The presentation of the accounts shall respect the following principles:

A.

Importance: It presents all the information necessary for a rapid and complete assessment of the state of wealth, finances and income and which are likely to influence the decisions of the competent authorities;

B.

Completeness: Lists all expenses, revenues, capital expenditures and investment receipts;

C.

Clarity: The information it provides must be clear and understandable;

D.

Continuous accounting methods: The principles governing the presentation of accounts and the keeping of accounts must, as far as possible, remain unchanged over a long period of time and allow comparisons to be made;

E.

Raw layout: It presents the charges separately from the revenue and investment expenditure separately from the investment income, without any compensation, with each heading showing its full amount.

¹ The presentation of the accounts is based on IPSAS (International Public Sector Accounting Standards) ¹ .

² The differences in IPSAS are set out in Annex 1. The implementation of IPSAS is set out in Annex 2.

The annual accounts of the EFA, FIF and research institutions are based on the structure of the annual accounts of the FIF field pursuant to Art. 35, para. 2, of the FIF Act.

The EPF Council sets out in directives the annual accounts plan of the annual accounts so that it is in line with that of the consolidated account of the Confederation.

¹ The balance sheet includes the financial assets (assets) as well as commitments and equity (liability).

² The financial assets include the assets in circulation and the capital assets.

³ Commitments include short-and long-term third-party capital.

¹ Capital assets are recorded on the estate if the following conditions are met:

A.

They have a future economic utility or are used directly in the performance of public tasks;

B.

Their value can be reliably determined.

² Existing commitments arising from a past event are recorded as liabilities when their achievement is likely to result in cash outflow.

³ Provisions are made for commitments whose origin is linked to a past event if the date of execution or the amount of the future exit of funds is undetermined.

⁴ Capital assets and liabilities shall be charged to the balance sheet of the accounting period in which they meet the conditions of entry to the assets or liabilities set out in paras. 1, 2 and 3.

⁵ A statement on the balance sheet is not necessary as long as the limit for registration to assets or liabilities (art. 10) is not affected.

⁶ The EPF Council lays down in guidelines the conditions under which registration to assets or liabilities may, on an exceptional basis, be carried out in a consolidated manner.

¹ The principles of evaluation are based on the provisions of IPSAS.

² Cultural property, such as artistic, educational and historical collections, as well as libraries, should not be included in the asset.

³ Capital elements and similar commitments must be grouped into classes. The same evaluation principles apply within a class.

⁴ The Council of EPF sets out in guidelines:

A.

The evaluation principles applicable to different classes;

B.

Investment categories and their depreciation rates.

¹ Investments and inventories must be recorded on the asset from the following amounts:

A.

Buildings: from 100 000 francs;

B.

Specific use arrangements in rented and confederation buildings: from 100 000 francs;

C.

Movable property: from 10,000 francs;

D.

Intangible heritage values purchased: from 100,000 francs;

E.

Immaterial heritage values created by the institution itself: from one million francs;

F.

Stocks: from 100 000 francs.

² Provisions must be made from an amount of at least 500 000 francs.

³ Temporal regularisations must be carried out from at least 100 000 francs.

⁴ The EPF Board may set other limits in guidelines.

¹ Reserves may be set up at the level of the EPF Board, EPF and research institutions.

² They are part of the institution's own capital.

³ The constitution and dissolution of reserves are not recorded directly in the profit and loss account.

⁴ The EPF Board regulates the constitution and dissolving of reservations in directives.

The income statement includes expenses and revenues as well as the annual balance of the accounting period under review.

¹ The financing account provides information on the source and use of cash and short-term investments and indicates the corresponding fluctuations.

² It presents the cash flows consisting of:

A.

Operational activities (cash flow);

B.

Investments;

C.

Financing operations.

³ The investment account is an integral part of the funding account.

The state of own capital indicates the causes of fluctuations in the capital.

The Annex to the annual accounts shall include, inter alia:

A.

It indicates the rules applicable to the presentation of accounts and justifies the differences;

B.

Lists the principles for the presentation of the accounts, including the essential principles of the balance sheet and evaluation;

C.

It presents in an abbreviated form the main features of the other elements of the annual accounts.

D.

It provides important additional information to assess the state of wealth, income, liabilities and financial risks.

¹ The consolidated annual EFA accounts are established on the basis of the principle of full consolidation. These include the consolidated annual accounts of the EFA, FIF and research institutions.

² They provide an overview of the state of wealth, finance and income in the FIF domain, excluding internal transfers.

³ They form the basis for the transfer to the consolidated account of the Confederation, in accordance with the provisions applicable to the decentralised administrative units of the Confederation.

⁴ The consolidation of the annual accounts of the EFA, FIF and research institutions is carried out according to the same rules as those applicable to the consolidation of the annual EFA accounts.

⁵ The EPF Council regulates the modalities of consolidation in guidelines; it takes into account the implementation of the IPSAS standards contained in Annex 2.

