2026 closes current ODZ cycle; late completion needs KRBR nod

Statutory auditors (biegli rewidenci) who have not yet closed their obligatory professional development (obligatoryjne doskonalenie zawodowe, ODZ) for the current settlement period are running out of time: 2026 is the last year of the three-year settlement periodPibr that started on 1 January 2024Pibr and ends on 31 December 2026Pibr, and PIBR replaced its homepage banner about the next cycle's resolutions with a reminder to check training compliance now.

The reminder matters because the hourly duty is fixed and enforceable. Within the 2024-2026 period every auditor, practising or not, owes 120 lesson hours (godziny lekcyjne) in totalPibr, with at least 24 lesson hours in each calendar yearPibr completed through training run by PIBR or an authorised providerPibr on topics set by the Krajowa Rada Biegłych Rewidentów (KRBR)Pibr. Up to 48 lesson hours per period may be completed as self-study (samokształcenie)Pibr; hours above the 48-hour self-study limit do not count toward the KRBR-topic dutyPibr. Auditors who joined the register mid-period owe a proportional share of the 120 hoursPibr, i.e. 40 lesson hours per year of the periodPibr. Completed training must be documented, and the documents kept for three years from the end of the calendar year in which the training took place; on a KRBR request the auditor submits them within 30 days.

An auditor who cannot complete the duty on time may ask KRBR for consent to complete it latePibr, within two years after the deadlinePibr, for a justified reason such as illness or an accidentPibr. The request for a given calendar year must be filed by 31 March of the following yearPibr; for a whole three-year period, by 31 March of the year after the year in which the period endedPibr.

The banner this reminder replaced pointed to the next cycle. On 10 July 2026 KRBR adopted four resolutions (1919/39a/2026, 1920/39a/2026, 1921/39a/2026 and 1922/39a/2026) setting the topic scope, the settlement period and the minimum hours for 2027-2029, separately for accounting and financial-statement audit (ODZ) and for sustainability-reporting assurance (ODZ ESG). Excess hours above the required minimum cannot be carried into later years, even within the same cycle, and the ESG duty does not replace the general duty: auditors licensed for sustainability assurance must complete both in parallel. That next-cycle framework is already published, but the immediate operative fact is the closing 2024-2026 period.

Auditors should therefore check the hours of completed training for each year and for the three-year cycle on their individual accounts, complete any missing training while the period ending 31 December 2026 is still open or, where a justified reason prevented timely completion, file a late-completion request with KRBR by 31 March 2027Pibr.

Legal basis: PIBR training rules (Szkolenia) reflecting the KRBR resolution of 7 December 2023 on the settlement period and minimum hours; KRBR resolutions 1919/39a/2026-1922/39a/2026 of 10 July 2026 on the 2027-2029 cycle.