Limited Audit in Switzerland: Definition, Criteria and Process Explained

The limited audit is the statutory audit that applies to most Swiss AGs and GmbHs. It covers every company that is too small for an ordinary audit and has not waived the audit altogether. The auditor reviews the annual accounts and reports to shareholders, which gives owners, banks and investors a basic level of comfort.

In this article, we explain what a limited audit is and who needs one. We then cover what the auditor examines, how the process runs, what the report says and what it costs.

A limited audit is the mandatory review of the annual accounts for Swiss companies below the ordinary audit thresholds. The auditor (Revisionsstelle) does not positively confirm that the accounts are correct. The auditor reports only on facts that suggest a breach of the law or the articles of association in the accounts or in the board's proposal on the use of profit.

The legal basis is split across two articles. Art. 727a OR sets when a limited audit applies, and Art. 729a OR defines what it covers. Both are written for the AG. The GmbH follows the same rules through Art. 818 OR. This article uses AG terms throughout. For a GmbH, read managing directors (Geschäftsführung) for the board and members' meeting (Gesellschafterversammlung) for the general meeting.

The comfort a limited audit gives is called negative assurance. The auditor does not positively affirm that the accounts are free of material errors. The auditor simply states that the limited work found nothing pointing to a breach. An ordinary audit gives positive assurance and tests much more.

A limited audit is also a different exercise from an internal audit. It looks at the annual accounts for the shareholders and does not review processes inside the business.

The limited audit is the most common audit type in Switzerland. Recent audit market statistics count about 91,600 audit mandates at the end of 2025, ordinary and limited together. Only public companies and companies above the size thresholds need an ordinary audit, so most of these mandates are limited audits.

The auditor looks for any sign that the annual accounts or the profit appropriation proposal breach the law or the articles of association. This is the test in Art. 729a OR. The annual accounts are the balance sheet, income statement and notes. The profit appropriation proposal is the board's recommendation on how to use the balance sheet profit.

The methods are deliberately limited. The law restricts the auditor to three kinds of procedure:

• Inquiries: questions to management and staff about the accounts and key positions
• Analytical procedures: comparisons with the prior year and with expectations, to spot unusual movements
• Detail checks: appropriate tests of selected items where inquiries or analysis raise questions

Several areas sit outside the scope. A limited audit does not include a review of the internal control system, confirmations from third parties, attendance at stock takes or a search for fraud. The auditor also does not assess how well management runs the business.

Independence rules are also lighter than in an ordinary audit. Under Art. 729 OR, the same firm undertaking the audit may help with the bookkeeping if it keeps the teams apart and guards against an auditor reviewing its own bookkeeping work. The report must disclose this involvement.

The audit moves fastest when the books are closed and the supporting records are complete before the auditor starts. A practical checklist:

• Annual accounts: balance sheet, income statement and notes in draft
• Ledgers: trial balance and general ledger
• Bank and loans: year-end statements and loan agreements
• Receivables and payables: open item lists with ageing
• Fixed assets and inventory: registers and stock lists where relevant
• Payroll and social security: reconciliations and year-end statements
• VAT: filed returns and a reconciliation to the accounts
• Minutes and contracts: board and shareholder minutes plus key contracts
• Company documents: articles of association and a current commercial register extract
• Prior year: the last audit report and any open points

Late documents, bookkeeping gaps, missing receipts and unreconciled balances cause most audit delays. Each one adds hours to the audit, and more hours mean a higher fee.

Digital bookkeeping makes the hand-over easier. Records that already sit in one system can be shared quickly and searched by the auditor.

The cost of a limited audit depends mainly on company size and the state of the bookkeeping. Small companies with revenue up to about CHF 2 million typically pay CHF 3,000 to 5,000. Companies up to about CHF 10 million pay CHF 5,000 to 8,000, and larger SMEs pay roughly CHF 8,000 to 12,000. Hourly rates for audit work usually run between CHF 200 and 350.

These ranges are indicative. Business complexity, transaction volume, how digital the accounting is and whether it is a first-year engagement all change the hours needed. For a more detailed breakdown of audit fees, see our audit costs guide. For an overview of Nexova's own audit fees, see our pricing page.

Clean bookkeeping is the best preparation. Nexova's digital accounting services keeps your records in order, which makes the documents an auditor asks for easier to produce.