B2B contract audits ahead of PIP, what lawyers check and what it costs

B2B contract audits ahead of PIP, what lawyers check and what it costs

• What exactly a lawyer checks during a B2B audit
• Two audit formats, for one person and for a company
• Two examples, when an audit saves you, and when it confirms you’re safe
• What an audit costs, and what going without one costs
• Why an audit beats a GIP ruling application on its own
• What you get after an audit
• Frequently asked questions
• What to do with your audit result
• Sources

What exactly a lawyer checks during a B2B audit

During an audit, a lawyer looks at the same things a PIP inspector will look at after 8 July 2026. That’s no coincidence: the practical algorithm inspectors use to assess a B2B contract has three steps, and the MojaFirma audit is built to walk through all three on your behalf, while it’s still safe to do so.

Step 1: document analysis. The lawyer reads the text of the B2B contract, the invoice history (regularity and amounts), correspondence by email, Slack, or Teams, work schedules, and also checks whether the contractor has access to the client’s systems under their own account and whether they’ve been issued an office access card⁵. These are exactly the documents a PIP inspector asks for first during an inspection.

Step 2: verifying actual work through the same questions an inspector asks. The lawyer replicates the structure of a PIP interview: what a typical working day looks like, who assigns tasks, whether there are mandatory hours of presence, who checks the outcome of the work, whether there are other clients, and whether a substitute can be sent instead⁵. The answers are compared against what the contract says: the gap between paper and practice is exactly what reclassification under Article 22 § 1 of the Polish Labor Code is built on⁶.

Step 3: cross-checking against ZUS data. The lawyer checks the contractor’s insurance title, the history of contributions paid, and matches it against the actual work schedule⁵. Once the data-sharing system between ZUS, PIP, and KAS (Krajowa Administracja Skarbowa, the Polish tax authority) is up and running, an inspector has automatic access to this data, which is why this step is the hardest to fix after the fact rather than in advance⁷.

An audit isn’t about checking the wording of a contract. It’s replicating, on yourself, the exact same algorithm a PIP inspector will use to assess your cooperation, while you can still change something.

A concrete list of what goes into the audit report

The last row of the table applies only to foreigners running a JDG in Poland as the basis for their residence card, and it’s exactly where the MojaFirma audit goes beyond what a typical Polish law firm checks: after a contract is reclassified, the new Article 8 of the amended PIP Act provides grounds to change or cancel a foreigner’s work permit, which affects residence status, not just finances⁸.

Two audit formats, for one person and for a company

The audit format depends on whether you work through your own JDG or are responsible for several contractors at a company. Both formats check the same three steps above; the difference is in the scale and depth of the resulting report.

The difference between the formats is substantive, not marketing. A single-contract audit answers the question “am I personally at risk”. An operating model audit answers a different question: “is the company at systemic risk if all contractors work under the same scheme”. The expanded Article 13 of the PIP Act allows an inspector to check all of an employer’s contractors it worked with during the year before the inspection, not just one⁹, so for a company a single-contract audit gives an incomplete picture.

Two examples, when an audit saves you, and when it confirms you’re safe

Example 1. Taras, a developer working through a JDG, has worked with one client in Warsaw since 2023: a fixed schedule of 9:00-17:00, the client’s corporate laptop, a daily standup at 10:00, an invoice for the same amount every month. Taras took the online B2B audit. Did the audit find high risk? Yes. The report recorded all four criteria from Article 22 § 1 of the Labor Code at once: a specific role, subordination, a defined schedule and location, and pay for the mere fact of working rather than for a result⁶. Priority recommendations: find a second client, switch pay to milestone-based, go back to his own laptop.

Example 2. A company works with eight contractors: three of them, like Taras, work with one client (the company itself) on a fixed schedule, while the remaining five each have two or three of their own clients, set their own hours, and are paid for completed project milestones. The operating model audit assessed all eight contracts separately. Did the audit confirm the company’s entire operating model is safe? Partly. Five contracts with a client portfolio and outcome-based pay received a low risk category, and no changes are needed. Three contracts showing Taras’s pattern received a high risk category and a systemic recommendation: convert those three contractors to employment contracts within the voluntary-fix window before 8 July 2027, while it’s still possible without a penalty for the past⁴.

