Smiling advisor with a headset at their workstation

Everything that matters about accounting automation checklist in Trin

Delegate, digitalise or do it all yourself? Around accounting automation in Trin, every SME draws its own line. The reference points below — federal law, cantonal practice and lessons from the field — help you place the cursor well.

Digitalising accounting automation: what actually works

Accounting digitalisation always follows the same path: capture documents at the source (photo or PDF upload), let automatic recognition extract supplier, amount, date and VAT, approve the proposed entries, then archive each document linked to its entry. Every step removes a re-keying — and therefore an error source.

For an owner in Trin, a dashboard only has value if the data is fresh: automating data entry means, first of all, buying up-to-date information about your own business.

The Swiss legal frame for accounting automation

For an owner in Trin, the question is never “do we need accounts?” but “at what level of detail?”. The CO sets the floor; the bank, the tax office and the shareholders set the rest.

Late books show from the outside: poorly calibrated tax instalments, provisional filings, slow answers to the bank. Staying current is also a matter of image.

A well-structured SME chart of accounts

Nearly all Swiss SMEs rely on the standard SME chart of accounts (Sterchi/Käfer): classes 1 (assets) to 9 (closing), with revenue in class 3 and expenses in classes 4 to 6. Using this standard structure makes conversations with your fiduciary, auditor and tax administration far easier.

For a business in Trin, the Sterchi/Käfer structure also eases benchmarking: banks and fiduciaries reason on those standard classes to situate an SME's accounting automation.

Professional in a suit reviewing documents

QR-bills and friction-free collections

Instalments and partial payments are handled cleanly with distinct references per tranche: each collection finds its share, and the remaining balance stays correct at all times.

A business in Trin can collect by QR-bill even without sophisticated software: what matters is that every incoming payment finds its invoice, manually or automatically.

Trin: what changes, what does not

Sole proprietorship, Sàrl or SA in Trin: the AHV contact remains the competent compensation office, and taxes follow the scales of the canton Grisons.

Trin requires no special bookkeeping: the Code of Obligations applies at postal code 7014 as everywhere else, and a well-kept digital file transfers smoothly to any auditor in the canton.

Frequently asked questions

Effective VAT method or net tax rate: how to choose?

The effective method deducts actual input VAT and files quarterly; the net tax rate method applies a flat industry rate to turnover, semi-annually, with no separate input VAT deduction. The flat rate suits low-cost structures; as investments grow, the effective method usually wins again. The choice rests on the company's own figures, in Trin as anywhere.

Which social contributions does a Swiss employer pay?

AHV/IV/APG: 5.3% employer share (the same is withheld from the employee); unemployment insurance: 1.1% each up to CHF 148,200 a year; occupational pension (LPP) by age and plan (employer at least 50%); occupational accident insurance paid by the employer; family allowances by canton. For an employer in Trin, family allowances follow the canton's rates.

How long must records related to accounting automation be kept?

Ten years from the end of the financial year concerned (art. 958f CO). Electronic retention is permitted if the integrity and readability of the records are guaranteed — a serious digital archive validly replaces paper binders. A business in Trin can therefore archive fully digitally.

What is the difference between a limited and an ordinary audit?

The ordinary audit applies to companies exceeding, for two consecutive years, two of three thresholds: CHF 20 million balance sheet total, CHF 40 million revenue, 250 full-time positions. Others fall under the limited audit, and those with no more than ten full-time positions on annual average can opt out with all shareholders' consent. These federal thresholds do not depend on the registered seat — in Trin as anywhere.

Also worth reading

In neighbouring municipalities

Switch to accounting that keeps itself up to date

MyFiducia.ai automates accounting automation for businesses in Trin: AI-read documents, posting suggestions, VAT and exports ready for your fiduciary. Try the platform or browse our other guides.

The application is operated in French.