Swiss accounting software for the self-employed

Not necessarily. Below CHF 500,000 in annual revenue, Art. 957 CO allows simplified bookkeeping, the Milchbüechli cash book: income, expenses and your financial position. That works in Excel too. But once receipts, QR-bills, bank payments and VAT come in regularly, the manual work costs you more time than a subscription. Magic Heidi covers exactly this simplified bookkeeping and gives you the figures at year-end. Double-entry only becomes mandatory above that threshold or if you run a GmbH or AG. More on bookkeeping for a sole proprietorship.

Magic Heidi is built for exactly that. You don't need debits and credits or a chart of accounts: you record invoices and receipts, the VAT rates are built in, and the figures are ready for each period. Tools like Banana or CashCtrl offer full double-entry accounting, but they expect you to know bookkeeping.

Yes. Below CHF 100,000 in annual revenue you're exempt from VAT and don't need double-entry bookkeeping. You write invoices, record receipts and export the figures for your tax return at year-end. If you become liable for VAT later, everything is already built in.

Very little. You add clients when you write your first invoice or import them as a list, and record receipts from today. Previous years stay where they are. In a free onboarding call (30 minutes) we look at your switch together. And if it's not for you: the monthly plan can be cancelled anytime, there's a 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can export all your data.

Yes. Give them their own access or send them the export. They get sorted receipts and finished figures instead of a shoebox, and need fewer hours for it. More on working with your fiduciary.

Yes, several. With Magic Heidi you try every feature with 3 invoices and 3 receipts in total, free, with no credit card and no time limit. Swiss21 has a free plan with 1,000 documents a year, and Banana is free up to 70 transactions but expects bookkeeping knowledge. With free accounting programs, check what's missing: often it's the VAT return or receipt scanning.

Anywhere from CHF 0 to over CHF 100 a month. After the free start, Magic Heidi costs CHF 24.99 a month on the yearly plan (CHF 299 a year) or CHF 39 monthly, both incl. VAT. bexio starts at CHF 35 a month excl. VAT, with AI receipt scanning only from CHF 42 (all bexio prices). Banana costs CHF 89 a year, or CHF 179 with VAT returns. As of September 2026, full details on the pricing page.

The one that fits your size. For SMEs with employees, bexio is the most widespread. The self-employed increasingly use a lean accounting app like Magic Heidi. Number crunchers and associations tend to pick Banana or CashCtrl, and there are also Swiss21, KLARA and the long-standing Pebe. If your fiduciary does all the bookkeeping, look at Accounto. German tools like Lexware or sevdesk aren't built for the QR-bill and Swiss VAT. The detailed test is in the top 5 comparison.

On servers in Zurich, encrypted in transit and at rest. AI receipt recognition runs through a specialised provider, partly in the US. You can export all your data at any time and take it with you if you switch. More on the security page.

If you run payroll, manage stock or need several users with roles, bexio, KLARA or Abacus are a better fit. Magic Heidi is deliberately built for freelancers, sole proprietors and people self-employed on the side, so you don't pay for features you never use.