A horror with an end - Deposit balance sheet yourself

If your company runs out of funds, your only option is bankruptcy. This is possible in two ways: either you wait until a creditor forces your company into bankruptcy, or you report to the bankruptcy judge to put an end to the horror yourself. If you are the owner of an AG or GmbH, you are even obliged by law to report the over-indebtedness of your company to the bankruptcy judge and to deposit the balance sheet. If you do not do this, you risk being held responsible later for the damage caused. This obligation does not apply to owners of a sole proprietorship or general partnership. They can only file a declaration of insolvency. If you run an AG or GmbH, you have two options: the over-indebtedness notice or the insolvency declaration. You must submit the notice of over-indebtedness to the court at the registered office of your company together with the following documents:

- Majority resolution of the entire board of directors - in the case of a limited liability company, of the management - on the notification of overindebtedness
- Interim balance sheet at going concern and liquidation values
- Report of a licensed auditor.

Instead of reporting overindebtedness, you can submit a declaration of insolvency for your company to the bankruptcy judge. To do this, you must submit a resolution of dissolution of the general meeting of shareholders - in the case of a GmbH, the resolution of the shareholders' meeting - notarized by a notary public. Unlike a declaration of over-indebtedness, you must pay an advance on costs for the opening of bankruptcy proceedings, which can be up to 6,000 francs depending on the court.

For a sole proprietorship or general partnership, there is only the declaration of insolvency. Individual entrepreneurs must file this at their place of residence - in the case of a general partnership at the company's registered office - and also pay the required advance on costs. After examining all the documents, the judge will open bankruptcy proceedings against your company. This is its economic end: the company is dissolved and loses the right to determine its assets. For you - whether you are the owner of a sole proprietorship or the board of directors of an AG or the managing director of a GmbH - the opening of bankruptcy proceedings entails various obligations:

- You may no longer dispose of the company's assets, otherwise you may be punished
be
-Immediately after the opening of bankruptcy proceedings, the bankruptcy office shall take an inventory of the assets
of the company. You are obligated under penalty of law to deliver to the bankruptcy office all assets
to indicate. Once the inventory is created, you must sign it and confirm its completeness.
- For each claim filed, you must
declare whether you recognize them.
- During the whole procedure you have to be at the disposal of the bankruptcy office. If you abscond, you may be penalized.