Year-end closing for SMEs: a checklist from stocktake to general meeting

For many small businesses, the year-end closing is the busiest time of the accounting year. It becomes much calmer if your day-to-day bookkeeping is in good order and you follow a fixed process. This checklist is based on the requirements of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO/OR) and shows what to do, and in what order.

What the annual financial statements include

Under Art. 958 CO, the annual accounts consist of the balance sheet, the income statement and the notes. Sole proprietorships (Einzelfirma) and partnerships may omit the notes, provided they are not subject to the rules for larger companies. Alongside the figures for the financial year, the prior-year figures must also be shown.

The balance sheet and income statement follow a minimum structure. Assets are listed by liquidity, from cash to fixed assets, and liabilities by maturity, from short-term liabilities to equity. The income statement can be presented either by nature of expense (Gesamtkostenverfahren) or by function of expense (Umsatzkostenverfahren).

Phase 1: preparation in December

• Book a date with your accountant (Treuhänder) if the closing is prepared externally.
• Plan the stocktake: Under Art. 958c CO, balance sheet items must be evidenced by an inventory or in some other way. For businesses that hold stock, that means a count on the reporting date.
• Tidy up invoicing: Anything you invoice now will fall into the right year.
• Check investments: Have purchases been correctly recorded as fixed assets?

Phase 2: reconciliations

Reconciliations are the foundation. Without them, no closing is reliable.

1. Bank accounts: The balance in your books equals the balance on the bank statement as at 31 December.
2. Cash: Cash counted and reconciled with the account.
3. Receivables: The open items list agrees with the account. Flag doubtful debts.
4. Payables: All outstanding supplier invoices recorded, including those that only arrive in January.
5. Clearing accounts: Transit accounts for card payments, salaries or bank transfers should be at zero. A remaining balance almost always points to an error.
6. Social insurance: Reconcile the accounts for AHV, BVG and accident insurance with the insurers' statements.
7. VAT: Compare turnover and input tax in your books with the returns you have filed.

Phase 3: accruals and provisions

Expenses and income must be allocated to the correct period and matched to each other (Art. 958b CO). Typical cases:

• Rent for January, paid in December: prepaid expense.
• Electricity for the fourth quarter, invoiced in February: accrued expense.
• Work done but not yet invoiced: record as unbilled services.

Small businesses get some relief: if net revenue from sales of goods and services, or financial income, does not exceed CHF 100,000, you may skip period accruals and work on the basis of receipts and payments instead.

Provisions must be set up when past events are expected to lead to an outflow of funds in future, for example a pending lawsuit or warranty claims (Art. 960e CO).

Phase 4: valuation and depreciation

Assets are valued at no more than their acquisition or production cost. Loss of value through use and age is accounted for through depreciation (Art. 960a CO). Inventories must be valued lower if their realisable value is below cost (Art. 960c CO).

For direct federal tax, the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA/ESTV) publishes standard rates as a percentage of book value in its leaflet A/1995. Some examples:

Example: A laptop costing CHF 2,400 is depreciated at 40% in the first year, i.e. CHF 960. Its book value falls to CHF 1,440. In the second year, depreciation is 40% of that: CHF 576.

Depreciation is charged to the income statement and deducted from the assets either directly or indirectly. Cantonal special rules, such as immediate write-offs, are possible and, depending on the canton, may also apply to federal tax. It's worth checking with your accountant here.

Phase 5: taxes and VAT

• Tax provision: Set up a provision for direct taxes for the closing year if they haven't been invoiced yet.
• Annual VAT reconciliation: If you find errors in your VAT returns during the closing, you must correct them at the latest in the return for the period in which the 180th day after the end of the financial year falls (Art. 72 MWSTG). For a 31 December year-end, that day falls at the end of June.
• Private use: For sole proprietorships, check the private-use shares for vehicles, phone or home.

Phase 6: notes, signature, approval

Among other things, the notes contain the accounting principles applied, explanations of items in the balance sheet and income statement, and a statement of whether the annual average number of full-time positions exceeds 10, 50 or 250.

The annual report must be prepared within six months of the end of the financial year and submitted to the responsible body. It is signed by the chair of the most senior management body and by the person responsible for financial reporting.

For an AG (company limited by shares), the ordinary general meeting takes place within six months of the end of the financial year; the same applies to the members' meeting of a GmbH (limited liability company). The annual report and the audit report must be made available to shareholders at least 20 days before the general meeting.

Common closing mistakes

• Forgetting January supplier invoices: Invoices for services from the old year that only arrive in the new year belong in the old year, as a liability or an accrued expense.
• Investments posted as expenses: A new server or a vehicle is a fixed asset and is spread over its life through depreciation, unless your canton allows an immediate write-off.
• Clearing accounts with a remaining balance: A balance on the card payments or salaries account almost always signals a missing or duplicate entry.
• Private withdrawals not posted: In sole proprietorships, private withdrawals from the business account are often forgotten. They change equity, not profit.
• Missing prior-year figures: The annual accounts must include the prior-year figures. This is easily overlooked in the first set of accounts after switching software.

Timeline for a 31 December year-end

The compact checklist

1. All receipts for the year captured and matched to entries.
2. Bank, cash, receivables, payables and clearing accounts reconciled.
3. Inventory taken and valued as at the reporting date.
4. Prepaid and accrued items posted.
5. Provisions reviewed, including taxes.
6. Depreciation posted in line with the fixed asset register.
7. VAT turnover reconciliation prepared and differences corrected.
8. Prior-year figures shown in the annual accounts.
9. Notes prepared (where required).
10. Annual accounts signed and approved.
11. Records archived and kept for ten years.

The biggest lever lies in points 1 and 2. If you capture receipts as you go and reconcile your bank transactions every month, you shift most of the closing work into the year itself. Buchsnap shows you at any time which bank transactions still have no receipt. So in January, nobody has to go hunting for receipts from last spring.

Last updated: October 2026. This article does not replace individual advice.