Law & Compliance

Swiss Foundation Audit & Reporting Requirements: Compliance Guide

A Swiss foundation must keep proper accounts (Swiss Civil Code, Zivilgesetzbuch, ZGB, Article 83a), appoint an external auditor (Article 83b), and file an annual report with its supervisory authority each year. The supervisory authority can waive the audit requirement for small foundations, but it cannot waive the duty to report. This guide sets out exactly which duties apply, when, and to whom.

These obligations are ongoing. They begin once the foundation is registered and continue for its whole life, year after year. Getting them right protects the foundation’s standing and, for charitable foundations, its tax-exempt status.

Author: Hansruedi Mueller, Swiss foundation lawyer, Zug. About the author · Published 4 June 2026 · Last updated 4 June 2026.

Key takeaways

• Accounts are mandatory. ZGB Article 83a requires the foundation board (Stiftungsrat) to keep business ledgers, importing the Code of Obligations bookkeeping rules (CO Art. 957 onwards).
• An external auditor is mandatory under ZGB Article 83b, unless the supervisory authority grants the small-foundation waiver.
• The waiver requires a balance-sheet total below CHF 200,000 in two successive financial years, no public fundraising, and that an audit is not needed to assess the foundation reliably (Ordinance on the Audit Body of Foundations). It is the balance-sheet total, not revenue.
• A limited audit is the norm; an ordinary (full) audit applies only above the Code of Obligations size thresholds (CHF 20 million balance sheet, CHF 40 million revenue, 250 full-time staff, two of three, over two years).
• A waiver from audit does not waive the duty to report to the supervisory authority.
• Family foundations (Article 87) are exempt from supervision and from appointing an auditor, but must still keep accounts.

The compliance duties at a glance

Swiss foundation compliance rests on three layers: keeping accounts, having those accounts audited, and reporting to the supervisory authority. All three flow from the foundation provisions of the Swiss Civil Code, Articles 80–89c, which we explain article by article in our guide to Swiss foundation law.

The table below summarises who does what.

Family and ecclesiastical foundations sit outside most of this, as explained below.

The duty to keep accounts (ZGB Article 83a)

Every foundation must keep proper books. Under Article 83a, the foundation’s supreme governing body, the board, keeps the business ledgers, and the Code of Obligations rules on commercial bookkeeping and accounting apply with the necessary adjustments.

Swiss Civil Code, Art. 83a: the supreme governing body keeps the foundation’s accounts; the Code of Obligations provisions on commercial bookkeeping and accounting (Art. 957 onwards) apply mutatis mutandis.

In practice this means a foundation is held to the same accounting discipline as a commercial company. It must prepare annual accounts comprising a balance sheet, an income statement, and notes, and the annual report must be drawn up within six months of the financial year-end (Code of Obligations, Article 958). Records and supporting documents must be retained.

Larger or charitable foundations often report under Swiss GAAP FER, a recognised financial-reporting standard, and are encouraged to follow the voluntary governance principles of the Swiss Foundation Code. Both are good practice and are frequently expected by funders and tax authorities, but neither is a blanket legal requirement, the legal baseline is the Code of Obligations. Responsibility for the books sits with the board; see our guide to Swiss foundation board duties and governance.

The audit duty and the small-foundation waiver (ZGB Article 83b)

The default rule is straightforward: a Swiss foundation must designate an external auditor.

Swiss Civil Code, Art. 83b: the board of trustees designates an external auditor. The supervisory authority may exempt a foundation from this duty; the Federal Council determines the conditions. Where required, the authority may order a full audit in place of a limited one.

The board appoints a licensed audit firm (Revisionsstelle), independent of the foundation, to examine the annual accounts.

The CHF 200,000 waiver, precisely

The supervisory authority can release a small foundation from the audit duty. The conditions are set by the Ordinance on the Audit Body of Foundations (Verordnung über die Revisionsstelle von Stiftungen, SR 211.121.3) and are cumulative. A foundation may be exempted where:

1. its balance-sheet total is below CHF 200,000 in two successive financial years, this is the balance-sheet total (Bilanzsumme), not annual revenue;
2. it does not publicly solicit or collect donations or other contributions; and
3. an audit is not necessary for a reliable assessment of the foundation’s assets and income.

There is also a formal point: the option to be exempted should be reserved in the foundation deed, and the supervisory authority must issue the exemption decision, it is not automatic.

One distinction matters more than any other here. A waiver from audit does not release the foundation from its duty to report to the supervisory authority. The accounts must still be kept and filed; only the external audit step falls away.

