Governance
Corporate secretarial
The general meeting and resolutions the cycle produces, kept as a record that holds up.
Corporate secretarialAnnual
compliance
Every year the same sequence comes round: accounts, audit where it applies, general meeting, tax return, VAT returns, register updates, each with a deadline, each depending on the one before. Run informally, something eventually slips and surfaces as a penalty or an estimated assessment. We run the whole cycle as a managed calendar, with an owner and a lead time on every item, so nothing is late and the company stays clean and in good standing year on year — without anyone having to chase it.
At a glance
The yearly cycle, run as a calendar.
Nothing late, the company clean year on year.
- Accounts
- Prepared, audited if required
- General meeting
- Within 6 months of year-end
- Tax
- Corporate return filed
- VAT
- Periodic returns, usually quarterly
- Register
- Entries kept current
The essentials
What annual compliance is
Annual compliance is the discipline of running a Swiss company’s recurring yearly obligations reliably: preparing the accounts, holding the general meeting the Code of Obligations requires within six months of year-end, filing the corporate tax return with the tax authorities, submitting the VAT returns, and keeping the registers current. These recur on a fixed rhythm with real consequences for lateness. Run as a managed calendar, they keep the company clean; run informally, something eventually slips.
Who this is for
- Swiss companies that want the yearly cycle handled reliably;
- foreign-owned entities without local compliance staff;
- holdings and SPVs that must stay clean;
- companies that have had filings slip.
Where it fits
The cycle uses the corporate-secretarial record, draws on accounting, and runs per entity within entity management.
The rhythm
The annual cycle
The obligations come round in a fixed sequence, each with a deadline and a dependency on the one before. The calendar holds them together.
| Obligation | Timing |
|---|---|
| Accounts & audit | After year-end, before the GM |
| General meeting | Within 6 months of year-end |
| Corporate tax return | Per cantonal deadline |
| VAT returns | Periodic, usually quarterly |
Each item depends on the one before (the accounts must be ready for the audit, the audit for the meeting, the approved accounts for the tax return), so a slip early in the chain delays everything after it. Running the sequence as a calendar with lead times is what keeps the whole chain on schedule.
How it runs
How we run it
Set the calendar to the financial year, then work the sequence so each item is ready in time for the next.
- Step 1
Prepare the accounts
Preparing or overseeing the annual accounts to Swiss accounting law, ready for any audit.
- Step 2
Coordinate the audit
Where an audit applies, managing the auditor relationship so it is done before the meeting.
- Step 3
Hold the meeting
Convening and minuting the general meeting within the six-month deadline, approving the accounts.
- Step 4
File tax & VAT
Preparing and filing the corporate tax return and the VAT returns, consistent with the accounts.
- Ongoing
Update the register
Keeping the commercial-register entries and statutory registers current across the year.
Budget
What it costs
The fee is scoped to the company’s size and activity: the volume of bookkeeping, whether an audit applies, the VAT position, and the number of changes in a year. A quiet holding is modest; an active operating company is more. The cost is reliably less than the penalties, interest and estimated assessments that lateness brings.
We scope and quote against the company. Pricing is on request.
Discuss your annual cycle
What it takes
What staying clean requires
A company that stays in good standing year on year rests on:
- the cycle run as a managed calendar, not from memory;
- accounts ready in time for the audit and the meeting;
- the general meeting held within the deadline;
- tax and VAT filed on time and consistent with the accounts;
- registers kept current across the year.
Lateness costs more than the discipline that prevents it
The economics of annual compliance are one-sided. A late VAT or tax filing brings interest and, worse, estimated assessments that overstate the liability and are troublesome to undo; a general meeting missed or accounts unapproved weakens the governance record; and a pattern of lateness is exactly what a bank or counterparty notices and distrusts. None of these is large on its own, but each exceeds the cost of running the cycle properly, and they compound. Good standing is far cheaper to maintain than to restore. The discipline of the calendar is not an overhead: it is the cheaper path.
Why Goldblum
The cycle, in practice
Running the accounts, meeting, tax, VAT and register cycle as a managed calendar, so the company stays clean without being chased, is the work this firm does.
On time
Every item, every year
Each obligation given an owner and a lead time and met on schedule, so nothing slips into a penalty.
Clean
Good standing maintained
The company kept presentable to banks, auditors and buyers continuously, not remediated before each moment of scrutiny.
Joined up
Consistent with the rest
The cycle aligned with the governance record and, across a group, the entity-management register — one coherent whole.
Related
Around the cycle
The numbers
Accounting & bookkeeping
The books and accounts the annual cycle is built on, kept to Swiss accounting law.
Accounting & bookkeepingPortfolio
Entity management
The cycle run across every entity in a group as one tracked calendar.
Entity management
FAQ
Annual compliance: FAQ
01What does a Swiss company have to do each year?
Every year a Swiss company must prepare its annual accounts, hold an ordinary general meeting that approves them and deals with the statutory business, file its corporate tax return, submit its VAT returns where it is registered, and keep its commercial-register entries and statutory registers current. Where it is subject to audit, the audit fits into this cycle before the accounts are approved. These obligations recur on a fixed rhythm tied to the financial year, and missing them has real consequences, from penalties and interest to register action. Annual compliance is the discipline of running this recurring cycle reliably, so the company stays clean.
