Pen pointing at a bar chart on paper

Accounting records archiving fees in Mellingen: rules, deadlines, best practice

Delegate, digitalise or do it all yourself? Around accounting records archiving in Mellingen, every SME draws its own line. The reference points below — federal law, cantonal practice and lessons from the field — help you place the cursor well.

Digitalising accounting records archiving: what actually works

Accounting digitalisation always follows the same path: capture documents at the source (photo or PDF upload), let automatic recognition extract supplier, amount, date and VAT, approve the proposed entries, then archive each document linked to its entry. Every step removes a re-keying — and therefore an error source.

For an owner in Mellingen, a dashboard only has value if the data is fresh: automating data entry means, first of all, buying up-to-date information about your own business.

The Swiss legal frame for accounting records archiving

Three documents summarise the health of a Swiss business: the balance sheet (what it owns), the income statement (what it earns) and the notes (what else you should know). All the work of accounting records archiving converges on those three pages, in Mellingen too.

The law also settles the form: accounts may be kept in a national language or in English, on paper or electronically (art. 957a para. 5 CO). That pragmatism lets accounting records archiving run entirely on digital tools — no paper binder is required.

Outsource accounting records archiving or keep it in-house?

A good test before choosing: ask the fiduciary HOW it wants to receive the documents. A precise answer (formats, frequency, platform) says more than any brochure — including in Mellingen.

For accounting records archiving, the internal-external duo works when both sides see the same file: same entries, same documents, same deadlines. Misunderstandings are born from parallel copies.

Smiling advisor with a headset at their workstation

QR-bills and friction-free collections

Since 30 September 2022, the QR-bill has fully replaced the old Swiss payment slips. The Swiss QR Code carries the IBAN (or QR-IBAN), the amount, the debtor and a structured reference: enough to match every incoming payment to its invoice automatically.

For the debtors of a business in Mellingen, nothing changes on the payer's side: scan the code, confirm, pay. On the accounting records archiving side, everything changes: the collection entry proposes itself, the receivables ledger updates continuously and reminders go out on exact balances.

Mellingen: what changes, what does not

Working with a fiduciary from Mellingen no longer depends on geography: the documents of a business in Mellingen are shared online, while the canton Aargau keeps its own deadlines for the tax return.

For a business in Mellingen, that means VAT returns identical to anywhere in Switzerland, but a tax return and family allowances governed by the canton Aargau.

Frequently asked questions

What are the current Swiss VAT rates?

Since 1 January 2024: 8.1% (standard), 2.6% (reduced — for example food and medicines) and 3.8% (accommodation). Returns must be filed and paid within 60 days after the period ends (quarterly under the effective method, semi-annually under the net tax rate method). These federal rates apply unchanged in Mellingen.

Effective VAT method or net tax rate: how to choose?

The effective method deducts actual input VAT and files quarterly; the net tax rate method applies a flat industry rate to turnover, semi-annually, with no separate input VAT deduction. The flat rate suits low-cost structures; as investments grow, the effective method usually wins again. The choice rests on the company's own figures, in Mellingen as anywhere.

Which social contributions does a Swiss employer pay?

AHV/IV/APG: 5.3% employer share (the same is withheld from the employee); unemployment insurance: 1.1% each up to CHF 148,200 a year; occupational pension (LPP) by age and plan (employer at least 50%); occupational accident insurance paid by the employer; family allowances by canton. For an employer in Mellingen, family allowances follow the canton's rates.

How long must records related to accounting records archiving be kept?

Ten years from the end of the financial year concerned (art. 958f CO). Electronic retention is permitted if the integrity and readability of the records are guaranteed — a serious digital archive validly replaces paper binders. A business in Mellingen can therefore archive fully digitally.

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Switch to accounting that keeps itself up to date

MyFiducia.ai automates accounting records archiving for businesses in Mellingen: AI-read documents, posting suggestions, VAT and exports ready for your fiduciary. Try the platform or browse our other guides.

The application is operated in French.

    Accounting records archiving fees in Mellingen — Swiss guide