Launch your Swiss GmbH with a guided process
Organise shareholders, management, purpose and capital in one structured incorporation journey.
Your GmbH formation in brief.
With Firmbase you form your GmbH digitally as a cash incorporation. The share capital is at least CHF 20'000 and must be fully paid in. You enter everything in the guided dialog; we review, notarise and file the GmbH for registration.
When does the GmbH pay off?
You rarely get an answer to this question because it is an uncomfortable one. There is no single revenue figure at which a GmbH becomes “right”. There is an honest calculation. On one side sit the GmbH's recurring costs: double-entry bookkeeping, annual accounts and the company's own tax return. Depending on how much you handle yourself, that is a few hundred to several thousand francs a year.
On the other side sit three reasons that justify the effort. Your private assets are separated from the business risk. Some clients — larger ones especially — prefer or even require contracting with a company rather than a sole proprietor. And you can structure salary and profit separately. If those three do not outweigh the costs, you are better served by a sole proprietorship for now.
Your share capital: blocked first, working capital after
The share capital is not a fee and not a deposit. You pay it from your own account into a capital-payment account. The bank checks where the money comes from and accepts neither cash nor transfers from third parties. Until registration the amount stays blocked.
Then the picture flips: the capital is released and becomes ordinary company assets. You build the business with it — equipment, rent, salaries. What does not work: raising the capital only on paper, say through a loan that flows straight back. Such constructions are not permitted.
What is public about your GmbH
In a GmbH the owners appear by name in the commercial register — anyone can look that up online. For many founders that does not matter. If you want to keep holdings discreet, the AG is the better fit.
Every later change is public too. A transfer of quota shares is a formal, notarised step and gets published. Plan the ownership before you incorporate — not after.
From sole proprietorship to GmbH: the clean way
If you already run a sole proprietorship, there are two ways. Either incorporate the GmbH from scratch and let the sole proprietorship wind down. Or transfer the existing business into the GmbH in an orderly way. The first way looks simpler but has a catch. Vehicles, stock and running contracts of the sole proprietorship do not move across automatically.
Which way fits depends on what your sole proprietorship owns and owes. Firmbase handles the orderly transfer as its own workflow.
What your GmbH formation costs — and what's included.
How your GmbH formation runs.
Each step shows who acts, how long it takes — and what you have at the end.
Enter online
A guided dialog takes you through your formation step by step.
- Duration
- approx. 20 min
- Who
- You
Review & documents
We review your details and release the incorporation documents — within one working day.
- Duration
- up to 1 working day
- Who
- Firmbase
Capital payment
You open the capital-payment account, pay in the capital and send us the paperwork.
- Duration
- 3–10 working days
- Who
- You and your bank
Notarisation
With the signed papers, we carry out the notarisation of the incorporation deed at the notary.
- Duration
- 1 appointment, approx. 30 min
- Who
- Firmbase
Commercial register
We file the company with the commercial register and monitor the entry through to publication.
- Duration
- 3–10 working days
- Who
- Commercial registry
Frequently asked questions
Yes. A GmbH must be fully paid in at incorporation. Firmbase offers no later subsequent-payment service for a GmbH.
Not through the standard route. A contribution in kind requires additional evidence, valuation work and formal review before it can be accepted.
Spending it for the company: yes. Paying it back to yourself: no — the share capital protects the company's creditors. If you want to commit less capital permanently, that is a formal capital reduction.
For a GmbH there is no way around paying it in fully. Paper constructions — a loan that flows straight back — are not permitted. If the capital is missing, a sole proprietorship is often the more honest interim step.
Expect recurring costs for bookkeeping, annual accounts and the company’s own tax return. Depending on scope, that is a few hundred to a few thousand francs per year. These costs run in months without revenue too.
One person is enough. You can be the sole owner and also run the management. At least one authorised signatory must live in Switzerland.
Yes — working in your own GmbH counts as employment. You pay yourself a salary with the usual social-insurance contributions. That separates the GmbH from a sole proprietorship, where you count as self-employed.
Ready for the next step?
You need around 20 minutes. Your details are saved automatically. You can pause at any time and continue later.