Businesses
Setting up and running a company in French-speaking Switzerland
Business formalities are nobody's trade. They end up in the evening on the desk of someone who had something else to do. Here, what you need to know is written down in black and white, and if a point stays unclear, write to us: we look for the answer at the source. The file remains yours.
Going self-employed: the steps, in order
Optional register entry, AVS recognition, the sliding contribution scale, the LPP threshold, the Bern scale, the journey told in the order it is lived, with verified figures.
Read →Set upSole proprietorship, Sàrl (LLC), SA (Ltd)
Capital to put in, what you risk on your private assets, what becomes public. The four criteria that actually decide.
Read →Set upFrom the notary to the commercial register
Who needs a notary and who does not, what the notary really certifies, the blocked capital account, and why the lead time runs from 5 to 60 days.
Read →Get startedProfessional networks and incubators
Venditum, FONGIT, EPFL Innovation Park, Innovaud, Genilem: who each one is for, and the difference between a network and an incubator.
Read →Set upRegistered office: where your company lives
The seat decides which register, which canton taxes you, and the address where registered mail reaches you. Your own premises, a c/o address, or a commercial domiciliation.
Read →HireThe first employee: seven obligations at once
Employer AVS, unemployment insurance, family allowances, LAA, LPP, withholding tax, salary certificate, in the order people miss them.
Read →InsureBusiness insurance, without the confusion
Two are imposed by law, for your employees only. Two by your clients. Two are a choice. And nothing is mandatory for the self-employed person themselves.
Read →RunVAT, UID, bookkeeping, audit: four thresholds
CHF 100,000 for VAT, 500,000 for full accounts, ten jobs to do without an auditor. The thresholds nobody knows.
Read →RunWhat people forget
The working-hours register, mandatory job vacancy reporting, Geneva maternity insurance, and a tax you will still hear about although it was abolished in 2024.
Read →GenevaThe professional parking permit
CHF 400 a year in Geneva. The three documents to provide, and the condition that gets half of small businesses' applications rejected.
Read →In preparation
- A cross-border employee's permit: the OCPM procedure in detail
- Trade-specific licences and permits
- Selling, transferring or closing a business
These topics are not written yet. The question still comes up: write to contact@wezon.ch and we look for the answer at the source.
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