Auditing and consulting industry and the economic challenges

In his welcome address to the auditing and consulting industry, Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer spoke about the unavoidable necessity of the OECD tax reform and its implementation in Switzerland, and also presented an outline of the current financial policy challenges facing the Confederation. In a panel discussion, federal parliamentarians Judith Bellaiche and Erich Ettlin emphasized that inflation, the energy crisis and, in general, the development of federal finances will continue to occupy us intensively. They also pointed out that Switzerland also needs to keep up with digitalization and new forms of work. All representatives from Berne also agreed that the tax system plays an important role for a strong Swiss business location.

Withholding tax reform failed - reforms regarding OECD minimum tax mandatory

The unsuccessful vote on the partial abolition of the withholding tax on September 25, 2022, was described as a missed opportunity to strengthen Switzerland as a business location compared to other countries. The tenor at the event was that Switzerland could not afford another defeat in the vote - on the much more important issue of international tax compatibility with the greatest possible attractiveness of Switzerland as a business location. EXPERTsuisse President of the Tax Division, Daniel Gentsch, summed it up as follows: "There are many tax issues in the room; now it is a matter of setting the right priorities with a view to locational attractiveness, the ability to obtain a majority and financial viability.

Sustainability developments affect companies as well as the auditing and consulting industry

Prof. Thomas Berndt pointed out the international developments and stated that the topic of sustainability in reporting and auditing will increasingly reach the Swiss economy. In the panel discussion, Alessandro Miolo, President of EXPERTsuisse's Auditing Division, pointed out that, in addition to multinational companies with the various aspects of supply chains, Swiss SMEs will also be dealing intensively with this topic over the next few years. Thomas Koller, President of the Business Consulting and Fiduciary Division, saw this as a great opportunity for small and medium-sized member companies of EXPERTsuisse to play an important multiplier role. In this context, the industry partnership announced at the annual conference with "Digital SME Checkup Sustainability" (by tfy-consult) supportive.

Recruitment of specialists and quality of service require multidisciplinarity

Association President Peter Ritter pointed out that all size categories of member companies generate relevant revenues in the specialist areas of "Audit & Assurance", "Tax & Legal" and "Consulting & Business Services": "Consulting is already an important business area for all size categories today, which we as an association would like to increasingly support". Marius Klauser, Director and Board Delegate of EXPERTsuisse, added: "In general, it shows that the interplay of different disciplines is a necessary condition for high quality in audit and consulting mandates and, moreover, an important aspect of employer attractiveness when it comes to recruiting new people." Top graduates in auditing, tax and fiduciary services were also on stage at the annual conference during the presentation of the Newcomer Award.

Integration of ASCO into EXPERTsuisse as of January 1, 2023

The Swiss Association of Management Consultants ASCO will be fully integrated into EXPERTsuisse as of January 1, 2023. Marius Klauser showed how the so-called "Transformation 2025" - until the 100th anniversary of the association and beyond - will look like. In order to make the best use of the major trends of digitalization and sustainability as an industry and for the economy, complementary competencies are needed. "Since customer-oriented consulting and holistic management are gaining in importance in this context, the integration of ASCO into EXPERTsuisse is an important step in the association's development," says Marius Klauser. The previous cooperation with ASCO will become a full integration, giving consultants from EXPERTsuisse and from ASCO member companies an integration and training platform at EXPERTsuisse (Consulting & Business Services) and strengthening themselves as a profession throughout Switzerland.

In addition to the integration of ASCO, EXPERTsuisse also enters into a cooperation with the Swiss Umbrella Organization for Business Succession (CHDU) which is about the formation and certification of competencies in the field of holistic succession consulting. This will further strengthen the consulting ecosystem, according to the associations.

Source: EXPERTsuisse