Before preparing documentation to be sent to the auditor, we recommend that you review the information suggested on the Year end closure page. In addition to the information on how to use the program features, there are a number of checks and verifications that should be performed prior to closing.

Firms that are required to be audited must send a number of documents and files to the auditor.
From year to year it is easy to forget what needs to be sent to the auditor. It is therefore advisable to prepare a checklist, which includes all of the documents requested by the auditor in previous years, as well as the closing and adjusting operations to be carried out.

In order to facilitate this task, already during the year, some simple operations can be planned to ease the work for both the person managing the accounting and the one conducting the audit. We recommend the following:

• Create a folder to store scanned documents.
  Save ("save as..." command) all scanned documents from the current year's accounting records.
• Scan receipts
  • Scan all invoices, cash receipts, and OASI statements, social security and insurance contributions.

The digital documents, such as invoices and receipts, can become an integral part of the accounting file. Banana Accounting allows you to insert the scanned document on the row of the contextual record. The auditor, by clicking on the link of the digital document, opens the document and can see its contents without wasting time looking for the information on paper.

PDF printouts to send to the auditor

Below is a reminder of a number of key documents that need to be sent to the auditor:

Declarations for employees

• Declaration of OASI salaries as sent on 31.12 and year-end adjustment
• Declaration for advanced family allowances (already included in the OASI Salary Declaration).
• Employee salary journal
• Employee salary account cards
• Salary certificate
• Non-occupational accident Insurance (NOAI) as sent on 31.12 and year-end adjustment 
• Occupational accident insurance (OAI) as sent on 31.12 and year-end adjustment 
• Daily allowance insurance declaration (sickness) as sent on 31.12 and year-end adjustments 
• Pension fund (OP) extract as on 31.12
• Quarterly IF Swiss Withholding Tax declarations and year-end statement.

Bank/postal account statements

• Final bank and postal account statements as at 31.12
• Bank statements as of 31.12 for possible withholding tax.
• Loan statements as at 31.12
• Investment statements as of 31.12
• Copy of Form 103 sent to the FTA for the payment of withholding tax

VAT/Sales Tax declarations

• VAT/Sales Tax statements of each quarter
• VAT/Sales Tax declarations of each quarter
• Reconciliation of turnover with VAT returns (required at the end of the year)
• Possible VAT/Sales tax difference reporting forms (if differences arise between the booked and reported VAT/Sales Tax during reconciliation)

Accounting closing documents

• List of open customer invoices as of 31.12
• List of open supplier invoices as of 31.12
• Inventory valuation and adjustment as of 31.12
• Details of active and passive accruals
• Details of fixed assets and depreciation (tables, sheets, etc.). Possible accelerated depreciation
• Tax calculation

Official documents

• Minutes of Ordinary Meeting of Assembly previous year
• Extraordinary General Meeting Minutes
• Notification of taxation previous year
• Copy of withholding tax payment order and Form 103 submitted to the FTA for any dividends paid
• Copy of building insurance policy
• Documents in case of patent activation
• Copies of leasing and rental agreements
• Copies of new loan agreements
• Calculation of the expense for other long-term and short-term provisions
• Annual report of the year under review
• Appendix (with explanations) to the balance sheet and income statement

Data export

Accounting regulations require that the accounting data be made available to auditors and inspectors in digital format.
Banana Accounting complies with these regulations because:

• The auditor can use the free plan of Banana Accounting to open the accounting file.
• All accounting data is easily visible in the table.
• The data can be copied and pasted directly into other programs.
• It is possible to export the data in different formats directly from the table.
• The Create pdf file command exports all the accounting data in an ideal format for reading.

Extensions for data presentation and export

There are several extensions for presenting data export in specific formats.

• Audit File Reports create reports that may be useful to the auditor and can be copied and pasted into Excel
• Standard Audit File - for taxation
  Data export in XML and other formats according to OECD guidelines and for specific countries.
• Search in extensions if there are extensions specific to your country

Other useful information

Below are links where you can find other useful information for optimal accounting and document management:

• Advanced Accounting
  • Business Planning
  • Planning-Executing-Controlling
  • Blockchain
• Document folder
• Organize accounting files
• Perpetual validity