Registering as Self-Employed in Switzerland: Step by Step

Becoming self-employed in Switzerland means registering with the right bodies and setting up your contributions. The process is straightforward once you know the order.

The first step: compensation fund

Register with your cantonal compensation fund (Ausgleichskasse). They assess whether your activity is genuinely self-employed and set your AHV/IV/EO contribution basis.

The compensation fund examines your situation — number of clients, economic risk, your own infrastructure — before confirming your self-employed status.

This registration is the foundation for everything else, because your AHV status flows from it. Start here, ideally before your first invoice.

You will be asked for a business plan or a description of your activity, and possibly estimates of your expected income for the first year.

• Register with the cantonal compensation fund.
• They assess your self-employed status.
• They set your contribution basis.

Then: VAT and trade register

If your turnover will exceed CHF 100,000, register for VAT. If you run a sole proprietorship that will carry a commercial name, entry in the trade register (Handelsregister) may be required.

VAT registration is only needed once you cross the threshold, but you can register voluntarily earlier if your client base or purchases justify it.

Trade register entry becomes mandatory when your business is commercial in nature. A small freelance activity often falls below that bar, but it is worth checking.

Decide your legal form before these registrations. A sole proprietorship and a GmbH follow different registration paths and requirements.

Set up from day one

Open a separate business bank account early. Mixing personal and business money creates a bookkeeping mess that is expensive to untangle.

Set aside a fixed percentage of every payment you receive for social contributions and taxes. A separate savings account for this purpose keeps the money safe from spending.

Use accounting software from the start rather than switching mid-year. Clean, continuous records make your first tax return far easier.

What to prepare

Gather your identification, a description of your planned activity, and an estimate of first-year income before contacting the compensation fund.

Think through your client structure and pricing before registering. The fund may ask about your clients to confirm genuine self-employment.

Decide on your accounting method — you can often use simplified cash-based accounting if your turnover stays modest. Ask what applies to you.

facturio covers the invoicing side from your first client, giving you a clean, organised record of income that feeds directly into your bookkeeping.