The most important points at a glance
- Changing your fiduciary at the end of the financial year is often easier, but with clear delineation of responsibilities it can also be done during the year.
- Before terminating, clarify the new fiduciary, the scope of services, outstanding work and the handover date.
- Under Swiss agency law, a fiduciary mandate can in principle be terminated at any time; however, termination “at an inopportune time” may give rise to a duty to pay damages.
- For the handover, the new fiduciary needs the relevant accounting, tax, VAT and payroll documents as well as information on outstanding items.
- After the change, check whether documents, responsibilities, powers of attorney and accesses have been fully handed over or newly regulated.
What are good reasons to change your fiduciary?
Changing your fiduciary can be sensible if professional quality, communication, processes or scope of services no longer permanently match your company’s requirements. Individual inconsistencies are less decisive than recurring problems or a fiduciary setup that no longer keeps pace with the company’s development.
Typical reasons for change range from recurring errors and lack of specialist knowledge to poor availability, lack of transparency or inadequate digital processes. Growth, internationalisation or increased requirements for reporting and financial steering can also mean that a previously suitable fiduciary no longer provides the right support.
| Area | Typical reasons for change |
| Professional quality | Recurring errors, lack of specialist knowledge, little forward-looking advice |
| Collaboration | Long response times, unclear responsibilities, lack of transparency |
| Costs and services | Invoices that are difficult to understand or a cost-benefit ratio that no longer fits |
| Processes | Manual procedures, media breaks, limited access to current financial data |
| Company development | Lack of scalability in the face of growth or increasing complexity |
For CFOs and executive management, a sober assessment of the situation is therefore useful: Where do problems repeatedly arise and what requirements must the fiduciary solution meet in future? This allows you to determine whether the existing collaboration can be improved or whether a change should be considered.
When is the best time to change your fiduciary?
The beginning of a new financial year is often a good time to change your fiduciary because posting periods and responsibilities can be clearly separated. However, this timing is not mandatory: a change can also take place during the current financial year if the handover is carefully planned.
When switching at the end of the financial year, the current fiduciary can, for example, complete the current annual financial statements and the new fiduciary can take over with the opening balance sheet. A change during the year can, on the other hand, make sense if professional or organisational reasons argue against waiting.
What needs to be considered when changing fiduciary during the year?
If you switch during the financial year, it must be clearly defined which periods the current fiduciary will close and from which key date the new fiduciary will take over. Without this delineation, duplicate work, coordination needs or gaps in ongoing tasks may arise.
Particular attention should be paid to current posting periods, VAT returns and already started year-end work. The exact changeover date should therefore not be chosen solely according to the calendar but on the basis of the company’s actual financial and billing processes.
What should you consider before changing fiduciary?
Before changing fiduciary, you should have clarified the new fiduciary, the scope of services, the handover date and responsibilities. Also review the existing mandate agreement and ongoing deadlines before giving notice.
A brief assessment provides the necessary basis: What services does your current fiduciary provide? Which tasks should remain in-house in future? And which services should the new fiduciary additionally take over – for example accounting, taxes, value added tax (VAT), payroll or reporting?
Also identify at an early stage which work is still open with the current fiduciary. This makes it possible to define even before termination which tasks will still be completed and which will be handed over to the new fiduciary.
Tip: Appoint an internal person responsible for the fiduciary change. They consolidate queries, coordinate the required documents and ensure that decisions between management, the internal finance team and the new fiduciary are not taken in parallel at several points.
How do you choose the right new fiduciary?
A new fiduciary should not only be convincing professionally, but also fit your company’s processes and development. Particularly relevant are professional expertise, availability, clear responsibilities, digital collaboration and the ability to provide reliable support even as complexity increases.
For the selection you can in particular compare the following points:
- Which services and specialist areas are covered?
- Who is your dedicated contact person?
- How do accounting, data exchange and approvals work?
- Which analyses and reports are available to you?
- Can the fiduciary cover additional requirements in the event of growth or internationalisation?
- How transparent are the scope of services and the fee model?
If you are considering switching to Auditrium, we will work with you to clarify which fiduciary services you will need in future and how your mandate can be taken over in a structured way. To this end, we coordinate the scope of services, responsibilities and the appropriate handover date with you.
How do you terminate your current fiduciary?
Under Swiss agency law, a fiduciary mandate can in principle be revoked or terminated at any time. However, if the termination occurs “at an inopportune time”, the terminating party may be obliged to compensate for the damage caused. This follows from Art. 404 of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO).
Before terminating, review the existing mandate agreement and the general terms and conditions (GTC). These may contain organisational provisions on termination, billing or handover that are relevant for the practical handling of the change.
From a practical point of view, written termination is recommended, clearly specifying the end of the mandate or the agreed handover date.
However, the change is not yet complete with the termination. This is followed by the actual handover of the mandate to the new fiduciary.
How does the changeover to the new fiduciary work?
A change of fiduciary should be organised as a coordinated handover of the mandate. On the agreed handover date it must be clear which work the current fiduciary will still complete and from when the new fiduciary will take over the agreed tasks.
An up-to-date list of outstanding items provides transparency. It shows, for example, which financial statements, tax returns, value added tax (VAT) returns or payroll work are still open and who is responsible for completing them.
Which documents does the new fiduciary need for the change?
The new fiduciary needs all documents, data and information that are relevant for the seamless continuation of the mandate. Which documents are required in detail depends on the previous scope of services and on which tasks the new fiduciary will assume.
Typically, these include:
- Accounting: Annual financial statements, trial balances, posting journals as well as open receivables and payables
- Taxes and VAT: Previous returns, assessments, VAT returns and documents relating to ongoing proceedings
- Payroll and social security: Relevant payroll documents and information on ongoing settlements and insurance policies
- Outstanding items: Open tasks, ongoing proceedings and important filing or payment deadlines
- Company documents: Contracts and other master documents relevant to the mandate
What happens to powers of attorney and accesses when changing fiduciary?
Powers of attorney and digital accesses must also be redefined when changing fiduciary. The new fiduciary needs the authorisations required for their mandate, while powers of attorney and access rights that are no longer needed by the previous fiduciary should be systematically revoked.
This can include powers of attorney vis-à-vis tax authorities and social insurance institutions as well as user rights for accounting, payroll and other financial systems. It is important to coordinate the changeover with the handover date so that necessary accesses are not revoked too early and, at the same time, no outdated authorisations remain in place.
What should you check after changing fiduciary?
After changing fiduciary, you should work with the new fiduciary to check whether the handover of the mandate has been fully completed. What matters is that there are no information gaps or unclear responsibilities and that the new mandate can be operated going forward.
The focus then shifts to ongoing collaboration: contacts, responsibilities and processes for receipts, approvals and reporting should be clearly defined. This turns a completed mandate handover into a functioning new fiduciary relationship.
“A clean mandate handover does not end with the data transfer. What matters is that outstanding items and responsibilities are clarified and that the new collaboration works from day one.” - Leif Roth, finance expert
Do you want to change your current fiduciary? Auditrium will take over your fiduciary mandate and ensure a structured transition into the new collaboration. Talk to us about your current situation and the requirements for your future fiduciary solution.