Research a Swiss account before the first email: a template and two completed briefs

This account research template covers one Swiss company on one page. A reviewed list tells you which companies fit what you sell. Before anyone writes to one of them, somebody has to establish which legal entity would buy, what is known about it and from which source, and what is still open. The brief records those answers, so the person who sends the first email, or picks the account up in six months, can see what was checked and when.

It comes after the review of the prospect list and before the first-contact email, as step 3 of the Swiss B2B prospecting workflow. Two completed briefs follow the worksheet: one ends in an email, the other in a phone call that settles a single question first.

The worksheet

Fifteen fields in six parts. Each finding carries its source, the date of the source and the date you checked it, and is marked as confirmed or open.

Part	Field	What to record
Identity	Registered name and UID	The name exactly as the register spells it, and the CHE number.
	Legal form, seat and status	AG, GmbH, branch or other; the registered seat; active or in liquidation.
	Where the work happens	The addresses where people work, when they differ from the seat.
Buying entity	Company or branch	A branch has its own register entry and UID but no legal personality. A contract signed for it binds the company it belongs to.
	Owners and group	The partners a GmbH entry lists, a parent named on the website, other companies under the same name.
	Who signs, and how	The people with signing authority and their signing rule: alone, or jointly by two.
	The entity that would buy	The legal entity your contract would name, and the evidence for it.
Fit	What the company actually does	From the website and job adverts. The purpose clause alone is too broad.
	Size clues	Staff on the website, open roles, number of sites, auditor.
	Language for the first contact	The language of the office you will write to.
Changes	Recent changes	One line per change: what it shows, what it leaves open, source and date.
Open points	Unresolved facts	Each fact you could not establish, with the way to settle it.
	Next research question	The one question whose answer decides the next step, and who can answer it.
Decision	Decision	Write now, wait until a stated date or event, or drop. One sentence of reason.
	Owner and date	Who wrote the brief, and when.

Download the template as a spreadsheet (Excel, opens in Google Sheets and Numbers). It has the same fifteen rows, with empty columns for the finding, the source, the source date, the date checked and its status. Keep one file per company, or paste the rows into the company's record in your CRM.

Two dates for every fact

A finding without a date cannot be rechecked, and a brief gets reread weeks later by someone who did not write it. Record two dates:

• The source date: when the source says the fact was published. A SHAB notice has a publication date, and the register entry behind it a journal date a few days earlier. Use the publication date, which is the one a reader can look up. A job advert has the date it was first posted.
• The date you checked: most websites carry no date at all, so for a team page or a product list this is the only date there is.

Mark each finding as confirmed or open. Confirmed means you read it in a source that can establish it: the register for a signatory, the company's own website for an office address, the job advert for the employer's name. A colleague's memory or a contact database record stays open until a source confirms it.

Checking the buying entity

The company on your list and the company that signs your contract can differ. Swiss register entries give you most of what you need to tell them apart.

• Branches: a branch (Zweigniederlassung, succursale) has its own register entry, often in another canton, and its own UID. It has no legal personality, so what is signed for it binds the company it belongs to. When your list holds a branch, find the main entry it names and research that company too.
• Swiss branches of foreign companies: the entry reads, for example, "XY GmbH, Freiburg im Breisgau, Zweigniederlassung Basel". The contract party is the foreign company, and purchasing is often decided abroad.
• Owners: a GmbH entry lists its partners and their capital contributions, so a parent company that holds the shares shows up there. An AG entry lists no shareholders. Since 1 October 2026 AGs and GmbHs have to report their beneficial owners to the federal transparency register, existing companies within a transition period, and only authorities and some regulated intermediaries can consult it. For an AG, the company's website, annual report or press releases may name a parent.
• Same name, different company: a Zefix search on the distinctive part of the name shows sister companies and holdings. A shared name proves nothing on its own, so check the addresses and the people who sign.
• Seat at someone else's address: an entry with "c/o" and a fiduciary's name means the seat is hosted. The work usually happens elsewhere, and the fiduciary may handle the bookkeeping or payroll you were hoping to sell. The guide to domiciliation addresses lists the addresses that host the most companies.
• Who signs: the register lists everyone with registered signing authority and whether they sign alone or jointly by two. A person with procuration (Prokura) who signs jointly by two can commit the company only with a second signature. A GmbH or an AG must have someone living in Switzerland who can represent it, and a foreign-owned company often meets that rule through a fiduciary who sits on its board or acts as its managing director. The register tells you who can sign a contract. The person who decides may be someone else.

Checking a Swiss company shows where each of these sits in Zefix and the cantonal extract. Sizing a Swiss company covers the size clues.