02When must the general meeting be held?
The ordinary general meeting must be held within six months of the close of the financial year, so for a calendar-year company, by the end of June. At it, the shareholders approve the annual accounts, decide on the use of the balance-sheet profit, discharge the board, and handle any appointments or other business due. The meeting and its resolutions must be properly minuted, because that record is part of the governance the company will later be asked to show. The six-month deadline is firm, and the accounts and any audit have to be ready in time for it. We run the meeting on schedule and produce the record.
03What are the accounting and audit obligations?
A Swiss company must keep proper books and prepare annual accounts that comply with Swiss accounting law. Whether it needs an audit, and which kind, depends on its size: larger companies require an ordinary audit, most others a limited statutory examination, and very small companies (broadly those with few full-time staff and the agreement of all shareholders) can opt out of the audit altogether. The accounts have to be ready, and audited where required, in time for the general meeting that approves them. We prepare or oversee the accounts, coordinate the audit relationship where one applies, and fit both into the annual cycle so the timing works.
04What are the tax and VAT filing obligations?
The company files an annual corporate tax return with its cantonal authority, which assesses federal and cantonal tax on the profit and capital; and, if it is VAT-registered, it files periodic VAT returns, usually quarterly, reconciling the VAT charged and reclaimed. Each has its own deadlines and its own consequences for being late, from interest to estimated assessments. For a company with cross-border activity the VAT position can be more involved. We prepare and file the tax return and the VAT returns on time, keep them consistent with the accounts, and manage the deadlines as part of the same cycle so none is missed.
05Why run compliance as a calendar?
Because the obligations are recurring and dated, and the reliable way to meet recurring dated obligations is a managed calendar, not memory or good intentions. Each year the same sequence comes round: accounts, audit where applicable, general meeting, tax return, VAT returns, register updates, each with a deadline and a lead time, and each dependent on the one before. Run informally, something eventually slips and surfaces as a penalty or a problem. Run as a calendar with owners and lead times, every item is met on schedule and the company stays clean year on year. The calendar is what turns a stream of deadlines into a routine.
06What happens if filings are late?
Consequences vary by obligation but none is harmless. Late tax or VAT filings attract interest and can trigger estimated assessments that are worse than the real figure and troublesome to correct. A general meeting not held on time, accounts not approved, or register entries left out of date weaken the governance record and can, in persistent cases, prompt action by the authorities or the register. Beyond the direct penalties, a pattern of lateness is exactly what a bank, auditor or counterparty notices and distrusts. The cost of lateness almost always exceeds the cost of the discipline that prevents it, which is the whole case for running the cycle properly.
07Does this keep the company in good standing?
Yes. That is its purpose. A company that meets its accounts, general meeting, tax, VAT and register obligations on time, year after year, stays in good standing with the authorities and presents a clean record to anyone who asks: banks, auditors, buyers, counterparties. Good standing is not a one-off achievement but the cumulative result of each annual cycle being completed properly, and it is far easier to maintain than to restore once it has lapsed. Running the cycle reliably is what keeps the company clean and presentable continuously, rather than the company having to be remediated before each moment of scrutiny. We keep it in good standing as a matter of routine.
08What if our financial year isn't the calendar year?
The cycle shifts to match it. The obligations are tied to the close of the financial year, not to the calendar: the general meeting must be held within six months of whatever year-end the company uses, and the accounts, audit and filings key off that date. A company with, say, a June or March year-end runs exactly the same sequence on its own timeline. What matters is that the calendar is set to the company's actual financial year and the deadlines calculated from it. A common error is to assume calendar-year deadlines for a non-calendar-year company. We set the cycle to the company's real year-end so every deadline is correct.
09Do dormant or holding companies still have the full cycle?
Largely yes, even when little is happening. A dormant or pure holding company still has to keep accounts, hold its annual general meeting and approve the accounts within the deadline, file its tax return, keep its registers current, and meet its VAT obligations if registered; the activity is lighter, but the obligations remain. The audit position may differ, since a small company meeting the conditions can opt out. The trap with quiet companies is assuming that because nothing is trading, nothing is due; the deadlines run regardless, and a quiet company that lapses is just as exposed as an active one. We run the cycle for holdings and dormant entities at the appropriate, lighter level, but we run all of it.
10Can Goldblum run the annual cycle?
Yes. We run the whole annual compliance cycle as a managed calendar: preparing or overseeing the accounts, coordinating the audit where one is required, convening and minuting the general meeting on schedule, filing the corporate tax return and the VAT returns, and keeping the commercial-register entries and statutory registers current. Each item has an owner and a lead time, so nothing is late and the company stays clean year on year. Because we also run the wider administration, the cycle is consistent with the governance record and, across a group, with the entity-management register. The aim is a company that is always in good standing, without anyone having to chase it.
Want the annual cycle handled, on time, every year?
Tell us your company and its financial year. A partner runs the accounts, general meeting, tax, VAT and register cycle as a managed calendar.