Onboarding Walkthrough
When you first log in to Gäld — whether on the cloud version or self-hosted — the Setup Wizard guides you through the essential configuration. The wizard uses a 3-step visual stepper (Account → Organisation → Settings) with numbered progress pills, Back/Next navigation, and the ability to click completed steps to revisit them. This page explains each configuration area so you know what to expect and what to choose.
Step 1 — Organisation name and details
Enter your business information as it should appear on invoices and reports:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Organisation name | Legal entity name or your trading name |
| Address | Street, city, postal code, canton |
| Country | Switzerland (CHF) |
| Logo | Optional — appears on PDF invoices. PNG or SVG, recommended 400 × 200 px |
Click Next when done. You can change these settings later under Settings → Organisation.
Step 2 — Choose a chart of accounts
Gäld comes with three chart-of-accounts templates based on the Swiss KMU Kontenrahmen:
| Template | Best for |
|---|---|
| Freelancer | Sole traders, consultants, independents with simple revenue/expense structure |
| SME | Small businesses with employees, inventory, or multiple revenue streams |
| Association | Non-profit associations and clubs |
- If you invoice clients for your time or expertise and have no employees → Freelancer
- If you have employees, purchase goods for resale, or need a full asset register → SME
- If you are a registered association without commercial revenue → Association
You can add or rename accounts later — the template is a starting point, not a locked structure.
The selected template loads ~60–120 accounts organised into the Swiss double-digit account class structure (1 = assets, 2 = liabilities, 3 = revenue, etc.).
Step 3 — VAT configuration
| Option | When to choose |
|---|---|
| Not registered | Revenue below CHF 100,000/year and no voluntary registration |
| Quarterly settlement | Most registered businesses — declaration every 3 months |
| Annual settlement | If your canton tax authority approved annual filing |
Swiss MWST registration is mandatory within 30 days of reasonably expecting to exceed CHF 100,000 in taxable revenue (Federal Act on Value Added Tax (MWSTG) Art. 10 ↗). Voluntary registration is possible below this threshold — useful if you have significant input VAT to reclaim.
If you select Quarterly or Annual, enter your:
- VAT UID number (e.g. CHE-123.456.789 MWST)
- Fiscal year start month
Step 4 — Bank account
Enter your primary bank account details for QR-Bill generation:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| IBAN | Your Swiss IBAN (CH + 19 digits) |
| Account name | Label shown in Gäld (e.g. "UBS CHF", "PostFinance") |
| Account type | Current account / Savings |
You can add additional bank accounts later under Settings → Bank Accounts.
Step 5 — Invite team members (optional)
Optionally invite your accountant or a colleague right now. Enter their email and select a role. You can skip this step and invite people later from Settings → Users.
Step 6 — Done
The wizard is complete. Gäld opens the Dashboard, which shows:
- Outstanding invoices (unpaid and overdue)
- Unreconciled bank transactions
- Recent activity log
- Accounting checklist — a guided to-do list for the current month
First steps after setup
1. Add your contacts
Before creating your first invoice, add your customers:
- Contacts → New Contact
- Enter company name, address, email, and default VAT rate
Or import a CSV with multiple contacts at once (Contacts → Import).
2. Create your first invoice
- Invoices → New Invoice
- Select a customer
- Add one or more line items (description, quantity, unit price, VAT rate)
- Click Finalize
- Download the PDF — it includes a Swiss QR-Bill
3. Import your bank history (optional)
If you have existing transactions to reconcile from before using Gäld, import your CAMT.053 / MT940 file from your bank:
- Banking → Import
- Select your bank account
- Upload the file
Gäld will attempt to match transactions to any invoices you have already created.
Re-running the setup wizard
If you want to revisit the wizard (e.g. to change the chart of accounts template on a brand-new organisation):
The chart of accounts template can only be reset on an organisation with no posted journal entries. Once you have posted data, changing the template is not supported — add or rename accounts individually instead.
Go to Settings → Organisation → Reset Chart of Accounts (only available on empty organisations).
What's next?
- Freelancers: follow the Freelancer Guide for your monthly and annual routine
- SMEs: follow the SME Guide for payroll, assets, and reporting
- Need to invite an accountant? See User Management