New-company leads for fiduciaries: how to win clients in the first week

A fiduciary (Treuhänder, fiduciaire) is often the first professional a new Swiss company needs: bookkeeping, payroll, VAT and the annual accounts. The catch is that the founder usually chooses one within the first few weeks. This is a playbook for reaching them inside that window.

Why the first week matters

A new GmbH or AG has obligations from day one: a chart of accounts, social insurance registration, VAT once turnover is expected above CHF 100'000, and payroll as soon as it hires. Most founders are not finance specialists, so they look for help early. If you arrive after they have signed with another firm, you are usually too late for a year or more.

What a new company actually needs from you

• Bookkeeping and the annual financial statements.
• Payroll plus social insurance registrations (AHV, IV, EO, BVG and accident cover).
• VAT registration and periodic returns, where applicable.
• Tax filing for the company, and often for the owner.
• Plain advice on salary versus dividend and on cash flow.

A first-week outreach playbook

1. 1Spot the new registrations in your cantons each business day from the gazette.
2. 2Keep the ones whose purpose suggests real activity or staff, not dormant holdings.
3. 3Confirm the company is reachable by finding it in a public directory.
4. 4Send one short, specific message that names the obligation they are about to face and offers a fixed-price starter package.
5. 5Follow up once after a few days, then move on and respect the person's time.

Write the message they will answer

Generic pitches get ignored. Reference what the company does, name one concrete deadline (for example the first VAT period or the first payroll run), and propose a clear next step, a short call or a fixed onboarding fee. Keep it to a few sentences.

Congratulations on founding [company]. New GmbHs in [canton] usually need bookkeeping and payroll set up in the first month. We offer a fixed-price starter package. Would a short call next week help?

Stay compliant

Contacting a business at its public registered address about a relevant professional service is normal B2B outreach. Keep messages relevant, honour any opt-out immediately, and follow the Swiss rules on unfair competition (UWG) and data protection (FADP). Do not buy or resell scraped personal contact lists.

Make it repeatable

The hard part is doing this every business day without missing anyone. That is what this service automates: it surfaces the new companies in your cantons, flags the ones that need a fiduciary, and drafts the first message, so winning the first week becomes a routine instead of a scramble.