¹ The President of the Council of EPF and the person responsible for finance sign together the consolidated annual accounts of the Council of EPF and those in the field of FIF.

² The presidents of the FIFs and the directors of research institutions sign with their financial officer the consolidated annual accounts of their institution.

³ By signing them, the signatories confirm that the annual accounts have been established in accordance with the legal provisions and that they provide a presentation in line with the reality of the state of wealth, finances and income.

¹ Any report prepared for the FIF or other interested entities presents the state of wealth, finances and income in accordance with reality.

² As part of the preparation of reports to the EFP Council, FIFs and research institutions confirm the accuracy of the figures and comments presented in the annual accounts.

¹ Each EFA and research institution prepares an annual management report, which includes a status report and annual accounts.

² On the basis of the reports of FIFs and research institutions, the EPF Board annually draws up the EFA domain management report. It integrates its report on the state of the situation in the FIF domain.

³ The EPF Board publishes the EFA Domain Management Report after its approval by the Federal Council and its submission to the relevant committees of the Federal Chambers.

FIFs and research institutions provide the FRPW Council with the data necessary for the preparation of the other EPF domain reports required by the Confederation.

¹ The following documents are subject to revision:

A.

At the level of EPF, FIF and research institutions: annual accounts and status reports;

B.

At the level of the EFA Council: the annual accounts.

² Reports on the status of the situation must be monitored on:

A.

Possible contradictions with the annual accounts;

B.

The application of appropriate risk management;

C.

Possible contradictions in staff reporting.

¹ Accounting maintenance is subject to the following principles:

A.

Completeness: All financial transactions and accounting elements must be recorded in full and by period;

B.

Accuracy: The accounting entries must match the facts;

C.

News: Accounting must be kept up to date. Transactions must be recorded in chronological order;

D.

Traceability: Transactions must be recorded in a clear and understandable manner. The corrections must be marked as such, and the accounting entries must be certified by supporting documents.

² Principles for the presentation of accounts within the meaning of s. 3 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

¹ FIFs and research institutions maintain an analytical accounting that meets their needs.

² The cost accounting must be structured to:

A.

To facilitate the management of institutions;

B.

Provide the baseline data to develop and evaluate the budget and annual accounts;

C.

Provide the baseline data for statistics;

D.

Ensuring transparency of costs in the interests of effective administration.

¹ The supporting documents must be kept with the accounts for 10 years.

² The evidence for benefits subject to value added tax in relation to real property must be retained for 20 years.

¹ The FIF Board, FIUs and research institutions draw up an inventory of tangible capital assets and inventories that must be recorded in the asset.

² They update the inventory each year. For tangible capital assets that are to be recorded in the asset and have a residual book value of less than 100,000 francs at the time of annual monitoring, the update takes place every three years.

³ The EFA Council, FIFs and research institutions draw up a specific inventory of cultural objects.

⁴ They are based on the risks incurred in maintaining inventories of tangible capital assets and inventories that are not to be recorded in the asset.

¹ The FIF Board, FIFs and research institutions manage an internal control system (CIS) for their institution.

² The objective of the CIS is to:

A.

Protect the heritage value;

B.

Ensure adequate use of funds;

C.

To prevent or detect errors and irregularities in the maintenance of accounts;

D.

Ensure the proper reporting and reliability of the reports.

³ It takes into account the risks involved and the cost/utility ratio.

⁴ The President of the EFA Council, the presidents of the FIUs and the heads of research institutions ensure the introduction, effective implementation and monitoring of the ITS in their field of competence.

¹ The ITS includes regulatory, organizational and technical measures.

² It must be documented in a comprehensive and clear manner. The points concerned are in particular the analysis of the risks, the corresponding checks and the evidence that they have been carried out.

The EPF Board, FIFs and research institutions adopt a regulation on signatures for their institution.

¹ The EPF Board, FIFs and research institutions conduct risk management within their jurisdictions.

² The FPR Council addresses the principles of risk management within the FIF domain through guidance. It sets out in particular:

A.

The objectives of the risk management policy and responsibilities when implementing the risk management policy;

B.

The seizure of risks;

C.

Risk assessment;

D.

Control and funding of risks;

E.

Risk control.

¹ The EFA Council, FIF and research institutions themselves assume their own risks in their area of competence; para. 2 and the provisions contained in special laws are reserved.

² If damage to the FIF Council, EPF or research institutions jeopardises the fulfilment of the tasks entrusted to them by the federal legislation and the benefit mandate, the Council of EPF, after consulting The Federal Administration of Finance (AFF), asks the Federal Department of Economics, Training and Research (DEFR) for the Federal Council:

A.

An amendment to the benefit mandate; or

B.

An increase in the financial contribution of the Confederation and, if necessary, the expenditure ceiling.

The Council of EPF informs the Secretariat-General of the DEFR and the AFF of significant developments in the risk situation and insurance coverage in the Council of EPF, FIF and research institutions.