Most digitisation projects in small businesses do not fail because of the software. They fail because a new tool arrives while the processes around it stay the same: receipts still pile up in the shoebox, just as photos on the phone.
This guide describes five steps from everyday fiduciary work. Each can be implemented on its own — and each one already saves time, even if you leave the other four for later.
1. Capture documents where they arise
The most expensive moment in bookkeeping is when somebody has to search for a receipt. So the obvious step pays off first: the document is captured the moment it arises — at the petrol station, while shopping, on receiving the supplier invoice.
In practice that means: an email address suppliers send their invoices to directly, and an app to photograph paper receipts immediately. Everything else — recognition, posting suggestion, filing — the software can take over.
If you capture the document the moment it arises, you never have to look for it again. That is the biggest time gain in the whole process.
2. Automate bank reconciliation
The second big time sink is matching payments. Almost all Swiss banks deliver statements in CAMT format. Once imported, the software matches payments to open invoices by itself — via reference, amount and date.
- Use the QR reference: Invoices with a QR payment part are identified unambiguously when payment arrives.
- Rules instead of manual work: Define recurring entries such as rent or subscriptions once.
- Make differences visible: Whatever cannot be matched belongs on a list — not into oblivion.
3. Think VAT from the result backwards
Many businesses record entries all year and only discover at filing time that VAT codes are missing or wrong. The reverse route is smarter: first decide what the return should look like — effective or net tax rate — and align the chart of accounts accordingly.
If every expense and income account has its default VAT code, the return comes together as a by-product. The quarterly filing then becomes a check, not a reconstruction.
4. Spread the closing across the year
Year-end closing is rarely laborious because it is complicated — but because twelve months of backlog get processed at once. If you accrue monthly, book depreciation as you go and reconcile accounts regularly, there is little to do in January.
A simple rhythm is enough: once a month reconcile the bank, review receivables and payables, add missing documents. That is rarely more than two hours.
5. Clarify how you work with your fiduciary
Digitisation does not replace the fiduciary — it shifts their role. If they see the same data in real time, the back and forth with folders and exports disappears. What matters is clarifying up front who does what.
- Who captures documents on an ongoing basis — you or the fiduciary firm?
- Who books payroll, who prepares the VAT return?
- When does the fiduciary review things: monthly, quarterly, annually?
Answer these three questions cleanly once, and you prevent most misunderstandings in the year ahead.
What you can realistically expect
The changeover costs time at the start — above all importing the existing figures and defining the rules. But that effort is one-off. What remains afterwards is a set of books that shows the current position instead of the one from two quarters ago.
And that is where the real value lies: not in the hour saved, but in decisions being based on current figures.
These five steps in one solution
Document recognition, CAMT reconciliation, VAT and closing — all included, CHF 29 per month.