Scope of the obligation to keep accounts

In principle, all companies that must register in the commercial register are obligated to keep books. General partnerships, limited liability companies (GmbH), and stock corporations (AG) are fundamentally required to keep accounts. Sole proprietorships must keep books from an annual turnover of CHF 100,000. (see blog post on the subject "When does a company have the obligation to keep books?").

The question arises as to what exactly must be accounted for. Primarily, the person responsible for accounting must record the ongoing business transactions in the so-called “business books.”

The law requires that

• Business transactions and facts are recorded completely, truthfully, and systematically• the accounting is appropriate to the type and size of the business
• the documents for individual booking processes are kept
• the bookkeeping is traceableThere is an obligation of double-entry bookkeeping, i.e., the preparation of
  • 1. Balance sheet and
  • 2. Profit and loss account (operating statement)