Auditor
The audit body is the external instance that examines a company’s annual accounts; the law knows the ordinary audit for large companies, the limited audit as the normal case, and the waiver for small companies with up to ten full-time positions.
Definition
The waiver — opting out — requires the consent of all shareholders or members and an entry in the commercial register. It is the rule in small companies but not a given: a single participant can demand an audit.
The ordinary audit applies where two of the three thresholds are exceeded in two consecutive years: CHF 20 million balance sheet total, CHF 40 million turnover, or 250 full-time positions.
The wording
With the consent of all shareholders, a limited audit may be dispensed with if the company does not have more than ten full-time positions on annual average.
The numbers
- 10 full-time positions
- limit below which the audit can be waived Art. 727a para. 2 CO
- 20 / 40 / 250
- million balance sheet total, million turnover, full-time positions — two of them across two years trigger the ordinary audit Art. 727 para. 1 CO
Where to read it
What the software must be able to do
For the audit what counts is what the software supplies as evidence: a complete journal, unalterable entries, document linking and a change log. Whoever is audited should clarify this before the selection, not after.
Checked Aug 2026
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