Glossary
This glossary explains accounting and Gäld-specific terms in plain language. If you are new to accounting, start here.
General Accounting Terms
Double-entry bookkeeping
Every financial transaction is recorded in at least two accounts: one is debited and the other is credited. Total debits always equal total credits. This is the international standard used by businesses of all sizes — and the system Gäld uses.
Debit and Credit
These do not mean "minus" and "plus". They refer to the side of an account:
| Account type | Debit increases | Credit increases |
|---|---|---|
| Asset (e.g. bank, cash) | ✅ | |
| Liability (e.g. loans, payables) | ✅ | |
| Revenue (e.g. sales) | ✅ | |
| Expense (e.g. rent, salaries) | ✅ | |
| Equity (e.g. owner's capital) | ✅ |
Example: You receive CHF 1'000 from a client → Debit Bank (asset goes up), Credit Revenue (income goes up).
Chart of Accounts (Kontenrahmen)
A structured list of all accounts used to classify financial transactions. Gäld ships with the Swiss SME chart of accounts (Kontenrahmen KMU) pre-configured. Accounts are grouped by class:
| Class | Category | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Assets | Bank, Accounts Receivable |
| 2 | Liabilities | Accounts Payable, VAT Due |
| 3 | Revenue | Sales, Service Income |
| 4 | Cost of Goods | Material Costs |
| 5 | Personnel | Salaries, Social Charges |
| 6 | Other Expenses | Rent, Insurance |
| 8 | Extraordinary | Non-recurring items |
| 9 | Closing | Opening/Closing balances |
Journal Entry
A record of a single transaction showing which accounts are debited and credited, the amounts, the date, and a description. In Gäld, journal entries are created automatically when you post invoices, record expenses, or process bank transactions.
Ledger
The complete collection of all journal entries for all accounts. Gäld's ledger is the source of truth for all financial reports.
Posting
The act of finalizing a transaction and writing it to the ledger. Posted entries cannot be edited — they can only be reversed with a contra entry (a correcting entry that cancels the original).
Reconciliation
The process of matching your bank statement transactions against your accounting records to ensure they agree. In Gäld, you import bank statements (CAMT format) and match each transaction to an invoice payment or expense.
Fiscal Year
The 12-month accounting period your business uses for financial reporting. In Switzerland, most businesses use the calendar year (1 Jan – 31 Dec), but other periods are allowed.
Trial Balance
A report listing all accounts with their debit and credit balances. If double-entry bookkeeping is correct, total debits equal total credits. Used to verify the ledger before preparing financial statements.
Financial Reports
Profit & Loss (P&L) / Erfolgsrechnung
A report showing revenue minus expenses over a period. The result is your net profit (or loss). Also called the income statement.
Balance Sheet / Bilanz
A snapshot of your business at a specific date showing Assets = Liabilities + Equity. It tells you what you own, what you owe, and what remains as the owner's share.
Cash Flow Statement
A report showing how cash moved in and out of your business, broken into operating, investing, and financing activities.
Swiss-Specific Terms
VAT / MWST (Mehrwertsteuer)
Swiss value-added tax. Businesses above CHF 100'000 annual revenue must register. Current rates:
| Rate | Name | Use |
|---|---|---|
| 8.1% | Normal | Most goods and services |
| 2.6% | Reduced | Food, books, medicine |
| 3.8% | Accommodation | Hotels, short-term rental |
| 0% | Exempt | Healthcare, education |
QR-Bill (QR-Rechnung)
The Swiss payment standard replacing the old orange/red payment slips since 2022. Every Gäld invoice generates a QR-bill automatically, containing the payment reference, IBAN, amount, and creditor info in a scannable QR code.
CAMT (Cash Management)
An ISO 20022 XML format used by Swiss banks for electronic bank statements. Gäld imports CAMT.053 files (account statements) to automatically match payments and reconcile accounts.
AVS/AHV (Alters- und Hinterlassenenversicherung)
Swiss old-age and survivors' insurance. Both employers and employees contribute. Gäld's payroll module calculates these deductions automatically.
LPP/BVG (Berufliche Vorsorge)
Swiss occupational pension (Pillar 2). Mandatory for employees earning above the entry threshold. Gäld tracks these contributions in the payroll module.
Gäld-Specific Terms
Organisation
A tenant in Gäld representing one business entity. Each organisation has its own chart of accounts, contacts, invoices, and settings. Users can belong to multiple organisations.
Finalize
Locking an invoice so it can no longer be edited. Finalized invoices are posted to the ledger and assigned a sequential number. To correct a finalized invoice, create a credit note.
Credit Note (Avoir)
A document that partially or fully cancels an invoice. It reverses the original ledger entries. In Gäld, credit notes are linked to the original invoice.
Lettrage / Allocation
The process of matching a payment to one or more invoices (or credit notes). When a bank payment is lettered to an invoice, the invoice status changes to "paid".
Feature Flag
A setting that enables or disables a feature. In self-hosted Gäld, these are environment variables (e.g. FEATURE_BANK_SYNC=true). In the SaaS version, they are determined by your subscription plan.
Plugin
An extension that adds functionality to Gäld without modifying the core code. Plugins are installed in the plugins/ directory and auto-discovered at boot. See the Plugin Development Guide.