The results of CFO Survey were presented by Piotr Charytonowicz, director of Deloitte Audit Department. The survey included opinions and economic forecasts of nearly 1300 CFOs from Poland and 14 Western European countries.

 

According to CFOs, in 2016 Poland will continue its stable growth, maintain a low inflation rate (below 2%) and witness a drop in unemployment. “The Polish GDP seems relatively stable and it remains at the level of approx. 3%. As compared with developed economies, it is even 1.1 pp higher.  However, a small decrease in CFOs’ net optimism can be observed,” notes Piotr Charytonowicz. This means that the number of companies which believe that their economic prospects for the next 12 months will be better is lower than last year. Thus, the practice shows that the GDP increase will slow down,” he adds.

 

The feeling of economic stability is prevailing, which entails a still high risk appetite (47% of the respondents are of the opinion that now is a good time to take risk, as compared to 63% in the previous edition of the survey) and denotes that investment is of crucial importance (44% CFOs see it as a priority for 2015). However, finance directors are sure to be very cautious when making decisions with respect to the company’s spending.

 

“External financing options will become increasingly popular,” says Piotr Charytonowicz. Bank loan will remain the main source of finance. Why? – Because it is widely available.

 

How will a CFO be able to assess whether the company has attained a financial success? So far the revenues were the major indicator, but an improvement in liquidity and reduction in indirect costs are the new top priorities. “This change is a response to the increased pressure on prices and concerns about falling demand, which, according to forecasts, are the major risks this year.  Hence, restructuring seems to grow in importance,” observes Piotr Charatynowicz.

 

During the second part of the meeting Agnieszka Mitoraj, director of the Tax Advisory Department, Deloitte, discussed the most important changes in documenting transactions with related parties. One needs to keep in mind that transfer prices are counted among the priorities of the tax audits to be performed by the Ministry of Finance this year. “The methods of conducting tax audits will change radically. They will be more detailed and targeted at examination of prices from the arms’ length perspective and the compliance of the information presented in the documentation with the actual situation,” she adds.

 

“New regulations also change the philosophy of TP documentation preparation, from the current transaction-based approach to presentation of an overall picture of the business run by the taxpayer. The new regulations take effect beginning from 01 January 2017, but it may prove helpful to check whether the transactions carried out in the company are compliant with the arm’s length principle from the viewpoint of the new law.  The transactional threshold determining the obligation to prepare documentation and the capital relation threshold will also change – currently it is 5%, and it will go up to 25%. 

 

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