The Kontenrahmen KMU is the standard chart of accounts used by most Swiss SMEs. It sorts every transaction into nine numbered classes, from assets through to the year-end result, so your books stay comparable, auditable, and ready for tax filing. It is not written into law. The Swiss Code of Obligations requires orderly bookkeeping and […]
A strategic CFO’s real job is not to file the VAT or run payroll; it is to understand the business well enough to say where growth and margin come from, and where they do not. Most Swiss SME founders, when they add a finance function, picture someone who takes the admin off their plate. That […]
Every dividend a Swiss company pays triggers a federal withholding tax (Verrechnungssteuer) of 35%. The company, not the shareholder, has to withhold it, report it within 30 days, and remit it to the Federal Tax Administration (ESTV). A Swiss-resident shareholder who declares the income recovers the full 35%; a foreign shareholder recovers part or all […]
Most Swiss SMEs are not legally required to use Swiss GAAP FER. The Code of Obligations (CO, art. 957 and following) is enough for the majority of companies, and it stays the basis for your tax return. You should look at Swiss GAAP FER when investors, a lender, an acquirer, or a listing plan need […]
When a Swiss SME needs capital to grow, the first question is not where to get it but what kind to get. Debt and equity are fundamentally different tools with different costs, risks, and consequences for control of the business. In 2026, with borrowing historically cheap and equity harder and more dilutive to raise, the […]
Outsourcing finance does not mean losing control. For most Swiss SMEs, it is the fastest route to more of it. The assumption runs deep. Keep finance in-house and you stay in control. Hand it out and you lose visibility. The logic sounds reasonable, and it is wrong. Control was never about doing the work yourself. […]
Most Swiss SMEs chasing cash look outward, to the bank or to investors, when the largest untapped source of liquidity is already sitting inside the business. It is locked in unpaid invoices, slow-moving stock, and supplier terms that are shorter than they need to be. Managing that pool, your working capital, is the fastest way […]
Most Swiss SME owners think of internal controls as something only large audited companies need. In reality, an internal control system (ICS) is what stands between a growing business and the everyday risks that quietly drain it: duplicate payments, fraud, misstated numbers, and decisions made on figures no one has checked. This guide sets out […]
Equity is one of the most effective ways a Swiss SME can attract and retain talent it could not otherwise afford in cash. But stock options and employee shares are also one of the most misunderstood areas of Swiss tax and payroll. Get the timing and valuation wrong and you create unexpected income-tax bills, social-security […]
Nearly one in three Swiss SMEs plans an ownership transfer within the next five years, yet most owners begin serious financial preparation far too late. For founders and owners over 50, succession is not a single event but a multi-year financial project that shapes retirement income, tax exposure, and whether the business survives the handover […]