"300 zł for an accountant versus 29 zł for software" is a dishonest comparison in both directions. Dishonest to the accounting office, because those 300 zł buy work no software performs. Dishonest to you, because 29 zł buys neither your annual tax return, nor anyone's liability, nor an answer to "can I deduct this?"
The question is live right now. KSeF — Poland's national e-invoicing system — has been mandatory for most businesses since 1 April 2026, and from 1 January 2027 it covers everyone and penalties begin: up to 100% of the VAT on an invoice issued outside the system (Ministry of Finance rollout schedule). Contracts with accounting offices renew in January, which makes autumn the month this bill gets recalculated.
Here is the breakdown: four line items on the accountant's side, three on the software side, and the point where one stops paying off.
An accounting office bill has four line items, not one
A quick vocabulary note, because the terms matter for pricing: JDG is a sole proprietorship, biuro rachunkowe is an accounting office, ryczałt is a flat-rate tax on revenue with no deductible costs, and KPiR is the simplified revenue-and-expense ledger used under the progressive or flat 19% regimes.
Item 1 — the monthly retainer. The only number that appears in an offer. Market ranges for a JDG (net, per month):
Situation Typical range Ryczałt, no VAT, up to ~20 documents 120–250 zł Ryczałt with active VAT status 200–350 zł KPiR without VAT, small scale 150–300 zł KPiR + VAT, 30–50 documents 250–600 zł Trading, e-commerce, foreign currency 600–1200 zł
Figures from a 2026 survey of Polish accounting-office pricing. Location shifts the whole table: in Warsaw the same service is often 25–35% more expensive than in a town of under 50,000 people. Service in English is usually priced above the Polish-language rate — ask for that number explicitly before you sign.
Item 2 — surcharges. Documents above the contractual limit, payroll (60–150 zł per employee per month), foreign and foreign-currency transactions, intra-EU acquisitions and imported services, e-commerce with OSS. These are what turn "250 zł" in the offer into 420 zł on the November invoice.
Item 3 — the annual return. The line item most comparisons forget. Sometimes bundled, sometimes billed separately from 250 zł upwards, usually near the lower end for a simple JDG. Check the contract — the difference is roughly one monthly retainer.
Item 4 — one-offs. Corrections for past periods, certificates for banks, re-bookings after a change of tax regime, representation before the tax office or ZUS. Not monthly, but real in an annual total.
Where 300–600 zł comes from, and who actually pays it
That range is not invented — it describes one specific profile: KPiR, active VAT, 30–50 documents a month, large city. A Warsaw office may charge 250 zł net for as few as 0–5 documents on KPiR with VAT, and counts upwards from there.
If you are a contractor on 12% ryczałt with no VAT and two invoices a month, your real market price is closer to 130–200 zł. Telling yourself that "an accountant costs 500 zł" is exactly the same stretch as claiming software handles everything for 29 zł.
What 29–99 zł buys, and what it doesn't
Self-accounting software in Poland starts at around 10 zł net and reaches about 60 zł for fuller tiers (September 2026). Biurko costs 29–99 zł net per month — we are not the cheapest shelf and we don't pretend to be.
What the price includes: issuing and receiving invoices through KSeF with the official confirmation (UPO), VAT registers, the JPK_V7 file generated and filed with the tax office, tax calculated as the month goes, ZUS social contributions with deadlines and payment documents.
What no software on this market includes:
liability — an accounting office carries professional indemnity insurance and a contract; software carries terms of service;
interpretation — "is this trip deductible?" is a question for a person, not a form;
payroll and HR — hire someone and you need an accountant or a separate system;
representation — a tax-office audit is handled by a proxy, not an app.
The third line item: your time
This is where most comparisons lie by omission. Software doesn't cost 29 zł; it costs 29 zł plus your hours. But an accounting office doesn't cost the retainer alone either: collecting documents, scanning, and answering your accountant's questions typically eat 15–30 minutes a month.
So what matters is the difference in time, not total time. For a flat-rate contractor with two invoices, that difference is roughly 30 minutes a month. For KPiR with 40 documents and VAT, it is realistically 2–3 hours.
