You can start a consulting company in Switzerland without any federal licence or diploma: strategy and management consulting is practised freely and is not among the regulated professions listed by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Ticino is the notable exception. The real exposure lies elsewhere: a self-employed status that rests on one client, a mandate the client can end overnight, and adjacent activities, from investment advice to recruitment, that are regulated.
Contents
- Start a consulting company in Switzerland: a free profession
- Consultant status: the single-client trap
- GmbH or AG
- Starting a consulting company in Switzerland from the UK or elsewhere outside the EU
- The mandate contract, revocable at any time
- VAT on consulting services
- Regulated activities next door
- Ticino: business consulting under licence
- Confidentiality, data and insurance
- Mistakes that weaken a new consultancy
- FAQ
Start a consulting company in Switzerland: management consulting is a free profession
No federal authorisation is needed to advise a business on its strategy, organisation or management. A note issued on 25 March 2022 by SERI and the cantonal education ministers states that any profession absent from SERI’s indicative list of regulated professions may be practised freely, with no prior procedure. Management consulting is not on that list.
At cantonal level, Geneva’s trade police (PCTN) makes eight activities subject to authorisation, from itinerant trading to taxis, and consulting is not one of them. Ticino, by contrast, licenses business consulting as a corporate services activity. Elsewhere, ask the canton of your future registered office.
Marketing consulting is a separate trade, covered in our guide to starting a marketing agency in Switzerland.
Consultant status: the single-client trap
Social insurance looks at economic reality, not at contract labels. The general part of social insurance law (ATSG, LPGA in French) treats as an employee anyone who performs dependent work and is paid a salary for it (Art. 10). Leaflet 2.02 of the old-age and survivors’ insurance (AHV, AVS in French), as at 1 January 2026, adds that economic circumstances, not contractual arrangements, are decisive.
Your compensation office checks whether you trade under a business name, carry the economic risk, organise your work freely and serve several clients. Consultants tend to fail the last test: according to the leaflet, a person who works for a single client is generally regarded as employed. No minimum number of clients is set; the office decides case by case. Self-employed people are also insured against neither unemployment nor accidents, and pay 10.0% in AHV, disability and loss of earnings contributions, with a minimum of 530 francs in 2026 and 541 francs in 2027.
What a GmbH or an AG changes
SECO’s SME portal sums it up: founders of an AG or a GmbH are entrepreneurs and employees at once, and social insurance treats them as employed. Your company pays you a salary and enrols you in the employee schemes.
| Insurance | Self-employed sole trader | Founder employed by their own GmbH or AG |
|---|---|---|
| AHV, disability and loss of earnings | 10.0% of income | 10.6% of salary, of which 5.3% is paid by the company, plus unemployment insurance |
| Accidents | No compulsory insurance | Compulsory (Art. 1a UVG, LAA in French) |
| Occupational pension | No compulsory scheme | Above an annual salary of 22,680 francs in 2026 and 23,040 francs in 2027 |
| Unemployment benefits | Not insured | Excluded as long as the founder keeps a position of influence in the company |
Sources: AHV/IV leaflets 2.01 and 2.02 (as at 1 January 2026), SECO’s SME portal, Art. 7 BVG (LPP in French), Federal Council press release of 2 October 2026.
A token salary paired with large dividends does not escape contributions. Where a shareholder-employee is paid unusually little for the work done and draws manifestly disproportionate dividends, leaflet 2.01 counts profits as salary up to the usual pay in the sector.
GmbH or AG
A GmbH needs nominal capital of at least 20,000 francs, and the full issue price of every capital contribution must be paid in on foundation (Art. 773 para. 1 and 777c para. 1 CO). An AG needs 100,000 francs of share capital, with 20 per cent of each share and at least 50,000 francs paid up (Art. 621 para. 1 and 632 CO). A GmbH suits a consultant working alone; an AG makes sense once partners or investors come in.
