Starting a Sole Proprietorship: Step-by-Step Guide 2026

The sole proprietorship (Einzelfirma) is the simplest and most popular legal form for going self-employed in Switzerland: no minimum capital, no notary, little bureaucracy. Still, there are a few steps you should complete in the right order. Here is your complete guide for 2026.

Overview: these steps await you

Step	Mandatory?	Costs
1. Validate business idea & check name	Yes	CHF 0
2. Commercial register entry	From CHF 100’000 revenue	approx. CHF 120
3. Registration with compensation office (SVA)	Yes	CHF 0 (contributions follow)
4. VAT registration	From CHF 100’000 revenue	CHF 0
5. Arrange insurance	Partially	depends on coverage
6. Set up bookkeeping	Yes	from CHF 0

Step 1: Firm up your business idea and check your business name

Before it gets administrative, you need clarity about your offering: what are you selling, to whom, at what price? For recognition as self-employed (step 3), it helps enormously if you can already show first clients or orders.

For the business name, one central rule applies: the name of a sole proprietorship must include your family name. Additions describing your business are allowed:

• “Huber Schreinerei”
• “Webdesign Meier”
• “Bianchi Consulting”

A pure fantasy name (“Skyline Solutions”) is not permitted for a sole proprietorship – for that you would need a GmbH (Swiss LLC) or an AG (Swiss stock corporation). Also check the central business name index (zefix.ch) to see whether your preferred name is already taken in the same location, and whether the matching domain is available.

Step 2: Commercial register entry – mandatory or optional?

Here your revenue decides:

• From CHF 100’000 in annual revenue, the entry in the commercial register (Handelsregister) is mandatory.
• Below that, it’s voluntary.

The fee is around CHF 120 – it can vary slightly by canton. The entry is handled by the commercial register office of your canton of domicile and can be done online or in writing.

Is the voluntary entry worth it? Often yes:

• Your business name enjoys protection at your place of business.
• You appear more professional to clients, suppliers and banks.
• Some business partners and platforms require a commercial register extract.

Against it: with the entry, debt enforcement against you proceeds by bankruptcy rather than seizure of assets, and you become subject to company disclosure rules. For most serious ventures, the advantages outweigh the drawbacks.

Step 3: Registration with the compensation office (SVA)

This is the most important administrative step – because only with recognition by the compensation office are you officially self-employed.

You register with the SVA (social insurance office) of your canton. The compensation office checks whether you are genuinely self-employed. Criteria include:

• You work for your own account and at your own risk.
• You have (ideally several) clients and are visibly active in the market.
• You determine your own work organization.

For this you typically submit copies of invoices, quotes, contracts or marketing material. After recognition, you pay AHV/IV/EO contributions on your earned income – as a self-employed person at a lower rate than employees, but without any employer contribution.

Important: without this recognition, you risk your clients being retroactively classified as employers – a problem for both sides. Complete this step early.

Step 4: VAT registration from CHF 100’000 revenue

As soon as your annual revenue reaches CHF 100’000, you are liable for VAT (MWST) and must register with the Federal Tax Administration (FTA).

Below that, registration is voluntary. Voluntary registration can pay off if you make large investments (input tax deduction) or mainly serve business clients, for whom VAT is a pass-through item anyway. For many micro-businesses with private clients, staying out is simpler and cheaper.

Tip: when registering, look into the net tax rate method (Saldosteuersatz) – it simplifies VAT accounting considerably, because you apply a single flat rate to revenue instead of tracking every input tax item individually.

Step 5: Arrange insurance

As a self-employed person you have far less automatic coverage than employees. Actively take care of:

• Professional/business liability insurance: essential depending on the industry – it covers damage you cause at clients. Precisely because you are personally liable without limit with a sole proprietorship, this is your most important protection.
• Accident insurance: not mandatory for the self-employed – can be taken out voluntarily with Suva or a private insurer.
• Daily sickness benefits: covers your loss of income during longer illness.
• Retirement provision: no mandatory occupational pension – use pillar 3a (with an increased maximum for self-employed people without a pension fund) or join a pension fund voluntarily.

If you employ staff, accident insurance and BVG (occupational pension) become mandatory for them.

Step 6: Set up your bookkeeping

The good news: as a sole proprietorship with less than CHF 500’000 in annual revenue, simplified bookkeeping is sufficient – known in Switzerland as the “Milchbüchleinrechnung” (literally “milk notebook accounting”). You simply keep records of income, expenses and your asset position.

Only from CHF 500’000 in revenue does double-entry bookkeeping become mandatory. Still, a clean system pays off from day one: a separate business account, all receipts filed digitally, ideally simple accounting software. Your tax return (the business profit is your private income) becomes a walk in the park instead of a nail-biter.

Starting for free: is that possible?

Yes. The sole proprietorship is the cheapest legal form anyway – and through formation platforms like Fasoon, a guided formation is even free, financed via partner offers (e.g. a business account or insurance) that you need anyway. You save yourself the paperwork for the commercial register and SVA registration.

Which provider fits you depends on your needs – our provider comparison calculator gives you a personal recommendation in two minutes, and on the comparison page you can see all providers side by side.

And if the sole proprietorship isn’t the right fit after all?

Unsure whether the sole proprietorship is the right legal form – for example because of the unlimited liability, or because you’re founding as a team? Then read our detailed comparison GmbH or sole proprietorship?. And if you grow later: converting a sole proprietorship into a GmbH is possible at any time.

Conclusion

Starting a sole proprietorship in 2026 takes just a few days: choose a name including your family name, enter it in the commercial register for around CHF 120 if needed, register as self-employed with the SVA, think about VAT from CHF 100’000 in revenue, arrange your insurance and keep simple books. You need no starting capital – and with the right provider, the formation itself costs you nothing either. Find out now with the comparison calculator which route is fastest for you.