Law / Setting up small business in Poland? [191]

I am an accountant but can assure you i have no interest in taking on clients at 1000 zloty a pop because i have my own businesses to run. I admire people that try and set up on their own here but scrimping on advice is a false economy and i dont then like disillusioned foreign investors coming on here railing against the system when they have trouble with the authorities.

Check polands ease of doing business rankings. They are slowly improving but in tax and company admin it remains one of the worst in the eu. From first hand experience it is much more difficult than czech slovakia and hungary.

So i will give you a last piece of free advice before quitting this thread. No employees means no zus. But you cannot pay interim dividends indefinitely - you need to show the company has adequate standing before declaring the dividend, and that is normally based on a set of interim accounts and the level of reserves and cash. You will save the zus but the dividend is not a CIT deductible item.

Real Estate / Stronger zloty - potential driver for Poland's property market [42]

You can bet with the bank or online but a better date for you to pick that would be 31 december given that rostowski will be frantically selling euro on that date.

Im a bit doubtful myself, its only been under 4.10 once in the last 18 months or so from memory

Life / How is the acceptation of foreigners in Poland? [29]

Interesting article in Puls Biznesu that I read on the train this morning about the increasing number of foreigners - think it said more than 18 thousand long term work permits have been issued to foreigners. I know its not a mass movement but still quite an interesting trend and finally there may be work in Poland for folks that don't speak the language.

Life / The Polish work ethic - or the lack of it [23]

I am sat in my office as the only person on my floor working - 8 in from a roster of 150. On the plus side it is a fantastic day for getting a backlog cleared, commute in half the time etc.

I guess GDP/productivity etc is not everything in life so if people want a day off then its a free country. On the other hand, as with the agitation to restrict Sunday trading these small traders then grouse about the big boys having too much clout.

Real Estate / Need advice on selling two properties in Warsaw, good real estate agents recommendation [7]

The sale process involves notaries and if you want to give someone power to sell it on your behalf then prepare for colossal hassle.

For the amount of money involved i would honestly invest tye few hundred dollars in a flight to close the transaction.

News / More cars in Poland than America? [29]

Possibly could be account for by younger population in US and high number of new immigrants. Just a hunch though

Study / MBA in Poland for 40+ and older? [62]

I would be more concerned about quality than racism. In warsaw, krakow etc there are many indian students.

I think only warsaw has aacsb status. Quality of business and economics teaching lags far behind the US. (I have worked in both countries and studied in US too). I also think that you might find warsaw or krakow living costs higher than in a smaller US town for everything except healthcare and alcohol.

Study / MBA in Poland for 40+ and older? [62]

I was talking about business and economics teaching, with reference to an MBA and I stand 100% by that comment. The basic test of how good an MBA is whether it is accredited (in Poland I think only 2 are) and what GMAT score is needed to get on it. The rankings may favor the US but that is also where the best programs are.

I couldnt give a rats ass about dentistry or biology but I can believe that Poland does those pretty well. I'm also not discussing the relative merits of US and Polish high schools - they are probably about the same. My own kids are in the Polish state system and seem OK - I will worry about university when I get to that time.

What I will say from recruiting Polish economics graduates is that their business sense is non existent, their maths appalling (I make them do a test with no calculator) and as Delph mentioned they can understand accounting at only a very basic level.

When I was at school in the US there were a few PolAM guys in class who were good but the top positions were either ChineseAms, IndianAms or Russian (mostly Jewish).

Study / MBA in Poland for 40+ and older? [62]

1500 dollars would certainly be a lot more comfy to live on than 1000 in warsaw. For 1000 you could survive but with little enjoyment.

Both warsaw technical and kozminski need gmat i think but i reckon a 500 score would get you in. Surely as a CPA you could get that without too much work?

You could try one of the other schools but with no gmat, no accreditation you would probably be better off doing a course in something nice like art history or polish. Would still cover your cv gap but you wouldnt be wasting your money.

By the way if you are already qualified cpa why you even need to cover this gap on cv ? Just tell people you were travelling for a year - i would accept it. Or if you want to tell a white lie just say you were looking after a sick relative.

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]

There are plenty of statistics available which are probably more reliable than pub arguments about mercs and shopping malls. Private consumption increased only 0.1 percent last year and the retail growth figures show that they are not spending money at shopping malls - only reailers growing are discounters.