Residence and representation
Art. 814 para. 3 CO sets the rule for a GmbH: “The company must be able to be represented by a person who is resident in Switzerland. This person must be a managing director or a manager.” For an AG, Art. 718 para. 4 CO asks for a board member or an executive officer. While you live outside Switzerland, the company therefore needs a resident director.
For articles of association, capital payment and registration, see our guide to the incorporation of a company in Switzerland.
Your consulting company in Switzerland
A structured consultancy before your first engagement letter
GmbH or AG, incorporation and commercial register entry, a Swiss-resident managing director while you live abroad, the founder’s salary, accounting and VAT on your international fees: My Swiss Company SA incorporates and administers your consulting company from Geneva, Lucerne or Zug.
Scope your project
Swiss Corporate Services Provider in Geneva, Lucerne and Zug, serving clients in more than 20 countries.
Starting a consulting company in Switzerland from the UK or elsewhere outside the EU
Your nationality decides how you settle in Switzerland, and the United Kingdom is no longer a member of the European Union. An EU national who settles in Switzerland to work on a self-employed basis receives a residence permit valid for at least five years, on proof of that establishment (Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, ALCP in French, Annex I, Art. 12). Other nationals are admitted under Art. 19 of the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act (FNIA, LEI in French), whose conditions include that the admission is “in the interests of the economy as a whole”. A British founder therefore falls under Art. 19 FNIA, and the company needs a resident director for as long as you live outside Switzerland.
The mandate contract, revocable at any time
A consulting contract is, as a rule, a mandate (Art. 394 CO). For a consultancy, its heaviest rule sits in Art. 404 para. 1 CO: “The mandate may be revoked or terminated at any time by either party.”
The Federal Supreme Court applied this to a consulting contract on 19 December 1989 (BGE 115 II 464). The consultant, hired for business analyses and new operating models, relied on a three-month notice period. The court confirmed that the right to terminate at any time is mandatory and cannot be excluded or restricted by contract, even for a paid mandate.
Compensation is owed only where a party terminates “at an inopportune juncture” (Art. 404 para. 2 CO). In BGE 144 III 43, a case about an M&A adviser, the court held that agreeing a success fee does not in principle circumvent the right to terminate. Profit lost on the terminated mandate is compensated only exceptionally; profit lost on other engagements declined because of it may be recovered.
The deliverable matters too. An expert opinion whose accuracy can be objectively verified falls under the work contract (BGE 127 III 328), but the court left the question open for other contracts: a strategic plan does not automatically make your engagement a work contract. And no clause can release you in advance from liability for unlawful intent or gross negligence (Art. 100 para. 1 CO).
My Swiss Company’s view
Write the engagement letter with Art. 404 in mind. Invoice by delivered phase, take a deposit at the start and price each phase separately (Art. 394 para. 3 CO), so you know what remains due if the client walks away. Keep success fees for transactions whose outcome can be measured beyond dispute.
VAT on consulting services
In principle, a consulting service is supplied where the client is based: Art. 8 para. 1 of the VAT Act (LTVA in French) places it where “the recipient of the service has its registered office or a permanent establishment for which the service is provided”. Your company becomes liable to VAT once its annual turnover reaches 100,000 francs, counting turnover generated “on Swiss territory and abroad” (Art. 10 para. 2 let. a), and charges the standard rate of 8.1%.
| Situation | Effect |
|---|---|
| Client based in Switzerland | 8.1% VAT if your company is liable to VAT |
| Client based abroad | No Swiss VAT; the fee still counts towards the 100,000-franc threshold |
| Training course or lecture | May be exempt from the tax without credit (Art. 21 para. 2 no. 11) and stay outside the threshold, unless you opt to tax it (Art. 22) |
| Consultant based abroad, with no Swiss company, advising Swiss businesses only | No VAT liability in Switzerland (Art. 10 para. 2 let. b no. 2); the client pays acquisition tax if it is liable to VAT or buys more than 10,000 francs of such services in a calendar year (Art. 45) |
Source: Federal Act on Value Added Tax (VAT Act), SR 641.20, version in force on 6 November 2026.
