Gäld for Accountants and Fiduciaries
This guide is for accountants, fiduciaries, and tax advisors who manage accounting for one or more clients using Gäld. It covers getting access to client organisations, navigating the data, and producing the exports you need for statutory filings and audit.
Getting access to a client's organisation
Gäld uses multi-organisation access: each client runs their own Gäld organisation, and you can be a member of multiple organisations with a single Gäld account.
Step 1 — Your client invites you
Your client goes to Settings → Users → Invite and enters your email address with the Admin role.
You receive an invitation email. Click Accept Invitation — if you already have a Gäld account, the client's organisation is added to your account automatically.
Step 2 — Switch between organisations
Once you have access to multiple organisations, use the organisation switcher in the sidebar to switch between them. Each organisation is completely isolated — data from one client is never visible to another.
The Accounting section in the sidebar groups items under sub-headings (Core, Tax & VAT, Reports & Archives, Period, Advanced) to help you find what you need faster. You can expand or collapse sidebar sections — the state is remembered across sessions.
Step 3 — Recommended access level
| Role | Recommended for accountants |
|---|---|
| Viewer | Read-only review — suitable for periodic checks |
| Member | Can create journal entries and run reports — suitable for bookkeeping assistance |
| Admin | Full access except org deletion — suitable for accountants doing the full bookkeeping |
See User Management for the complete permission matrix.
Even with Admin access, you cannot delete the organisation. Your client (the Owner) retains full control and can revoke your access at any time.
Reviewing the books
Trial balance
The trial balance is the fastest way to get an overview of the state of the books:
- Go to Accounting → Trial Balance
- Set the As of date to the period you are reviewing
- Verify that total debits = total credits
A balanced trial balance means no broken journal entries. If it does not balance, there is a data integrity issue — contact support.
Profit & Loss
- Reports → Profit & Loss
- Set date range to the full fiscal year
- Review revenue and expense account balances
Toggle Show Budget if your client has set up a budget — useful for understanding whether variances were planned.
Balance Sheet
- Reports → Balance Sheet
- Set As of date to 31 December (or the fiscal year-end date)
- Verify Assets = Liabilities + Equity
VAT report review
- Reports → VAT Report
- Select each quarter (or the annual period)
- Verify the declared amounts match the filed declarations
- Check that a settlement entry was posted for each filing period
See VAT Report.
Aging report
- Reports → Aging
- Check receivables for old unpaid invoices that may need to be written off
- Check payables for obligations not yet reflected in the cash position
See Aging Report.
Journal entries and corrections
If you need to make year-end adjustments (accruals, reclassifications, write-offs):
- Go to Accounting → Journal Entries → New Entry
- Enter the debit and credit lines
- Add a description that clearly identifies this as a fiduciary adjustment
- Click Post
You can post entries with a date in a closed period. This will change the reports for that period — verify the impact on VAT reports before posting.
Generating the fiduciary export
When the year-end is complete and you are ready to prepare the tax return:
- Confirm with your client that the Year-End Checklist is complete
- Go to Accounting → Fiduciary Export
- Select the fiscal year
- Click Generate ZIP
- Download
The ZIP contains:
| File | Your use |
|---|---|
journal.csv | Import into Abacus, banana.ch, or your audit tool |
balance-sheet.pdf | Basis for statutory financial statements |
income-statement.pdf | Basis for statutory financial statements |
trial-balance.csv | Year-end reconciliation |
accounts.csv | Chart of accounts for mapping |
vat-reports/ | Cross-check declarations |
invoices/ + expenses/ | Supporting documents |
See Fiduciary Export for the full file-by-file reference.
Year-end closing
Once all adjustments are made and the export is complete, run the year-end closing to lock the period:
- Accounting → Year-End Closing
- Select the fiscal year
- Confirm
After closing, no entries can be posted to the closed year without reopening it — which requires owner-level access.
Working with multiple clients efficiently
| Tip | Detail |
|---|---|
| One Gäld account, many orgs | Use the org switcher — no need to log in/out between clients |
| Bookmark per-org URLs | Each organisation has a unique URL segment |
| Check the trial balance first | Fastest diagnostic for any new engagement |
| Use Viewer role for audit-only | Prevents accidental postings during review |
Frequently asked questions
Can I grant access to a colleague or junior in my fiduciary firm? Yes. With Admin access, you can invite additional users to your client's organisation. Note that the role you assign them cannot exceed your own role.
Does Gäld support multiple currency organisations? No. Gäld is CHF-only in v1.10.0. Foreign currency transactions must be converted to CHF at the transaction date.
Can I mass-export data across all my clients? Not currently. You generate one fiduciary export per organisation.
My client is on the Community Edition (self-hosted) — can I still access their Gäld? Yes, if their server is accessible from the internet (or you are on the same network). The invitation flow is identical.