This page inFRDEENAR

Advisor handing a document and pen to a client

Accounting for garages in Paudex: what every SME should know

Whether you run a Sàrl, an SA or a sole proprietorship in Paudex, accounting eventually lands on your desk. Here are the practical reference points — legal basis, deadlines and common pitfalls — to decide with a clear head.

The Swiss legal frame for accounting

AHV audits and VAT audits follow the same logic: start from the documents, trace to the entries, check consistency. A business in Paudex with a clean audit trail sails through these exercises.

The annual accounts (art. 958 CO) consist of the balance sheet, the income statement and the notes; they must be drawn up within six months of the year-end so the general meeting can approve them. A delay here cascades into the tax return and the final social insurance settlements.

Outsource accounting or keep it in-house?

Outsourcing does not exempt you from understanding: an owner who can read the balance sheet and the income statement challenges the fiduciary better — and pays for advice, not re-keying.

For accounting, a quarterly 30-minute check-in with the fiduciary beats an annual marathon: questions get handled while they are small.

A Swiss SME's accounting calendar

The professionals' trick: handle every deadline at D-30, not D-1. A VAT return prepared a month early leaves time to chase a missing document without penalty.

Handing deadline monitoring to a tool is no luxury: automatic reminders, a status per obligation, and an “all green” view that clears the mind. What matters is not who ticks the box — but that the box exists and everyone can see it.

Advisor handing a document and pen to a client

Digitalising accounting: 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.

The winning pair for accounting: a single inbox (e-mail, scan, photo) and one simple rule — no document sits more than a few days without a proposed entry.

Paudex: what changes, what does not

Working with a fiduciary from Paudex no longer depends on geography: the documents of a business in Paudex are shared online, while the canton Vaud keeps its own deadlines for the tax return.

Federal deadlines do not move in Paudex: VAT within 60 days, salary declaration in January, 10-year record retention — postal code 1094 changes nothing about those rules, only the sender's address.

Frequently asked questions

When must a business register for VAT?

As soon as its worldwide annual turnover reaches CHF 100,000 (CHF 250,000 for non-profit sports or cultural associations). Below that, voluntary registration remains possible and often makes sense to reclaim input VAT on investments. The threshold is federal: it applies in Paudex as everywhere in Switzerland.

Which documents should be prepared for the year-end closing?

Bank and cash statements at the closing date, the inventory of stock and work in progress, final AHV/LPP/accident settlements, contracts signed or amended during the year, invoices straddling two years and the detail of accruals. With an up-to-date document archive, most of it is already there. The list is identical in Paudex: the CO dictates it, not the commune.

What are the legal obligations for accounting in Switzerland?

The foundation is the Code of Obligations: proper bookkeeping (art. 957a CO), annual accounts (balance sheet, income statement, notes) and 10-year retention of books and records (art. 958f CO). VAT applies from CHF 100,000 of turnover, and social insurance settlements from the first employee. Nothing is different in Paudex: federal law applies.

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 Paudex as anywhere.

Also worth reading

In neighbouring municipalities

Switch to accounting that keeps itself up to date

MyFiducia.ai automates accounting for businesses in Paudex: 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.