What is a financial statement?
Financial statements are a key document that presents the financial situation of a company over a specific period of time, usually a fiscal year.
It is a comprehensive report that contains information about the company's assets, income, and assets, as well as data on its liabilities and financial results. The financial statements are prepared in accordance with the principles set out in the Accounting Act, which ensures their reliability and transparency.
This document allows both business owners and potential investors to accurately assess the financial condition of the company. It is also important that the financial statements comply with European Union regulations on financial documentation.
Who is required to prepare financial statements?
The obligation to prepare financial statements rests with every company that has decided to keep full accounting records. It is the method of bookkeeping (and not the size of the company or its legal form) that determines this obligation. It therefore also applies to sole proprietorships that have opted for full accounting for some reason.
There is one exception to the above rule. General partnerships and professional partnerships that generated revenue of less than the equivalent of EUR 2 million in the financial year are not required to prepare financial statements .
However, this does not mean that they do not have to do anything in this regard. Their obligation is to submit a statement to the National Court Register (KRS) confirming that they are not required to prepare financial statements.
However, financial statements differ depending on the size of the company. Those defined as micro and small by the Accounting Act do not have to specify in their reports what larger companies are required to specify.
Differences in the final form of the document may also result, among other things, from whether the company preparing it is listed on the stock exchange.
What does the financial statement contain?
An annual financial report is a document that contains a wealth of information about the financial condition of a company and its performance in a given year.
The aforementioned Accounting Act (specifically Article 45) stipulates that financial statements shall include:
- balance sheet,
- profit and loss statement,
- additional information, including an introduction to the financial statements and additional information and explanations.
The balance sheet includes a list of the company's assets and liabilities as of the end of the current and previous fiscal year. In the case of the profit and loss account, we are talking about:
- revenues,
- costs,
- profits,
- losses,
- mandatory charges on the financial result.
All of the above relate to the financial results for the current and previous financial years.
Financial statements are an excellent source of information about the condition of a given company, not only for analysts in a given industry, but also for competitors. As there is an obligation to publish them, they are available to anyone interested.
Reporting dates and periods
Reporting dates and periods play a key role in the document preparation process.
- March 31 – preparation of the report within three months of the balance sheet date, if the financial year coincides with the calendar year.
- June 30 – approval of the document by the relevant bodies within the company, such as the general meeting of shareholders,
- July 15 – submission of financial statements to the relevant court registry.
Consequences of failing to submit financial statements
Failure to submit financial statements on time can have serious consequences for a company. Those responsible for submitting reports risk financial, administrative, or disciplinary penalties.
In extreme cases, it may lead to the dissolution of the company by the court if the company fails to comply with the National Court Register's request within a specified period of time.
Where can I download financial statements?
The annual financial statements of a specific company can be downloaded from several sources.
KRS Financial Documents Repository
The default source of financial statements for many is the repository of the National Court Register. The search engine is available at https://prs.ms.gov.pl/krs in the "Financial Document Browser" section. No login is required to access it.
To search for financial statements, all you need is the KRS number of the company you are interested in from the KRS business register. After entering it, you will see the following view:
By default, the search returns all types of documents submitted by a given company, but you can narrow it down to:
- annual financial statements,
- resolutions or decisions approving the annual financial statements,
- resolutions on the distribution of profits or coverage of losses,
- activity reports.
Financial statements can be downloaded in XML format, while additional information is available in PDF format.
Court and Economic Monitor
It should be remembered that not all financial statements can be found in the KRS described above. Entities which, due to their financial results, are required to have their financial statements audited by a certified auditor, must publish them in the MSiG. Due to the fact that subsequent issues of the Monitor are published in PDF format, viewing the reports posted there is not the most convenient.
Database of financial and substantive reports of public benefit organizations
Financial statements can also be found on the website of the National Institute of Freedom. The obligation to submit reports there applies to entities that have the status of public benefit organizations. They can be searched for by name or KRS number, among other things:
Company websites
Financial statements can also be downloaded (though not in all cases) directly from the websites of specific companies. Companies that care about transparency publish not only the documents required by law, but also additional information.
For example, CD Projekt RED presents the following data:
Where can I get financial statements? MGBI offer
Financial statements can also be downloaded from the MGBI website.
Searches can be performed based on several registration numbers:
- National Court Register
- Tax Identification Number
- REGON
The data is available in PDF format, as well as in source formats that comply with applicable regulations (e.g., XML, XHTML).
Importantly, you can also automate their retrieval (depending on your needs—the full content of the document or selected fields) thanks to the API. This allows you to download only the data that is of interest to you—e.g., only those relating to the net profit, liabilities, or revenues of a given company—and easily compare information about different companies.
Financial statements submitted by individual companies may differ from one another, but we provide them in a standardized format, making them easier to read.
We have all financial statements published in the Financial Documents Repository of the National Court Register since April 1, 2018. We regularly update our resources with new files added to this register.
The number of documents available for download each month (as well as the ability to use the API) depends on the subscription plan you choose.