Ordinary vs limited audit (Code of Obligations, Articles 727 and 727a)

Where an audit is required, it comes in two forms. Most private wealth-planning and family-style charitable foundations need only a limited audit (eingeschränkte Revision). An ordinary audit (ordentliche Revision), a fuller, more demanding examination, is required only for larger entities.

Under Code of Obligations Article 727, an ordinary audit applies where, in two successive financial years, the foundation exceeds two of these three thresholds:

Foundations not over those thresholds have a limited audit under Article 727a. Separately, even where only a limited audit would normally apply, the supervisory authority may order a full audit if that is necessary to assess the foundation’s financial position reliably (Article 83b). In practice, very few private foundations approach the ordinary-audit thresholds; the limited audit is the working norm.

Audit fees are a recurring cost of running a foundation. We set them in context alongside setup and ongoing costs in our guide to Swiss foundation costs, fees and capital requirements.

Annual reporting to the supervisory authority (ESA)

Keeping accounts and being audited are only part of the cycle. Each year, a supervised foundation files an annual report with its supervisory authority (Stiftungsaufsicht). At federal level this is the Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (Eidgenössische Stiftungsaufsicht, ESA); foundations confined to a single canton report to the relevant cantonal authority. Which one applies is explained in our guide to the Swiss foundation supervisory authority.

The annual report typically comprises:

• the annual financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, notes);
• the audit report, where the foundation is audited; and
• an activity report (Tätigkeitsbericht) describing the foundation’s organisation, its activities in the reporting year, and its finances.

The activity report exists to show the supervisory authority that the foundation’s activity matches its statutory purpose, the core supervisory test under Article 84. Filings can be made digitally through the EasyGov portal or on the authority’s official forms.

On timing: the accounts must be prepared within six months of the financial year-end, and the ESA opens its annual-reporting window in the spring. The exact filing deadline varies by authority and by year, so confirm it with your supervisory authority rather than assuming a fixed date. For charitable foundations, timely and complete reporting is also what sustains tax-exempt status.

Family foundations: audit and supervision exemption (ZGB Article 87)

Family foundations (Familienstiftungen) and ecclesiastical foundations are treated differently. Under Article 87, they are not subject to supervision unless public law provides otherwise, and they are exempt from the duty to appoint an external auditor. Disputes about them are decided by the courts rather than by a supervisory authority.

This lighter touch is not the same as having no obligations. A family foundation must still keep proper accounts under Article 83a, and it faces strict substantive limits on its permitted purposes under Article 335 ZGB. In other words, audit-exempt and supervision-exempt does not mean compliance-free, the bookkeeping duty remains, and the purpose limits are tight. The broader rules for these vehicles are covered in our explainer on Civil Code Article 335 and family foundation rules.

A simple foundation compliance calendar

For a supervised foundation, the annual cycle is predictable:

1. Close the financial year at year-end.
2. Prepare the annual accounts, balance sheet, income statement and notes, within six months (Code of Obligations, Article 958).
3. Have the accounts audited by the external auditor, unless the foundation holds a waiver.
4. Assemble the activity report, linking the year’s work to the foundation’s purpose.
5. File the annual report with the supervisory authority in its reporting window, via EasyGov or official form.
6. Respond to any queries from the authority, providing documents or corrective action as requested.

Building this into a fixed internal calendar avoids late filings, which are the most common cause of supervisory queries.

Getting compliance right

Audit and reporting duties are routine when planned, and costly when left late. If you would like your foundation’s compliance cycle mapped to its size, purpose and supervisory authority, our Zug-based team can help. Book a consultation or speak to a Swiss foundation lawyer.

Frequently asked questions

Does a Swiss foundation need an auditor? Yes, by default. Under ZGB Article 83b the foundation board must designate an external auditor. The supervisory authority can waive this for small foundations that meet the conditions in the Ordinance on the Audit Body of Foundations, but the duty otherwise applies.

Which foundations are exempt from audit in Switzerland? A supervised foundation may be exempted where its balance-sheet total stays below CHF 200,000 over two successive financial years, it does not publicly solicit donations, and an audit is not needed to assess its finances reliably. The exemption is decided by the supervisory authority. Family and ecclesiastical foundations are separately exempt under Article 87.

What is the difference between an ordinary and a limited audit? A limited audit is the lighter, standard examination that applies to most foundations. An ordinary (full) audit applies only to larger entities that exceed two of three Code of Obligations thresholds, CHF 20 million balance sheet, CHF 40 million revenue, or 250 full-time staff, over two successive years, or where the supervisory authority orders one.

Do family foundations have to be audited? No. Under Article 87, family foundations are exempt from supervision and from appointing an external auditor. They must, however, still keep proper accounts under Article 83a and respect the purpose limits of Article 335.

