Balance sheet (Switzerland – CO)

The Swiss balance sheet is the financial statement presenting all assets, liabilities and equity at a given date, prepared in accordance with the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO art. 959–959c). It differs materially from IFRS in several respects: the strong prudence principle allows asset understatement and hidden reserves, amortisation schedules are more conservative, and fair value measurement is not generally required. In business valuation and financial due diligence, these specificities require significant restatements to move from a CO reading to an economic reading — particularly for fixed assets, inventories and hidden reserves.

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Example: a Zurich SA presents real estate on its CO balance sheet at CHF 1.8 million (depreciated historical cost). An independent property appraisal values the assets at CHF 3.6 million. This CHF 1.8 million hidden reserve — invisible in the CO accounts — must be integrated into the adjusted net asset value to produce an economically meaningful valuation.

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Hectelion masters the specificities of Swiss CO accounting and the restatements required to produce economically relevant valuations for Swiss companies.