Outsource or do it yourself?

The three items

First the software subscription: a median of CHF 25.– a month. Second your own time, at the rate you would otherwise charge a client. Third what a fiduciary ends up doing anyway.

The third item decides the calculation and is the one most often forgotten. Annual statements and the tax return sit in no Swiss accounting program. In the fiduciary prices on this page they are included.

What the software price covers

The running work: entering documents, reconciling the bank, filing VAT, writing invoices. The program does not do it — you do it with the program. The price buys a tool, not work.

For the year-end close you need someone who knows what has to be capitalised, accrued and provisioned. For the tax return, someone who knows your canton’s practice. You buy both on top — and only then does the comparison with the prices on this page hold.

The question is not what is cheaper. The question is whose time the bookkeeping costs.

When each answer fits

Outsource if your time is worth more than the fee, if you have irregular cases — foreign currency, withholding tax, changing employment — or if you do not want to carry responsibility for the close. The price is predictable because it falls monthly instead of arriving in spring as a surprise.

Do it yourself if your business is simple and steady and you want to see your figures continuously rather than learn them quarterly. Whoever keeps their own books understands their business better. That is not a soft advantage — it is why many stay with it even where the arithmetic says otherwise.

The fiduciary prices

Five sample businesses, 4 providers, the same scope everywhere including statements and tax return. Monthly prices in francs, excluding VAT.

Sample business	SEBONA Treuhand	Findea.ch	Leuchtenstadt Treuhand	Paradies Treuhand
Side business15 documents/mo. · 0 payslips	CHF 158	CHF 221	CHF 340	CHF 350
Self-employed40 documents/mo. · 0 payslips	CHF 291	CHF 412	CHF 590	CHF 350
One-person GmbH50 documents/mo. · 1 payslip	CHF 409	CHF 564	CHF 650	CHF 600
GmbH with a team150 documents/mo. · 8 payslips	CHF 1’066	CHF 1’287	CHF 1’550	CHF 1’250
Established AG400 documents/mo. · 25 payslips	CHF 2’692	CHF 2’925	CHF 3’925	not researched