What must a Swiss foundation report to the supervisory authority each year? The annual report usually contains the annual financial statements (balance sheet, income statement and notes), the audit report where the foundation is audited, and an activity report showing that the foundation’s work matches its purpose.

Does the audit waiver remove the duty to report? No. A waiver removes only the external audit step. The foundation must still keep accounts and file its annual report with the supervisory authority.

What exactly counts as the “balance-sheet total” for the CHF 200,000 audit waiver? The balance-sheet total (Bilanzsumme) is the sum of all assets on the foundation’s balance sheet at the year-end, cash, investments, receivables, property and other assets combined. It is not the same as annual income, grants paid out, or donations received. A foundation that grants away most of its income each year may still hold a balance-sheet total well above CHF 200,000 if it retains invested capital.

Does the CHF 200,000 threshold have to be met for two years in a row? Yes. The Ordinance on the Audit Body of Foundations requires the balance-sheet total to stay below CHF 200,000 in two successive financial years. A one-year dip below the threshold is not enough. Equally, a one-year spike above it can trigger the obligation to appoint an auditor for the following cycle.

Can a foundation with an audit waiver still be required to have an ordinary audit? Yes. Under ZGB Article 83b the supervisory authority may order a full (ordinary) audit even for a foundation that would otherwise qualify for a waiver, for example, if the authority cannot assess the foundation’s financial position reliably from the accounts alone. A waiver is granted at the authority’s discretion and can be withdrawn.

What is a limited audit and how does it differ from an ordinary audit in practice? A limited audit (eingeschränkte Revision) is a targeted review in which the auditor asks questions, applies analytical procedures, and checks selected documents to establish that nothing material has come to their attention suggesting the accounts do not comply with the applicable standard. It is less costly and less intensive than an ordinary audit. An ordinary audit (ordentliche Revision) requires positive confirmation of the accounts, expanded testing, and a fuller written report, appropriate for larger entities but rarely required in the foundation sector.

Must a Swiss foundation follow Swiss GAAP FER? No, not as a matter of law. The legal baseline is the Code of Obligations bookkeeping rules (CO Art. 957 onwards), which apply to foundations by virtue of ZGB Article 83a. Swiss GAAP FER is a recognised reporting standard that many larger and charitable foundations adopt voluntarily; it is widely expected by institutional funders and cantonal tax authorities as evidence of transparent accounting, but the Civil Code does not mandate it.

When must the annual accounts be prepared? The Code of Obligations (Article 958) requires annual accounts to be drawn up within six months of the end of the financial year. For a foundation with a 31 December year-end, accounts must therefore be ready by 30 June. Filing with the supervisory authority then follows in the authority’s own reporting window, which opens in spring and varies by authority and year.

Who actually files the annual report with the supervisory authority? The foundation board (Stiftungsrat) is responsible for filing. In practice the board usually delegates the mechanical task of submission, via EasyGov or official forms, to the foundation secretary or a professional services provider, but legal responsibility for the completeness and accuracy of the report remains with the board.

What happens if a foundation fails to file its annual report on time? The supervisory authority can issue reminders, set deadlines, and ultimately impose supervisory measures under ZGB Article 84. Persistent failure to report is treated as a compliance breach and can, in serious cases, lead to the appointment of an official agent or restructuring measures. For charitable foundations, it also puts tax-exempt status at risk.

Is an activity report (Tätigkeitsbericht) legally required? Yes, in practice. The supervisory authority requires an activity report as part of the annual filing because it is the principal document showing that the foundation has operated in accordance with its stated purpose during the year, the core supervisory test under ZGB Article 84. While the Civil Code does not use the precise term “Tätigkeitsbericht”, supervisory practice treats it as a mandatory component of the annual submission.

This article is general information on Swiss foundation audit and reporting requirements and is not a substitute for formal legal advice. For guidance on your specific situation, contact our team.

Sources

• Swiss Civil Code (SR 210), consolidated text, Articles 83a, 83b, 83c and 87 (foundation accounting, auditors and family-foundation exemption). https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/24/233_245_233/en
• Ordinance on the Audit Body of Foundations (Verordnung über die Revisionsstelle von Stiftungen, SR 211.121.3, of 24 August 2005), conditions for the small-foundation audit waiver. https://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classified-compilation/20051871/index.html
• Swiss Code of Obligations (SR 220), Articles 727 / 727a (ordinary and limited audit) and 957–958 (bookkeeping and annual report). https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/fr-en/2/22/220-727-1040.html
• Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (Eidgenössische Stiftungsaufsicht, ESA), annual reporting and forms. https://www.esa.admin.ch/