These two examples illustrate the boundary: an audit of a single contract and an audit of an entire company can reach opposite conclusions even within one organisation, which is why assessing a single contractor never replaces reviewing the whole operating model when there are several contractors.

What an audit costs, and what going without one costs

Market rates for a legal audit of B2B contracts in Polish legal practice in 2026, based on indicative data from one of several vetted law firms, are typically 3,000-8,000 zł for a package of five contracts³. The exact price of MojaFirma’s two formats, the online audit for one person and the operating model audit for a company, is quoted during a free consultation on Calendly and depends on the number of contracts and contractors.

An audit costs somewhere in the range of a few hundred to a few thousand zloty. A single reclassified B2B agreement typically costs an employer tens of times more, including ZUS arrears, interest, and the fine.

For comparison, here’s what going without an audit costs: according to a calculation by one Polish law firm, for a hypothetical B2B contract worth 15,000 zł net per month, reclassified three years after the fact, the total financial exposure for an employer exceeds 300,000 zł, including ZUS arrears with interest, the equivalent of unused leave, and the fine¹⁰. This figure is illustrative and depends on the specific contract amount and period, but the scale of the gap between an audit’s price and a reclassification’s price stays in the same order of magnitude regardless of the exact numbers.

Separately from the fine amount, it’s worth remembering the scale itself: the monetary fine for entering into a civil-law contract instead of an employment contract rose after the amended law from 1,000-30,000 zł to 2,000-60,000 zł, and if the affected worker is registered as a debtor in default of child support in the Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych, up to 90,000 zł¹¹. That’s before accounting for ZUS arrears and taxes, which are assessed separately and aren’t covered by the voluntary-fix window⁴.

Why an audit beats a GIP ruling application on its own

An application for an individual ruling from the Chief Labour Inspector is a new right introduced by the current amendment to the PIP Act: it costs 40 zł per separately described state of affairs, a response arrives within 30 days, and a favourable ruling protects the applicant from sanctions if they acted in line with it².

The problem is that this protection only works when the real state of affairs exactly matches the description in the application. If an audit finds a gap between what the contract says and what the work actually looks like, and you file a ruling application describing “how it should be” instead of “how it is”, the protection won’t hold up during a real inspection. That’s why the correct order is: an audit first uncovers the real state of affairs and fixes the gaps, then, if needed, a ruling application describes the situation that’s already been fixed and documented.

What you get after an audit

The outcome of an audit isn’t a list of violations without a plan of action. The report includes a risk category for each contract reviewed (low, moderate, high), a list of the specific signs the lawyer found, with a reference to the relevant point of Article 22 § 1 of the Labor Code, and priority recommendations in order of importance: what to change in the contract, what to change in working practice, and whether switching to an employment contract within the window before 8 July 2027 is needed.

We laid out the step-by-step list of twelve points you can use to fix your own contract after getting audit results in the series article “How to fix a B2B contract under PIP 2026: a 12-point checklist”. If you’re not yet sure whether your situation is risky at all, you can do a self-assessment without a lawyer using the risk profile list in the series article “Who risks losing B2B status after the PIP 2026 reform” or the checklist of seven practical signs in the article “7 signs your B2B contract is disguised employment”.

Frequently asked questions

How long does an audit of a single B2B contract take? The online audit for one person on a JDG delivers a report within 48 hours of filling out the questionnaire. An operating model audit for a company with several contractors takes longer and depends on the number of contracts; the exact timeline is agreed individually after assessing the volume of documents.

Do I need an audit if my contract already has an independence clause and a substitution clause? Having clauses in the contract text doesn’t guarantee protection. A PIP inspector and a court assess actual working practice, not just the wording: a substitution clause that’s never been used doesn’t remove the risk if the contractor always performs the work personally in practice. That’s exactly why an audit checks not only the text, but also correspondence, invoices, and ZUS data.