Regulated activities next door to consulting
Consulting is free; its neighbours are not. An engagement drifting into investment advice, insurance, litigation, recruitment or statutory audit may require a licence or registration.
| Activity | Legislation | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Investment advice: personal recommendations on transactions with financial instruments | Financial Services Act (FinSA, LSFin in French), Art. 3, 28 and 29 | Register of advisers, for client advisers of providers not supervised by FINMA or based abroad |
| Portfolio management | Financial Institutions Act (FinIA), Art. 5 and 17 | FINMA authorisation before the commercial register entry |
| Non-tied insurance intermediation | Federal insurance supervision act (LSA), Art. 40 to 42 | FINMA register |
| Representing parties in court on a professional basis | Civil Procedure Code (CPC), Art. 68 para. 2 | Lawyers; limited exceptions where cantonal law provides for them |
| Placing candidates, hiring out consultants | Federal act on employment services and staff leasing (LSE), Art. 2 and 12 | Licence from the cantonal employment office |
| Audits required by federal law | Auditor Oversight Act (AOA), Art. 2 and 3 | Licence |
Sources: FinSA and FinIA (version of 1 October 2026), LSA, CPC, LSE and AOA, Fedlex.
Recommending a reorganisation is not investment advice; telling a client which shares to buy is. An organisational “audit” is not an audit service under the AOA. A consultancy that recruits for a client, or lends it consultants who work under its direction, may fall under the LSE, a boundary drawn in our guide to setting up a recruitment agency in Switzerland.
Ticino: business consulting under a cantonal licence
Ticino’s LFid (RL 953.100) requires a licence for corporate services and accounting work done professionally for third parties (Art. 1 para. 1), and lists consulenza aziendale (business consulting) among those activities (Art. 3 let. g). A GmbH or an AG may operate only if a licensed professional works in it as managing director, as a board member with management responsibility or as a member of the executive management, with signing authority entered in the commercial register (Art. 6).
The licence is personal and requires, among other things, an accepted qualification, two years of practice in Switzerland in a firm of that trade and liability insurance (Art. 8).
Important
Practising without being entered in the cantonal register exposes you to a fine of up to 50,000 francs, or 200,000 francs in serious or repeat cases (Art. 23 LFid). In doubtful cases, the supervisory authority decides (Art. 10 LFid): ask it before opening an office in Lugano.
Confidentiality, data and insurance
A consultant’s secrecy exists only by contract. Art. 321 of the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC) lists the professions bound by professional secrecy, from lawyers to osteopaths; consultants are not on it. Once confidentiality is agreed, however, Art. 162 SCC punishes, on complaint, anyone who betrays a trade secret they are under “a statutory or contractual duty” not to reveal.
Processing personal data on the client’s behalf makes you its processor, “a private person or federal body that processes personal data on behalf of the controller” (Art. 5 let. k FADP). You then need a contract, and bringing in any third party, a freelance analyst for instance, requires the client’s prior approval (Art. 9 FADP).
No law requires professional indemnity insurance for strategy consulting; it is compulsory in the regulated neighbouring trades (FinSA, LSA, Ticino’s LFid). The CMC title, awarded by Consulting Network Switzerland, a Swiss institute accredited by the ICMCI, is optional too.
A worked case: a British consultant in Zurich
A UK management consultant who already holds a Swiss residence permit and lives in Zurich sets up a GmbH there with 20,000 francs of capital; as managing director, he is himself its resident representative. His first client, a Swiss insurer, accounts for 70% of the 200,000 francs of fees he expects in year one; three UK companies make up the rest.
Had he worked as a sole trader, a client of that weight would have exposed his status to the compensation office. Employed by his GmbH on a salary of 120,000 francs, he is covered against accidents and enrolled in an occupational pension scheme. The GmbH, liable to VAT, charges the insurer 8.1% and the UK clients no Swiss VAT, though their fees still count towards the threshold.
