The Swiss chart of accounts for SMEs

The chart of accounts is the backbone of your bookkeeping. It is the ordered list of accounts on which you record every transaction: if it is well built, the balance sheet and the income statement almost compile themselves and the data become readable. If it is disorganised or improvised, every closing becomes a battle. For Swiss SMEs there is a reference standard that is worth adopting from the outset.

The reference standard for SMEs

In Switzerland most small and medium-sized enterprises adopt the SME chart of accounts (KMU-Kontenrahmen), an established structure that organises the accounts into numerical classes consistent with the logic of the Code of Obligations (CO). Using precisely that scheme is not a legal obligation, but the CO requires that bookkeeping be clear, complete and comprehensible to a competent third party: a recognised standard is the simplest way to meet this requirement.

The practical advantage is twofold. On the one hand, anyone reading your accounts — auditor, bank, tax office — finds a familiar structure. On the other, accounting software is already set up on this scheme, so you reduce coding errors.

The logic of the classes

The chart is organised into classes identified by the first digit of the account number. The structure follows the natural order of the balance sheet and income statement:

Class 1 — Assets: liquidity, receivables, inventory, fixed assets. You start from the most liquid assets (cash, bank) towards the least liquid (machinery, real estate).
Class 2 — Liabilities: short- and long-term debts, provisions and equity.
Class 3 — Revenue from supplies and services.
Class 4 — Costs of materials and goods (direct purchases linked to revenue).
Classes 5 and 6 — Personnel costs and other operating costs (rents, administration, depreciation).
Class 7 — Ancillary results and secondary activities.
Class 8 — Extraordinary results, taxes and operating result.
Class 9 — Closing and clearing accounts.

The first two classes build the balance sheet; the classes from 3 onwards build the income statement. It is this correspondence that makes the standard so efficient.

From classes to detail accounts

Each class is broken down into ledgers (second digit) and detail accounts (subsequent digits). The bank account, for example, lives in class 1; gross salaries in class 5; VAT expenditure and the clearing accounts with the FTA (Federal Tax Administration) find a precise place among assets and liabilities.

One guiding principle: open only the accounts you really need. An oversized chart of accounts, with hundreds of lines that are never used, is as useless as one that is too rough. It is better to start from an essential version and add detail when an activity grows in volume and deserves separate analysis.

The most frequent mistakes

Mixing private and business expenses on the same account: in GmbHs and AGs this creates tax and transparency problems, as well as distorting the result.
Not separating VAT: input and output VAT accounts must be kept distinct in order to correctly reconcile the quarterly returns with the FTA.
Creating “miscellaneous” accounts that are too capacious: when a generic account collects significant amounts, you lose the ability to understand where the money really goes.
Changing the structure every year: comparability over time is valuable. Continual changes make it impossible to compare different financial years.

Why it matters more than it seems

The chart of accounts is not a technical formality. It is the instrument that turns thousands of entries into useful information: how much personnel really costs, what the margin on products is, where debts accumulate. A well-designed structure gives you back reliable indicators without manual reworking, and simplifies both the annual closing and the dialogue with the bank or an investor.

For corporations, where full accounting is mandatory from the very first franc, a robust chart of accounts is not optional: it is the precondition for complying with the principles of clarity and continuity imposed by the CO.

How we work

At SIH ONE we set up the chart of accounts based on your real activity, starting from the SME standard and adapting it to the sector and volumes, without weighing it down with unnecessary lines. Ongoing bookkeeping is pre-processed by our AI systems and validated by a qualified professional, so the structure stays consistent over time and the year-end closing becomes an orderly step rather than a scramble.

Do you want a chart of accounts built around your business and ready to scale? Let’s talk about it.