Can I go through an audit anonymously, without the risk of data reaching PIP? An audit takes place within a legal consultation, not within a state inspection, so the client’s data isn’t automatically passed on to PIP or ZUS. That’s a fundamental difference from a GIP ruling application, which is published in anonymised form in the official bulletin after a response².

What should I do if a company audit finds high risk in half of the contractors at once? That’s a systemic situation that requires a transition plan for several people at once, not fixing a single contract. The company should prioritise contractors with the highest risk (a fixed schedule, daily oversight, and personal performance of the work all at once) and start with them within the voluntary-fix window before 8 July 2027.

Is it cheaper to wait for a PIP inspection and only fix the situation after the fact? No. Fixing documents after being notified of an inspection can be classified as an attempt to conceal the real nature of the cooperation rather than as a voluntary fix³. On top of that, the penalty-free window only runs until the date of the inspection or until 8 July 2027, whichever comes first⁴.

Are the audit criteria different for the IT industry versus other sectors? No, the criteria under Article 22 § 1 of the Labor Code are the same for every industry. IT typically follows the single-client, fixed-schedule, embedded-in-the-team model, which is why risk is statistically higher there, not because the rules are different.

What to do with your audit result

An audit doesn’t end with a report: it determines which of the next two steps in the series applies to your situation. If you work through your own JDG and the audit showed risk, the next step is fixing the contract using the twelve-point checklist or switching to an employment contract within the voluntary-fix window. If you’re an owner or HR person at a company, the next step is an action plan by risk priority for every contractor at once, not one at a time.

If you work through your own JDG. Order the online B2B audit: you fill out a questionnaire about your situation, and within 48 hours you receive a report with a risk category and three priority recommendations.

If you own or run HR at a company with several B2B contractors. Order the B2B operating model audit, which reviews contracts, invoices, internal communication, and HR processes all at once, rather than a single contract in isolation.

See also: PIP 2026 in Poland: the complete guide for B2B contractors, 7 signs your B2B contract is disguised employment, The “two companies” model, why it does not protect you from PIP.

Sources

1. Act of 11 March 2026 amending the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate and certain other acts, Journal of Laws 2026 item 473, Art. 1 pt. 2 (new Art. 11(1)(7a) and (2) of the PIP Act)
2. Journal of Laws 2026 item 473, Art. 1 pt. 2 (new Art. 14b of the PIP Act, individual ruling by the Chief Labour Inspector)
3. Market rates for B2B contract audits at law firms, Kancelaria Adwokacka Marcin Orlicki, April 2026 (indicative data, not a MojaFirma offer)
4. Journal of Laws 2026 item 473, Art. 16 (voluntary adjustment period until 8 July 2027)
5. Journal of Laws 2026 item 473, Art. 1 (scope of PIP inspections and documentation subject to review under Art. 22 § 1 of the Labor Code)
6. Act of 26 June 1974, the Polish Labor Code, Art. 22 § 1
7. Act of 13 October 1998 on the social insurance system, Journal of Laws 2026 item 199, Art. 68ac (added by Journal of Laws 2026 item 473)
8. Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions for admitting foreigners to work in the territory of the Republic of Poland, Journal of Laws 2025 item 621, Art. 33(2)(3) and Art. 69(5) (amended by Journal of Laws 2026 item 473, Art. 8)
9. Act of 11 March 2026, Journal of Laws 2026 item 473, Art. 1 (expanded Art. 13 of the PIP Act)
10. Simulation of the costs of B2B contract reclassification, Kancelaria Adwokacka Marcin Orlicki, April 2026 (illustrative example, not MojaFirma data)
11. Journal of Laws 2026 item 473, Art. 3 (amendment to Art. 281 § 1 and § 2 of the Labor Code, fines of 2,000-60,000 zł and 3,000-90,000 zł)

Legal status as of: August 28, 2026.

This article is not legal advice. Every situation is individual and depends on the specific contract and circumstances. Author: Valerii Kushnirskyi, in-house legal practitioner at MojaFirma.