Accounting software for small businesses: 8 criteria

Marco is a graphic designer with his own sole proprietorship, CHF 80,000 in revenue, no employees. Sandra runs a GmbH with two employees and has been registered for VAT since last year. Both are looking for accounting software, and both are comparing prices. (They are made up, but the situation is typical.)

The problem: they are comparing the wrong thing. For Marco, software with a payroll module and a supplier payment run would be money down the drain. Sandra, on the other hand, won't get through her year-end closing with a simple income and expenditure tool. So before you compare prices, work out what your business actually needs.

01Start with your legal form

Your legal form determines which kind of bookkeeping you must keep (Art. 957 CO):

• Sole proprietorship or general partnership below CHF 500,000 in revenue: recording income, expenses and your financial position is enough. This simple income and expenditure accounting is what Marco needs.
• Sole proprietorship from CHF 500,000 in revenue: double-entry bookkeeping with balance sheet and income statement.
• GmbH and AG: always double-entry bookkeeping, from the very first franc. That is Sandra's case.

Not sure which legal form suits you? The legal form comparison will help. What simple bookkeeping involves is explained in income and expenditure accounting.

02The 8 criteria

1. Does the software do what your legal form requires?

For Marco, lean income and expenditure accounting is ideal. More bookkeeping only means more work for him. Sandra needs debits and credits, a chart of accounts based on the Swiss SME chart of accounts and, at year-end, a balance sheet and income statement. Make sure you can switch later without starting from scratch, in case your sole proprietorship grows or you set up a GmbH.

2. How convenient is VAT?

Once your business reaches CHF 100,000 in annual revenue, it becomes liable for VAT. You then file quarterly with the effective method or every six months with the net tax rate method. Good software knows both methods, calculates the return for you and creates a file you upload to the Federal Tax Administration's (ESTV) portal. If you are not (yet) liable for VAT, the software shouldn't push the topic on you.

3. QR invoices and incoming payments

The QR-bill is the standard in Switzerland. More important than creating it is what happens next: does the software recognise which invoice has been paid? This is easiest if you import your bank file (camt) and the software matches payments to open invoices. Then you see at a glance who hasn't paid yet and can send targeted reminders.

4. Receipts and supplier invoices

Every booking needs a receipt, and you keep receipts for ten years. Digital storage is allowed. So check whether you can capture receipts with a phone photo and whether the software stores them safely. With employees and many suppliers, managing payables becomes important: recording invoices, keeping track of due dates and paying them in one batch with an e-banking file. Marco hardly needs this, but it saves Sandra time every month.

5. Salaries and AHV

As a sole proprietor, you pay AHV contributions as a self-employed person; you only need payroll once you have employees. In a GmbH it's different: anyone working there is an employee, including you as the owner. Payslips, AHV deductions and the annual salary declaration then become part of the job. Whether this runs in the accounting software itself or in a separate payroll program is secondary. What matters is that payroll entries end up correctly in your books.

6. Access for your fiduciary

Many small businesses do their own bookkeeping and have a fiduciary (Treuhänder) prepare the annual accounts or the tax return. That only works well if the fiduciary can look directly into the software instead of receiving folders and Excel lists. Ask: is there separate access for the fiduciary, and does it cost extra?

7. Where is your data stored?

Your accounts contain client names, salaries and bank details. Ask where the data is stored and whether you can export all of it at any time, for example as Excel or PDF. An export is also your insurance in case you ever switch software.

8. What does it really cost?

The entry price tells you little. The cost traps are in the small print:

• Modules: VAT, payroll, bank connection or reminders cost extra.
• Users: every additional person, including your fiduciary, needs their own licence.
• Receipts and invoices: the cheap plan only allows a certain number per month.
• Switching: importing or exporting data costs money or isn't possible at all.

So calculate with the price you will pay in the second year, with everything you need included.

03How to choose

04How einzly helps

einzly comes in two versions, matching Marco and Sandra:

• einzly for sole proprietorships: invoices with QR code, expenses via receipt photo, bank reconciliation, VAT with net tax rate or effective method, and income and expenditure accounting that makes your tax return easy.
• einzly Business for GmbH and AG: double-entry bookkeeping based on the Swiss SME chart of accounts, payables with a payment file for e-banking, VAT with export for the ESTV portal, year-end assistant. CHF 35 per month or CHF 29 with an annual plan, excl. VAT, everything included.
• Both: free access for your fiduciary.

05Sources and legal basis

• Swiss Code of Obligations (CO, SR 220): Art. 957, 957a, 958 and 958f (duty to keep accounts, simple and double-entry bookkeeping, annual accounts, retention). Fedlex, retrieved 22.10.2026
• VAT Act (MWSTG, SR 641.20): Art. 10, 35 and 37 (VAT liability from CHF 100,000, reporting period, net tax rate). Fedlex, retrieved 22.10.2026
• Federal Act on Old-Age and Survivors' Insurance (AHVG, SR 831.10): Art. 14 and 51 (collection of contributions, employer obligations). Fedlex, retrieved 22.10.2026
• Schweizer Kontenrahmen KMU, Mattle/Helbling/Pfaff, Verlag SKV, 2nd edition 2023, pp. 15–18 (in German)

06Frequently asked questions