Checklist for founding a sole proprietorship

This checklist for founding a sole proprietorship contains the most important points for preparing and founding a sole proprietorship.

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The following checklist will help you to consider all the relevant things so that a start-up can be carried out without any problems. A distinction is made between the preparation for incorporation and the incorporation process itself.

Preparation

In the preparation phase, a company founder must consider the following things:

  1. Company name (Must include the family name)
  2. Purpose (an appropriate purpose for the sole proprietorship must be defined in your own words)
  3. Domicile (registered office of the sole proprietorship)
  4. Authorized signatories (authorized signatories for the sole proprietorship)
  5. Value added tax (VAT must be paid on turnover of CHF 100,000 or more; voluntary subordination is possible below this amount)
  6. BVG pension fund assets (pension fund assets can be withdrawn in advance when founding a sole proprietorship)
  7. Advertising materials (company logo, letterhead, business cards, etc.)

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Incorporation

Once the preparatory phase has been completed, the actual incorporation can be carried out. The following must be taken into account when setting up:

  1. Formation (Calculate a quote for the formation of your sole proprietorship at www.startups.ch, register at www.startups.ch and enter the necessary data into the system)
  2. Notarization (Sign the documents required to set up the sole proprietorship and have your signature notarized)
  3. Entry in the commercial register (Send the commercial register application back to Startups.ch)
  4. Receive the extract from the commercial register (After 2-4 weeks (depending on the canton) you will receive the extract from the commercial register, which will first be checked by Startups.ch)
  5. Social insurance (After receiving the extract from the commercial register, registration with the cantonal compensation office is mandatory)
  6. Registration for value added tax
  7. Advertising material & Internet domain (ordering of advertising material and registration of the Internet domain)
  8. Fiduciary services (Startups.ch provides a broad network of fiduciary partners if you need support with bookkeeping or tax accounting)
  9. Brand protection (Startups.ch helps you to protect your company name or logo)
  10. Optional: early withdrawal of pension fund money