Balance sheet total
The balance sheet total is the sum of all assets and equals the sum of all liabilities and equity; it is a measure of a company’s size and one of the thresholds deciding the audit requirement.
Definition
As a performance measure it is unsuitable: a trading business with a large stock has a high balance sheet total and perhaps little profit, a service provider with a high result a small one. Meaning arises only in ratios, for example turnover per franc of balance sheet total.
Legally it counts in two contexts: for the audit requirement from CHF 20 million, and for whether a company counts as a larger one and therefore has to make extended disclosures.
The numbers
- 20 million
- balance sheet total which, together with a second threshold, triggers an ordinary audit Art. 727 para. 1 CO
Where to read it
What the software must be able to do
No check of its own — the figure sits in every balance sheet. What matters is monitoring the thresholds across several years, which no program reports by itself.
Checked Aug 2026
More terms under Bookkeeping and retention: Accrual principle Accrued liabilities Annual accounts Association accounting Balance sheet Book value Break-even point Business assets Business expenses Cash book Cash flow statement Cash receipts Contribution margin Cost centre Current assets Debit and credit Depreciation Double-entry bookkeeping Duty to keep accounts EBIT EBITDA Equity Equity ratio Financial year Fixed assets Fixed costs Foreign currency General ledger Gross profit Hidden reserves Income statement Inventory count Journal Journal entry Liabilities Liquidity Loss carry-forward Membership dues Net profit Opening balance sheet Overheads Pass-through item Prepaid expenses Provision Record-keeping ordinance Reserves Retained profit Simple accounts Swiss SME chart of accounts Tamper resistance Turnover Value adjustment Variable costs Volunteer-run structure Voucher Year-end closing modules