What are my accounting responsibilities?

The new Swiss accounting law has been mandatory since the 2015 fiscal year. It regulates the bookkeeping and financial reporting of all types of companies. The rules are legal form-neutral. However, different regulations apply depending on the size of the company, although there are significant differences. It's worth knowing what is mandatory and what is optional in a specific case. Ultimately, one should do neither too much nor too little in accounting. The following tables provide a good overview.

Sole proprietorships, partnerships, foundations, associations without commercial registration and auditing obligation (Turnover up to CHF 100,000)	Accounting for income and expenditure So-called «milk-book accounting» Waiver of accounting accruals at the end of the year no mandatory auditor
Sole proprietorships, partnerships, foundations, associations without commercial registration and auditing obligation (Turnover up to CHF 500,000)	Accounting of income and expenditure + presentation of the financial situation So-called «milk-book accounting» Accounting accruals (active RA / passive RA) for the closing no mandatory auditor

Sole proprietorships, partnerships, foundations, associations without commercial registration and auditing obligation

(Turnover up to CHF 100,000)

Accounting for income and expenditure

So-called «milk-book accounting»
Waiver of accounting accruals at the end of the year
no mandatory auditor

Sole proprietorships, partnerships, foundations, associations without commercial registration and auditing obligation

(Turnover up to CHF 500,000)

Accounting of income and expenditure + presentation of the financial situation

So-called «milk-book accounting»
Accounting accruals (active RA / passive RA) for the closing
no mandatory auditor

For legal entities (general) and for sole proprietorships and partnerships with a turnover exceeding CHF 500,000:
All companies up to 20 million balance sheet total 40 Mio. turnover 250 employees	Balance sheet, income statement and notes Limited audit Opting out is possible for audit (up to 10 full-time employees)
All companies with more than 20 million balance sheet total 40 Mio. turnover 250 employees	Balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, notes Additional reporting obligations (management report) Regular audit
Public companies, cooperatives with more than 2,000 members, foundations with regular audit	Application of recognized accounting standards (FER, IFRS) Regular audit by a state-supervised auditing company

It should be noted that the principles of proper accounting pursuant to Section 957a, Paragraph 2 of the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR) are expressly applicable in all cases. This means that even with a so-called "milk-book" accounting, business transactions must be recorded completely, truthfully, clearly, and systematically with verifiable supporting documents. Furthermore, other laws, such as the Value Added Tax Act, also contain accounting rules that must be observed under certain circumstances.