Accounting for wholesale of other food, including fish, crustaceans and molluscs: what every SME should know
NOGA code 463800 · WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE; REPAIR OF MOTOR VEHICLES AND MOTORCYCLES
Accounting for wholesale of other food, including fish, crustaceans and molluscs raises the same questions for most Swiss SME owners: which obligations apply, which deadlines are running, which documents to prepare. This page covers the federal rules in force — without unnecessary jargon.
The Swiss legal frame for accounting
A small business does not mean small obligations: from the first salary or the first VAT return, mistakes get expensive.
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 run entirely on digital tools — no paper binder is required.
A well-structured SME chart of accounts
The test of a good chart of accounts is a single question: can the owner find the margins in three clicks? If not, the chart serves the tax office but not the business.
Suspense accounts (to clarify) are useful provided they are emptied monthly: a swelling “miscellaneous” account is the classic symptom of a chart that no longer fits the activity.
Digitalising accounting: 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 accounting, migrating history must not block the start: begin on day one of the current financial year and import the history later if needed.
Outsource accounting or keep it in-house?
The Swiss fiduciary market is dense and governed by professional practice: industry standards, business secrecy, civil liability. Compare offers on three concrete criteria — exact scope (data entry? closing? payroll? VAT?), a named contact person, and the tools used. It prevents year-end misunderstandings.
For accounting, a quarterly 30-minute check-in with the fiduciary beats an annual marathon: questions get handled while they are small.
A Swiss SME's accounting calendar
An accounting calendar only lives if it is shared: owner, in-house bookkeeper and fiduciary must see the same deadlines and the same status.
An SME that holds its calendar twelve months straight changes its position: fewer official reminders, easier extensions — and accounting stops being a source of worry.
Frequently asked questions
How much does accounting cost in Switzerland?
It depends on document volume, the number of salaries and VAT complexity — no serious figure can be quoted without examining the file. Two levers cut the bill everywhere: digitised, well-filed receipts and software that prepares entries instead of having them re-keyed.
Which documents should be prepared for the year-end closing?
Bank and cash statements at the closing date, the inventory of stock and work in progress, final AHV/LPP/accident settlements, contracts signed or amended during the year, invoices straddling two years and the detail of accruals. With an up-to-date document archive, most of it is already there.
What are the legal obligations for accounting in Switzerland?
The foundation is the Code of Obligations: proper bookkeeping (art. 957a CO), annual accounts (balance sheet, income statement, notes) and 10-year retention of books and records (art. 958f CO). VAT applies from CHF 100,000 of turnover, and social insurance settlements from the first employee.
What is the difference between a limited and an ordinary audit?
The ordinary audit applies to companies exceeding, for two consecutive years, two of three thresholds: CHF 20 million balance sheet total, CHF 40 million revenue, 250 full-time positions. Others fall under the limited audit, and those with no more than ten full-time positions on annual average can opt out with all shareholders' consent.
Professions in the same sector
- Wholesale of car and light motor vehicles (< 3.5 t)
- Retail sale of car and light motor vehicle (< 3.5 t)
- Wholesale of other motor vehicles (> 3.5 t)
- Retail sale of other motor vehicles (> 3.5 t)
- Maintenance and repair of motor vehicles
- Bodywork repair and painting of motor vehicles
- Wholesale trade of motor vehicle parts and accessories
- Retail trade of motor vehicle parts and accessories
- Sale, maintenance and repair of motorcycles and related parts and accessories
- Agents involved in the sale of agricultural raw materials, live animals, textile raw materials and semi-finished goods
- Agents involved in the sale of fuels, ores, metals and industrial chemicals
- Agents involved in the sale of timber and building materials
This guide by municipality
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Source: NOGA 2008 nomenclature, Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO). A statistical nomenclature: it describes an activity and is not a commercial register entry.