ask the client about the required schedules, as Polish accounting is heavily focused on closing the month around the 20th day of the following month. In most cases, we end up closing during the first working week.

Do you see many differences compared to Finland?

Of course, there are plenty of small differences in accounting rules. Additionally, the way organizations operate differs; in Poland, it is still quite hierarchical. In our case, it can be difficult to reach people in the tax offices and ZUS to ask for advice, at least compared to the Finnish tax office. 

There are probably also a lot of tax inspections.

Yes, there are always tax inspections going on, and this is quite standard. For example, the first VAT refund application always triggers a tax inspection. Of course, it is mostly routine work.

Any advice for newcomers from your perspective?

Healthy checks are important. Make sure there are proper principles for approving invoices, salaries, and costs, as well as checks on approving payments. Overall, the system works well, and digitalization is improving year by year. It is also crucial to plan the expansion carefully from all angles.

What are five differences to the Finnish accounting system?

1. The PLN/EUR exchange rate is from the National Bank of Poland, not from the ECB;

2. Sales invoices must have three dates and they do not have a standard layout;

3. Corporate Income Tax is generally paid on a monthly basis;

4. The payroll system is rather complicated;

5. They are split payments for VAT.