In month four, the insurer ends the engagement without the contractual three months’ notice, as Art. 404 CO allows. The GmbH invoices the phases delivered and, if the termination is held to be inopportune, may claim the profit lost on a Leeds engagement it turned down for this project; fees for the remaining phases are owed only exceptionally.
Mistakes that weaken a new consultancy
- Billing a near-exclusive client as a sole trader.
- Relying on a notice period to hold on to a client.
- Leaving foreign fees out of the VAT threshold.
- Sliding into recommendations on securities, insurance policies or candidates.
- Opening an office in Ticino without a licensed professional in the company.
- Promising professional secrecy instead of a confidentiality clause.
FAQ: starting a consulting company in Switzerland
Can I open a consulting firm in Switzerland as a foreigner?
Yes, provided the company can be represented by a Swiss-resident managing director (GmbH) or board member (AG). EU nationals settling as self-employed receive a residence permit of at least five years; other nationals are admitted under Art. 19 FNIA.
Do I need a licence to work as a consultant in Switzerland?
Not at federal level: strategy and management consulting is practised freely. Ticino, however, licenses business consulting for third parties, and adjacent activities such as investment advice or recruitment have their own rules.
Self-employed or GmbH: which status for a consultant?
The AHV generally treats a self-employed person working for a single client as employed. A GmbH founder is the company’s employee: 10.6% in contributions shared with the company, compulsory accident insurance, and occupational pension cover above 22,680 francs of salary in 2026.
Does a Swiss consulting company charge VAT to its foreign clients?
As a rule, no: a consulting service is supplied where the client has its registered office, so an invoice to a client abroad carries no Swiss VAT. Those fees still count towards the 100,000-franc threshold; Swiss clients pay 8.1%.
Can a client end a consulting mandate at any time in Switzerland?
Yes. Art. 404 para. 1 CO lets either party end a mandate at any time, and the Federal Supreme Court treats this right as mandatory, even against a contractual notice period (BGE 115 II 464). Compensation is owed only for termination at an inopportune juncture.
Sources
- SERI, regulated professions under the LPPS, July 2026 (French)
- Geneva, activities subject to authorisation, PCTN (French)
- Ticino, LFid, RL 953.100 (Italian)
- AHV/IV leaflet 2.02, 2026 (French)
- AHV/IV leaflet 2.01, 2026 (French)
- SME portal, how social insurance works (French)
- SME portal, entrepreneurship and unemployment (French)
- Federal Council, press release of 2 October 2026 (French)
- ATSG/LPGA, SR 830.1 (French)
- BVG/LPP, SR 831.40 (French)
- UVG/LAA, SR 832.20 (French)
- Swiss Code of Obligations (CO), SR 220
- BGE 115 II 464 (German)
- BGE 144 III 43 (German)
- BGE 127 III 328 (German)
- Federal Act on Value Added Tax (VAT Act), SR 641.20
- Financial Services Act (FinSA), SR 950.1
- Financial Institutions Act (FinIA), SR 954.1
- LSA, SR 961.01 (French)
- Civil Procedure Code (CPC), SR 272
- LSE, SR 823.11 (French)
- Auditor Oversight Act (AOA), SR 221.302
- Swiss Criminal Code (SCC), SR 311.0
- Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), SR 235.1
- Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP), SR 0.142.112.681, Annex I (French)
- Foreign Nationals and Integration Act (FNIA), SR 142.20
- Consulting Network Switzerland
Conclusion
To start a consulting company in Switzerland, you need no federal licence, although practising in Ticino takes a cantonal one. A sound consultancy rests on three decisions: being employed by your own GmbH or AG rather than self-employed with one dominant client, writing engagement letters for a mandate that can be revoked at any time, and turning down work that tips into investment advice, insurance or recruitment. My Swiss Company, a Swiss Corporate Services Provider in Geneva, Lucerne and Zug, supports founders from more than 20 countries, from the incorporation of their company to the VAT on their international fees.