Disposable income has stagnated in last 2 years after a few years of very high growth, unemployment is up a few ticks and youth unemployment acually getting quite worrying. Result is gdp between 1 and zero growth most of this year. I think we will see a slight upturn but less than doneks 3 percent.

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]

InWroclaw from your thread about the noise I am guessing you live on an estate of small apartments built after 1989. Of course that will have a lot of kids - they are starter homes. Whats more there is significant migration since 2000 from market towns to the bigger towns - if you were in Swidnica, Walbrzych or Namyslow you would certainly notice an ageing population and less kids around.

The overall birth trend is not great but not as drastic as some posters are saying. In other countries like Lithuania and Moldovia depopulation and the loss of breeding age workers is a real catastrophe

Travel / Is Warsaw dangerous nightly ? [14]

Its generally safe but has a large underclass. You would only save yourelf about 10 euro and be dirty and tired into the bargain. I wouldnt do it myself - slept rough even in safe places geneva and stuttgart in my youth and still got hassle from drunks.

News / Premier says no recession for Poland [148]

re the unused land, I understand the logic of "grass + cow" = milk but reducing this debate to "Apprentice" type language is ridiculous. Cow needs human labor or expensive EU standard machine to make milk drinkable. Both of these have big opportunity costs.

I have a small farm which is really just my holiday home - the profit per hectare to farm it is about PLN 4000 if you are lucky but more like PLN 2500 if you have a few things go wrong - weather, changes in market, crop disease etc. (by the way the last time I bothered to do these sums was 2 years ago). So I just don't bother, in fact I let neighboring guys farm it in an unspoken bargain that they will keep an eye on my place and some is fallow.

So if you are a small farmer with 10 hectares you can make 25000 zloty profit - about the average factory wage in Poland. Working in a factory is more stable, more lie-ins at the weekend, you have easier access to credit so can buy a car, computer, new telly etc.

I actually think long term lots of it will come back into production if food prices rise. If you could get it up to say 6.000 per hectare it starts to pay to employ people to do it.

Real Estate / Foreign investor, properties in Poland, walk away from mortgages? [209]

If those are zloty repayments someone might do that but you will get screwed worse than by the bank.

If they are Chf payments then no chance.

Real Estate / Prices of agricultural land in Poland [39]

So an estate agent says prices will not get cheaper and compares poland to densely populated Malta and holland.

Genuine good quality farmland may go up if it is in a place where it can be farmed by mass machinery.

But small plots will not generate much demand from western buyers.

As for plots of building land that is a different matter but they are already quite expensive so you will need deep pockets just to hold them idle for a few years.

I would be amazed if poland joined the euro before 2020

Real Estate / Mortgages in Poland while living and working in the UK? [20]

Banks have cut back on this but santander might be worth a call.

Real Estate / Mortgages in Poland while living and working in the UK? [20]

No, Santander was just a hunch as they took over the WBK business which did used to give mortgages to freigners.

Mcm'S info sounds more up to date, but must be a hell of a tax break if its worth spending 40k on admin

Life / Is 10500 monthly is enough for a family to live in Warsaw Poland [136]

Actually quite difficult to get experienced polish developers less than 10k.

They are having a golden moment as lots of markets mature and processes and ERP get more important - finance, insurace, retail, logistics etc

Work / 3500 PLN gross - not happy with my salary (working in Warsaw for an international company) [55]

Will probably work in this situation but remember that is a stunt you can only pull once in your career. After that your reputation will go before you. Are you sure the people offering more money are more stable firms and treat their employees better ? I had a few people leave for 1000 zloty more in the boom years only to end up out of work 6 months later

Real Estate / Astounded by the poor value of residential property here in Wroclaw [92]

1. Assuming you are doing some checks (title, survey etc) then you will be lucky to do it in less than 4 weeks. Even if you are using your own funds you still have to get tchem here and get them into zloty which can take some time.

2. You would need some form of ID that can go into a notary document - passport etc. I have brought property here without a PESEL.

3. Yes of course, its a free market and offer what you like. Tell them your price. Some will refuse and some will accept.

Study / SGH - MA in Fin & Acct with ACCA [5]

I can only answer 5 6 and 8.

ACCA would be recognized as a good qualification in britain, ireland and in Eastern Europe. less so in Germany or France where you would really need local accounting qualifications, Sweden probably the same but havent been there much.

No an ACCA would be more than a clerk - there are plenty of chief accountants and even quite a few FDs who are ACCA.

