Setting Up a Company Online: What Is Possible

“Set up your company online in a few clicks”: the slogan is everywhere, but the Swiss reality is more nuanced. Many steps can indeed be handled remotely and digitally, while others still carry requirements that call for physical presence or the involvement of third parties. Understanding where the digital ends and the formal obligation begins avoids mistaken expectations and surprises over timing. Let us look at what is truly possible.

What “setting up online” means

Setting up a company means completing a series of steps: preparing the articles of association, paying in the capital, formalising the deed of incorporation, registering with the commercial register, and activating tax and insurance obligations. “Online” does not mean that every single step happens on a website: it means that most of the document and coordination flow can be handled remotely, keeping physical travel to a minimum.

What can be done remotely

The preparatory part is today largely digital:

• Choosing the legal form and defining the structure (shareholders, quotas, governance).
• Drafting the articles of association and the incorporation documents, with online exchange and review.
• Collecting the data and documents of shareholders and directors (identity, addresses, declarations).
• Checking the availability of the company name with the register.
• Preparing the application for registration with the commercial register.
• Coordinating with the bank to open the account and deposit the capital.

For a simple company, with shareholders in agreement and a standard structure, this phase can be completed quickly without ever meeting in person.

Where formal steps are still needed

A few junctures remain that are not a simple “click”:

• The public deed of incorporation: for the GmbH and the AG, incorporation requires a notarial deed. The notary verifies the identity of the founders, the intention to incorporate and the execution of the contributions. It is the link that gives the operation public standing. The way the notary works — physical presence, power of attorney, remote tools where permitted — depends on practice and on the canton.
• Depositing the capital: the capital (a minimum of CHF 20,000 for the GmbH, CHF 100,000 of share capital for the AG with at least the legal minimum paid up) must be paid into a blocked deposit account at a bank, which issues the certificate required for the deed. Opening the account involves identity and anti-money-laundering checks.
• Registration with the commercial register: this is the act that brings the company into existence as a legal entity. The application must be signed by those entitled and filed with the competent register.

In practice, the digital speeds things up and simplifies them, but incorporating a GmbH or AG still goes through the notary, the bank and the register.

The identification bottleneck

The most sensitive point of the remote process is the identification of individuals. Notaries and banks must establish with certainty who the founders are, for legal and anti-money-laundering reasons. This is where “100% online” processes meet their limits: depending on the situation, remote identification may suffice, or an authenticated signature, a power of attorney or physical presence may be required. For founders resident abroad the issue is even more delicate.

Real timelines

On timing it is worth being honest. The preparatory phase can close within a few days. The typical bottlenecks are:

• opening the account and the capital deposit certificate, which depend on the bank’s checks;
• the notary’s availability for the deed;
• the commercial register’s processing times, which vary by canton and period.

A realistic timeline for a standard company ranges from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how smoothly the bank, notary and register move. Formulas promising incorporation “in 24 hours” usually describe only the documentary phase, not the entire cycle through to registration.

What to remember after incorporation

The company is not “finished” at registration. Immediately afterwards a number of obligations must be activated, most of which can also be handled largely online:

• VAT registration if the CHF 100,000 turnover threshold is exceeded (or expected to be exceeded);
• registration with the social insurance schemes (AVS/AI/IPG — state old-age, disability and loss-of-earnings insurance, and the others if there are employees);
• representation in Switzerland: the company must be able to be represented by at least one person domiciled there;
• accounting from the outset, with full double-entry accounting mandatory above CHF 500,000 in turnover.

In summary

Setting up online, in Switzerland, means digitising and coordinating most of the process remotely — articles of association, data, application, relations with bank and notary — but it does not eliminate the formal steps of the public deed, the capital deposit and the registration with the register. The value of a well-organised process lies precisely in handling the digital where possible and keeping the steps that remain formal running smoothly.

Do you want to set up your company by handling online everything that can be handled, without getting lost in the formal steps? SIH ONE’s incorporation service coordinates the notary, bank and register from start to finish.