The rest is arithmetic: annual saving divided by extra hours gives you a break-even hourly rate. Above it, the accountant is cheaper.
Two annual bills
Case A — IT contractor, 12% ryczałt, no VAT, two invoices a month
Accounting office: 150 zł × 12 = 1,800 zł + annual return ~200 zł = 2,000 zł
Software: 29 zł × 12 = 348 zł
Difference: 1,652 zł a year for about 6 extra hours of your work → break-even ≈ 275 zł/hour
At this profile software wins almost every time. The bookkeeping is repetitive and fits on one screen.
Case B — services with goods, KPiR, active VAT, 40 documents, one employee
Accounting office: 400 zł × 12 = 4,800 zł + payroll 100 zł × 12 = 1,200 zł + annual return 400 zł = 6,400 zł
Software: 99 zł × 12 = 1,188 zł, and still no payroll
Difference: 5,212 zł for about 36 extra hours → break-even ≈ 145 zł/hour
If your hour is worth more than 145 zł, the accounting office is the cheaper option. That is the honest answer, not a marketing line.
What Biurko does not do today
If the bill is meant to be honest, that includes our side of it:
Ryczałt we close month by month, end to end: invoices, KSeF, registers, tax, JPK_V7 with UPO, ZUS contributions.
KPiR — we handle invoices, KSeF, VAT registers, JPK_V7 and ZUS, but not the ledger itself or the annual PIT. That is on the roadmap, not in the product.
ZUS DRA we prepare as a file and a printout; you submit it yourself. Competitors can send it; we can't yet.
The annual return is a separate line in your budget today. Plan for it.
Your accountant doesn't disappear. Their seat in Biurko is free and outside the plan limit, so "software plus an accountant once a quarter" is a normal setup, not a failure.
Work out your own bill in 15 minutes
Open your contract and find the document limit and the rate for anything above it.
Check whether the annual return is inside the retainer or outside it.
Add up every invoice from the accounting office over the last 12 months, one-offs included. That is your baseline — not the number in the offer.
Measure how many minutes a month the office costs you today.
Estimate the same for software: issuing invoices, describing costs, clicking the JPK submission.
Divide the annual cost difference by the annual hour difference. Compare that rate to yours.
Subtract what software won't do — payroll, cross-border transactions, a dispute with the tax office. If any apply, price the hybrid option instead.
In short
The real bill is not "300 versus 29". It is retainer plus surcharges plus annual return on one side, and subscription plus your hours plus gaps on the other. For simple flat-rate activity the gap is usually 1,500–2,000 zł a year and software wins. For KPiR with an employee, work out the break-even rate before you change anything.
To check your own case: invoicing and KSeF in Biurko are free with no document limit, and the paid accounting features are free for 14 days at biurko.io.
3. FAQ
How much does an accountant cost for a sole trader in Poland? Between 120 and 250 zł net per month for flat-rate activity with a dozen or so documents and no VAT. Active VAT status pushes it to roughly 200–350 zł, and a large city adds another 25–35%. The annual return may be billed separately.
Can accounting software replace an accounting office in Poland? For simple, repetitive activity, yes — thousands of sole traders run this way. With employees, cross-border transactions, a tax-office dispute or unusual expenses it isn't enough: you need someone who takes responsibility for the interpretation.
Do I need an accountant because of KSeF? No. The obligation covers issuing and receiving invoices in the system, not how you keep your books. You can issue KSeF invoices from the Ministry's free Taxpayer App, from a free software plan, or through an accounting office.
Can I run a Polish JDG in English? The obligations are the same, but your tools and your accountant's language are not. Filings go to Polish authorities in Polish structures, so choose software with a real English interface and confirm the surcharge before signing with an English-speaking office.
Who is liable for a mistake — the software or me? The taxpayer is liable for the tax due, whatever tool produced the numbers. An accounting office is contractually liable to you and carries mandatory indemnity insurance, so a claim is possible. Software gives you correct calculations and proof of filing, not indemnity.
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