Swiss company audit, financial reporting, accounting, consulting in Switzerland

Accounting in Switzerland is regulated by the provisions of the Code of Obligations.

Swiss companies must file the following forms of financial statements:

• Management report (for large companies);
• Balance sheet;
• Profit and loss statement;
• Cash flow statement (for large companies);
• Notes + additional information.

I. The following companies must keep accounting records and prepare financial statements and file them with the Commercial Registry:

1. Sole proprietorships and partnerships with sales income over 500 000 CHF in the last financial year;
2. Legal entities:

2. Legal entities:

• Public limited companies,
• Limited liability partnerships,
• Limited liability companies,
• Cooperatives,
• Associations and funds.

II. The following companies in Switzerland are not required to keep full accounting records and prepare financial statements; they can prepare condensed financial statements:

1. Sole proprietorships and partnerships that generated sales income of under 500 000 CHF in the last financial year;
2. Associations and funds that are not required to register with the Commercial Registry;
3. Funds exempt from the audit requirement.

III. Sole proprietorships and partnerships with proceeds from sale of goods or services or financial income under 100 000 CHF must only keep records of their receipts and payments on the cash basis.

Requirements regarding compulsory publication of financial statements of companies in Switzerland are limited:

• Only standalone and consolidated financial statements of listed companies (whose shares are listed on a stock exchange) must be published;
• Cooperatives that have at least 2 000 members;
• Funds that must be audited according to the law.

Accounting records, accounting documents, annual accounts and auditor’s reports must be kept for ten years in the registered office of the company.

Switzerland has 26 cantons, confederate states, and each canton has its own time frame for filing accounts, from 6 to 9 months.

If a company, association or fund controls one or several legal entities that must file financial statements, in addition to annual accounts the enterprise must prepare annual consolidated financial statements for all controlled entities.

Sole proprietorships and partnerships are exempt from the consolidation requirement.

A legal entity is considered to control another entity if it:

• holds the majority of votes in the supreme management body;
• has the right to appoint or dismiss the majority of members of the supreme management or administrative body;
• can exert controlling influence on the entity on the basis of the articles of association, constitutive act or analogous documents.

A legal entity is exempt from the obligation to make consolidated financial statements if the entity did not exceed two of the following thresholds in two consecutive financial years:

• Balance sheet total is 20 000 000 CHF;
• Turnover is 40 000 000 CHF;
• Average headcount of employees per year is 250.

Subgroups are also exempt from the consolidation requirement if consolidated financial statements of the controlling entity have been prepared, audited and provided in accordance with legislation.