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KSeF for housing communities and property managers

Supplier invoices reach Polish housing communities through KSeF. We explain the dates, access via ZAW-FA, the two invoice channels in 2026 and what a manager can set up now.

AuthorArtem ShevchenkoFounder and systems architect
  • 8 min read
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KSeF for housing communities and property managers

KSeF, Poland's National e-Invoicing System (Krajowy System e-Faktur), is no longer a plan on paper. Since 1 February 2026, invoices are received through KSeF, and since 1 April 2026 businesses outside the largest group are also required to issue them there, with a temporary exception described below.

For a housing community (wspólnota mieszkaniowa, the owners' association of a block of flats) this is mainly a change on the cost side: invoices from heat and water suppliers, cleaning firms or lift servicing reach the community through KSeF. For a property manager (zarządca) who runs several communities, it also raises practical questions: who has access on the community's behalf, how an invoice gets to the accounts, and how to assign it to the right building.

We write as a small firm that builds custom software. We know KSeF from our own product, in which we built sending invoices to KSeF. We have not yet built receiving invoices from KSeF for housing communities, so what we say about the system below is a proposal, not a description of a finished deployment.

The KSeF dates that apply to a housing community

A housing community has no separate KSeF date and no separate exemption. In its training materials for housing communities and cooperatives, the Ministry of Finance states plainly that KSeF covers communities too. So the same dates apply as for everyone else:

  • From 1 February 2026, the obligation to receive invoices through KSeF. From that day, businesses whose 2024 sales including VAT exceeded PLN 200 million also issue invoices there.
  • From 1 April 2026, issuing invoices in KSeF extends to all other businesses.
  • Until 31 December 2026, invoices may still be issued outside KSeF, on paper or electronically, if in a given month the total sales including VAT on such invoices do not exceed PLN 10,000. From the invoice that pushes the total over that limit, the right is lost. This is not a relief for small businesses; it is a monthly cap on invoices issued outside KSeF.
  • Until 31 December 2026, invoices from cash registers may also be issued outside KSeF, and a till receipt showing the buyer's tax number (NIP) for up to PLN 450 counts as a simplified invoice.
  • From 1 January 2027, penalties apply to invoices issued outside KSeF: up to 100% of the VAT on the invoice, or up to 18.7% of its amount where there is no VAT. From that date, the KSeF number is also mandatory in payments made under the split payment mechanism.

If the community itself issues invoices to other businesses, for example when recharging costs, the same dates and the same cap apply to it.

Who grants access to KSeF in a housing community

Access to KSeF on the community's behalf is granted by its board (zarząd) or by the property manager, for example with a ZAW-FA notification. That notification names the individual who will act in KSeF for the community. According to the Ministry's materials, it can be filed by the property manager when the community acts through a manager within the meaning of art. 18 of the Polish Act on Ownership of Premises, or by the board the community has elected.

One more point from those materials matters to managers: each community has its own KSeF account, and the manager needs access to every one of them. With ten communities, that means ten separate sets of permissions and ten separate invoice lists to fetch and keep track of.

The technology is only part of it. Before the first invoice gets stuck without a description, it is worth agreeing in writing who grants and withdraws permissions for the community, who receives invoices, and what happens to access when the board or the manager changes.

Cost invoices in 2026: two channels at once

Until the end of 2026, some suppliers send invoices through KSeF, while others may still issue them outside it, within the monthly cap or from a cash register. In practice, a manager handles two channels this year: invoices fetched from KSeF and invoices that arrive by post or email.

The temporary exceptions end on 31 December 2026, and from 2027 an invoice issued outside KSeF carries penalties. So it makes sense to treat 2026 as a transition period rather than the target state, and to set up the invoice flow now as if KSeF were the only source.

What changes in the manager's and the accountant's work

  • Fetching invoices. Picking invoices out of an inbox is no longer enough. They have to be fetched from KSeF regularly for each community, or you need software that does it for you.
  • Assigning the cost. An invoice has to land on the right building and the right settlement item, for example running costs or the repair fund. With several communities, a wrong assignment is easier to make than it used to be with a binder.
  • Approval. The board approves costs as before, but it helps if it sees the KSeF invoice in the same place where it approves it.
  • Payment. If the community pays suppliers under the split payment mechanism, from 2027 the KSeF number has to be at hand when the transfer is prepared.

Where a system can help

This is a proposal, not an off-the-shelf product. If you run several communities, a system built around the way you work can:

  • fetch invoices from KSeF for every community you hold permissions for, in one place;
  • assign each invoice to a community and a building, and suggest the settlement item for known suppliers;
  • collect non-KSeF invoices from 2026 in the same place, with the PDF read by AI;
  • show the board an invoice for approval and record who approved it;
  • prepare transfer data together with the KSeF number.

AI can suggest how to assign a new invoice or read a PDF from a supplier outside KSeF, but it can make mistakes. That is why a person always approves the suggestion before it reaches the settlements. We describe how to divide that work in our article on AI document reading with human review.

If you already use accounting software with an API or a data export, the new system can work alongside it instead of replacing it. Meter readings can live in the same place too; we cover them in our article on remote reading of heat meters and heat cost allocators.

A checklist for the board and the manager

  1. Check who currently holds KSeF permissions on behalf of each community and whether they have been granted, for example with a ZAW-FA notification.
  2. List your suppliers and mark which already issue invoices in KSeF and which still issue them outside it.
  3. Decide who fetches invoices from KSeF, how often, and who approves them.
  4. Agree with your accountant or accounting firm how an invoice is described: community, building, settlement item.
  5. Prepare payments for 2027: the KSeF number in split payment transfers.
  6. Write down what happens to permissions when the board or the manager changes.
  7. Measure how much time your team spends fetching and assigning invoices by hand. That is a good basis for deciding whether automation pays off.

This is not legal advice; it is worth checking the details of your situation with an accountant or a lawyer.

Let's talk about your invoice flow

If you want KSeF invoices to land on the right community and building on their own, describe in a few sentences how your document flow works today. Write to us: we will reply with where it makes sense to start and arrange a free consultation.

In real estate, we built a system for managing a commercial property portfolio: 11 weeks, four stages, each closed with an acceptance report. You can put together an approximate price from modules in our price estimator; it is an estimate, and the exact quote is set individually. No subscription: the system and the code are yours.

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