Its not the same as a CPA or a British/commonwealth chartered accountant as you are not able to sign financial statements, issue certificates, give evidence as an expert witness in some states etc, so it might hinder you if you want a career in audit - Im sure there is plenty of advice from the ACCA on their website. But I think there is a possibility to do conversion exams from ACCA to CPA in some states, Colorado and California for example. In my own state then conversion was definitely much tougher and meant doing a bunch of exams and I dont know anyone who did that.

Travel / Why does everyone seem to hate LOT Polish Airlines? [380]

Im trying to stick with them through the bad times but they have really annoyed me - booked christmas flights to US way on advance but they made a route change and instead of arriving at 3pm it looks like now will be at 11.30pm. No upgrade nothing. Someone needs to put them out of their misery - there is lots of potential for the market

Real Estate / Poland online property ownership checker (government website) [19]

Yes a Polish lawyer can check that or you can do it yourself - is called Ksiega Wierczysta. Will show ownership, any mortgages etc. Normally that would be attached to the notarial deed anyway.

Law / WARNING - To Individuals setting up companies in Poland to trade outside of EU. [12]

You will go bankrupt in the time that you wait for a correct response from the customs office - happens to all businesses so don't take it personally. Polish ports are losing a lot of business to Hamburg, Rotterdam and even Constanta due to the erratic and intransigent behaviour of the urząd celny.

I think there are instances where they can force you to use an agent (but thats only what I have been told and I took it in good faith) .

Your work around is probably better - get it sent to the UK, find some way to get it to Poland as cheap as possible.

Food / Hot food in Warsaw - where to buy hot sauce? [7]

Wow great. Will definitely try Rain - actually used to like that place and good they kept the fish dishes. i noticed there was a swingers club in the car park !

Will then brave the number 5 in Spoco Loco and will give that website a try - its in wroclaw.

Law / Opening an English bookstore in Poland - what are the prospects and profitability? [17]

Not sure - in Warsaw there is some pretty good competition from the American Bookstore (have about 5 shops and while the choice is not great I normally find something worth reading) and I imagine Amazon is making big inroads into the expat market. Rents are quite high in good locations (often more than Western Europe).

There are a few other places offering new and old books. I dont know if Reddings is still going - that was the best attempt but its in an inconvenient part of town. Outside Warsaw you might make a living but from a quite limited market.

Anyway goodluck because I love bookshops :)

Real Estate / Renovating a house in janikowo.... [30]

Some puzzling advice here which seems more like rants about your temerity in accepting a house for free.

I would say the opposite - if you trust the lady involved and her family unit seems stable then go for it. the worst you will be is about 30.000 quid down. The upside is large - free wholesome holidays for ever and a bit of real estate even if in a remote area that can be used if ever things go badly wrong in the UK.

I did a similar thing in 2002 - it tooo us about 5 years to finish, most work being done by family but speicialists for some things. Cost was about 1.000 zloty per square meter and it is surprizing how much good material you can get second hand or from buildings that are going to be detroyed or renovated. Roof and windows were most difficult.

Bit of advice as above is to make sure title is secure, get one room finished first so that you can stay in it while you finsih the rest of the house and and don't get too upset by small setbacks.

Real Estate / Renovating a house in janikowo.... [30]

Jesus. The lack of trust people have in their fellow man is horrible.

As i said, i was in a similar position 10 years ago, put it in my girlfriends name and crossed my fingers. We are now married and for about 25.000 euro outlay and the same for renovation its one of the best investments of my life.

Why would babcia gift it with no strings attached ? That would not make sense in any society. But this deal - she gives the land and shell and he renovates seems fair enough.

Real Estate / How the Poland property market became a HUGE bubble [35]

Seems to have settled down now a bit - further falls in some markets like Gdansk and Wroclaw but Warsaw and other towns stabilizing. So doomsayers including myself were wrong. But it will take many years for real growth to return.

I think the main reason for the boom was that people expected Polish salaries to rise to Western European levels much sooner and that this would be more or less an automatic consequence of joining the EU - if you look back at this forum to 2008 you will find cheerleaders comparing property prices to Stockholm or Amsterdam - prosperous towns where building land is severely restricted by water ! Spain and Ireland were also seen as templates.

In fact at current rates of growth then Poland could outgrow France (the median country in "Old Europe") by 3% per year and it would still take 30 years to catch up with them. In addition the driver of growth has to be something other than cheap labor which can be readily used for manufacturing - need to be big developments in education and in the culture of investment.