Gäld for SMEs

This guide walks you through Gäld as a small or medium-sized enterprise (PME / KMU). It covers team setup, payroll, asset management, and the richer reporting available to businesses with multiple people involved in accounting.

Who is this guide for?

Small businesses with employees, more complex accounting needs, or multiple people managing finances — including GmbH, SA/AG, associations, and growing sole traders.

---

1. Initial setup (once)

Organisation and team

• Complete the Setup Wizard and choose the SME chart of accounts template
• Open the organisation from Organisations and use the Members section to invite team members:
  • Admin — for your accountant or finance manager (full access except org deletion)
  • Accountant — for an accountant who needs full accounting and reporting access without user management
  • Member — for staff who record expenses or manage invoices
  • Employee — for employee self-service access to own expenses and salary slips
  • Viewer — for board members or investors who need read-only access

See User Management for the full RBAC role matrix.

Set up your bank accounts

• Go to Banking → Add Account and enter each bank account (main operating account, VAT account, savings)
• Import CAMT.053/054 bank statements via Banking → Import to begin reconciliation

---

2. Invoicing and receivables

Standard invoices

Issue invoices with QR-Bill PDF for Swiss B2B and B2C customers. See Invoices.

Recurring invoices

For subscription contracts or monthly service agreements:

1. Invoices → Recurring → New Recurring Invoice
2. Set frequency, start date, and enable Auto-finalize

See Recurring Invoices.

Credit notes

For returns, corrections, or settlement discounts after an invoice is finalized:

1. Open the original invoice → Create Credit Note
2. Adjust amounts if partial, then Save and Post

See Credit Notes.

Monitor overdue receivables

• Review Reports → Aging weekly
• Review each overdue document from the report, then open the invoice to send a reminder
• Configure recurring reminder processing where available in the invoicing workflow; Aging itself is read-only

See Aging Report and Payment Reminders.

---

3. Payroll

Monthly payroll run

1. Go to Payroll → Run Payroll when payroll processing is enabled for the organisation and your role has payroll write permission
2. Select the month and adjust salaries if needed
3. Review AHV/ALV/NBU deductions and employer contributions
4. Click Post Payroll to post to the ledger and generate salary slips

See Payroll for the full 4-step wizard, contribution rates, and year-end obligations.

Employees

Add, manage, and archive employees under Payroll → Employees. Each employee stores their AHV number, contract type, and gross salary.

---

4. Fixed assets

Adding assets

When you purchase equipment, vehicles, or software with a useful life of more than one year:

1. Assets → New Asset
2. Enter purchase price, category (IT, vehicle, furniture…), and depreciation method
3. The depreciation schedule is calculated automatically

Annual depreciation

At year-end, go to Assets → Post Depreciation → Post All to record one year's depreciation for all active assets.

See Fixed Assets for the full workflow including asset disposal.

---

5. Budget and planning

Create a budget

1. Budget → New Budget
2. Enter monthly revenue and expense targets for each account
3. Click Set as Active

Track performance throughout the year

• Reports → Profit & Loss → review budget columns when a budget is configured
• Columns: Actual / Budget / Variance (CHF) / Variance (%)
• Enable Compare with on the P&L page to place two periods side by side

See Budget.

---

6. Monthly reporting

Report	Where	Frequency
P&L vs budget	Reports → Profit & Loss (Show Budget)	Monthly
Aging receivables	Reports → Aging (Receivables)	Weekly / Monthly
Aging payables	Reports → Aging (Payables)	Monthly
Cash flow	Reports → Cash Flow	Monthly

See Cash Flow Report and Aging Report.

---

7. VAT (if registered)

• File quarterly via Reports → VAT Report
• Post the settlement entry in Gäld after filing
• If you have a VAT-registered subsidiary or branch: each is a separate organisation in Gäld

See VAT Report.

---

8. Year-end

1. Reconcile all bank accounts
2. Post payroll for December
3. Post depreciation for all assets (Assets → Post Depreciation → Post All)
4. Record social charges (employer AVS contributions)
5. File final VAT declaration
6. Run Accounting → Year-End Closing
7. Generate Fiduciary Export for your auditor or fiduciary

See Year-End Checklist.

---

Key pages at a glance

Task	Where in Gäld
Invite team members	Organisations → [organisation] → Members
Run monthly payroll	Payroll → Run Payroll
Add a fixed asset	Assets → New Asset
Post annual depreciation	Assets → Post Depreciation
Create / track budget	Budget
P&L vs budget	Reports → Profit & Loss
P&L comparison (periods)	Reports → Profit & Loss → Compare with
Aging receivables/payables	Reports → Aging
Cash flow	Reports → Cash Flow
Fiduciary export	Accounting → Export