Reading SHAB/FOSC: A Practical Guide for Salespeople
SHAB records the changes Swiss companies are required to publish, including new registrations, changes to management or capital, relocations and closures. For a salesperson, each notice identifies the company and date, then describes a specific event to investigate.
This guide shows you how to read a SHAB notice and decide whether the change matters for your offer. It then explains how to record the result for follow-up. If you need to query the data in code, the SHAB API guide covers the available endpoints and formats.
What the SHAB is
SHAB stands for Schweizerisches Handelsamtsblatt. In French it is the Feuille officielle suisse du commerce, or FOSC. Cantonal commercial registers send publishable registration changes to the gazette, where the notice receives a publication date and reference.
Search the notices on shab.ch by company and publication details. Zefix (Zentraler Firmenindex) provides a consolidated view of current commercial-register data and links back to the published notices. Keep the UID when moving between the two services because company names and addresses can change.
How to read a SHAB entry
A typical commercial register entry in the SHAB follows a predictable structure. Knowing the layout helps you scan quickly.
- 1 Company name: as registered, including the legal-form suffix.
- 2 Registered office: the commune, which is what fixes the canton.
- 3 UID: the identifier that survives every rename and relocation.
- 4 Legal form: Aktiengesellschaft here, so there is share capital to change.
- 5 Nature of the change: the first line to scan. Aktienkapital is the keyword.
- 6 New capital, with how much of it is paid in and how the shares are split.
- 7 Previous capital: compare it with the new figure to measure the registered-capital increase: CHF 400,000.
- 8 Registered persons: each person's function and signing authority.
The UID (Unternehmens-Identifikationsnummer / IDE) is the unique company identifier. It starts with CHE- followed by nine digits. This number stays constant when the same legal entity changes its name or registered office. Use it to track a company reliably across SHAB publications and in Zefix.
Start with the nature-of-change line, then compare any old and new values. In German, look for keywords like Eingetragene Personen (registered persons), Neue Adresse (new address), Neuer Zweck (new purpose), or Aktienkapital (share capital). In French, the equivalents are Personnes inscrites, Nouvelle adresse, Nouveau but, and Capital-actions.
The signing authority (Zeichnungsberechtigung / Droit de signature) describes who can legally bind the company. Common forms are Einzelunterschrift (sole signature) and Kollektivunterschrift zu zweien (joint signature of two). Sole signature means the person can legally sign for the company alone. It does not show who owns a particular purchasing decision.
Which SHAB changes are worth checking
The publication type helps you filter the feed. The wording of the notice tells you what changed.
New registrations
A new company has been entered into the commercial register. The publication includes the company name, legal form (AG, GmbH, Einzelfirma, etc.), registered address, purpose clause, share capital, and the names of authorized signatories.
A new registration gives you a formation date and named signatories. The notice also states the company purpose. Before treating it as a lead, check whether the entity has an operating website and identifiable staff. Confirm that its activity matches your market. Some new registrations are holdings or entities created for a reorganisation. The purpose clause can help with an initial industry check, but it is rarely enough on its own.
Board and management changes
A management change gives you a named person and a dated event. Check the person's actual remit and whether the company fits your market. If both are relevant, the appointment may give you a timely reason to introduce yourself. Do not assume that existing contracts or budgets are under review.
Signing authority answers a legal question. Job responsibility answers the sales question. Use the SHAB entry for the first, then confirm the second from the company's own material or another reliable source.
Capital changes
The notice records an increase or reduction of share capital. A capital increase can be relevant, but the amount alone does not tell you why it happened or whether the company has a new operating budget. Read the transaction details and look for corroborating evidence. Relevant evidence may come from a financing announcement or hiring. The company may also have disclosed an expansion. Use the notice to start qualification. Build the outreach message from what the qualification confirms.
Domicile changes
When a company moves its registered office, the notice confirms the new address and canton. Check whether the operating site also moved. The registered address may be a fiduciary or domiciliation address. A domicile change is useful when a physical move creates demand for your service.
Purpose changes
Compare the old and new purpose text. A new activity can be relevant, but purpose clauses are broad and sometimes catch up with work the company already does.
Name changes
Track the company by UID to keep a renamed company in its existing account.
Closures and insolvency notices
Confirm why the entity was deleted. After a merger, continue the account history under the surviving entity. After liquidation, close the account unless your offer is relevant to the remaining process.
Pause ordinary prospecting when bankruptcy proceedings open and confirm the company's current status. Providers that work on insolvency or restructuring will apply a different qualification rule.
A practical daily workflow
Start with one canton and one or two notice types. The following routine is small enough to repeat and forces you to qualify a company before contacting it.
- Open shab.ch and set your filters. Choose the publication date and area, then select the relevant notice types.
- Record what you find. For each relevant entry, note the UID, the exact change, the publication date, and the old and new values where the notice shows them.
- Check the company in Zefix. Open zefix.admin.ch and search by UID. Zefix shows the company's current registered state and helps you avoid confusing a rename with a new account.
- Qualify the company. Apply the same criteria you use for any account. Then write one sentence explaining why this registered change matters for your offer.
- Log and act. Save the notice as evidence for your internal timing. Mention it in outreach only when the connection to your offer is clear.
The limits of doing this manually
Manual review works for a narrow search. It becomes harder when the feed covers more cantons and notice types, especially across several languages. The notice starts the qualification work: you still need to establish what the company does and whether it fits your market. You also need to identify who owns the relevant decision.
Because the data is public, reading a notice two hours earlier rarely changes the opportunity. The main task is establishing whether the company was a plausible buyer before the change appeared.
How Prospex fits in
Prospex handles the qualification that comes after the notice. You describe the Swiss companies you want to reach and provide a few customers as examples. Prospex compares companies with that profile using register records and other public company information. Each result explains why the company was included and which details remain uncertain.
You can then monitor that qualified market for register changes. A capital increase or new manager appears in the context of an account you already care about.
See an example list, built from the same public sources.