Open points and the next research question

Write down what you could not establish, with the way to settle it: a page to check, a person to ask, an event to wait for. Then pick the one open point that decides what happens next and phrase it as a question. Often only the company can answer it, and then it becomes the question your first email ends on.

The decision has three outcomes. Write now, when the buying entity is clear and a recent change gives you something concrete to say. Wait, with a date or an event that reopens the brief, such as a job advert, the next annual report or the answer to a phone call. Drop, with the reason, so nobody researches the same company again next quarter for nothing.

Completed brief 1: an engineering office with two newly registered branches

The seller is an IT services firm in Valais that runs the computers and shared files of small offices. The company and its notices are invented, and the same company appears in the first example of the first-contact emails.

Field	Finding	Source and date
Registered name and UID	Felsgrund Ingenieure AG, CHE-123.456.789	Zefix, checked 14 Oct 2026
Legal form, seat and status	AG, seat in Visp (Valais), active	Zefix, checked 14 Oct 2026
Where the work happens	Offices in Visp, Martigny and Thun	Company website, checked 14 Oct 2026
Company or branch	Visp is the company. Martigny and Thun are its registered branches, each with its own entry.	SHAB, 2 and 9 Sep 2026
Owners and group	A Zefix search for "Felsgrund" returns the AG and its two branches only. Shareholders are not in the register. Open.	Zefix, checked 14 Oct 2026
Who signs, and how	The managing director and two board members, all jointly by two	Cantonal extract, checked 14 Oct 2026
The entity that would buy	Felsgrund Ingenieure AG, Visp. Contracts for the branches are signed by the AG.	From the two rows above
What the company actually does	Engineering and geology for natural hazards: rockfall, flooding, avalanches, landslides	Company website, checked 14 Oct 2026
Size clues	The team page names 23 people across the three offices. No open roles.	Company website, checked 14 Oct 2026
Language for the first contact	German, to the head office in Visp. The website is in German and French.	Company website, checked 14 Oct 2026
Recent changes	Branch registered in Martigny, with a notice in French. Second branch registered in Thun (Bern). They show two registered branches in two cantons. They leave open whether the offices are new.	SHAB, 2 Sep 2026 and 9 Sep 2026
Unresolved facts	When the two offices opened: the website gives no date. Who looks after IT today: nothing public says. Only the company can settle either. Open.
Next research question	Does Felsgrund run its IT in-house or with an outside provider? Only the company can answer.
Decision	Write now, in German, to the managing director. The email ends on the next research question.
Owner and date	Account executive, Valais	14 Oct 2026

The email takes the two SHAB notices with their dates, the open point and the closing question from the brief. The draft built on this brief opens on the notices of 2 and 9 September, says it does not know whether the offices are new, and asks whether Felsgrund handles its IT in-house.

Completed brief 2: a Swiss subsidiary with its seat at a fiduciary

The seller is a payroll bureau that runs monthly payroll for Swiss SMEs. Its list holds a GmbH that sells and services dosing pumps for water treatment. The company, its parent and the fiduciary are invented.

Field	Finding	Source and date
Registered name and UID	Nordhalm Dosiertechnik GmbH, CHE-987.654.321	Zefix, checked 13 Oct 2026
Legal form, seat and status	GmbH, seat in Baar (Zug), c/o Lorzenhof Treuhand AG, active	Zefix, checked 13 Oct 2026
Where the work happens	Service office and spare-parts store in Dietikon (Zurich)	Company website, checked 13 Oct 2026
Company or branch	A Swiss company in its own right, with no registered branches	Zefix, checked 13 Oct 2026
Owners and group	Sole partner: Nordhalm Pumpen GmbH, Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany), with the whole capital of CHF 20,000	Cantonal extract, checked 13 Oct 2026
Who signs, and how	Managing director, living in Germany, signs alone. A second managing director, a partner of Lorzenhof Treuhand AG living in the canton of Zug, signs alone. A person living in the canton of Zurich holds procuration jointly by two.	Cantonal extract, checked 13 Oct 2026; procuration: SHAB, 3 Mar 2026
The entity that would buy	Nordhalm Dosiertechnik GmbH employs the Swiss staff, so a payroll contract would name it. Who chooses the provider is open: the parent, or a managing director.	jobs.ch advert naming the GmbH as employer, first posted 22 Sep 2026
What the company actually does	Sells and services dosing pumps for municipal water works and industry, under the parent's brand	Company website, checked 13 Oct 2026
Size clues	The website names nine people in Dietikon. One open role, a service technician.	Company website, checked 13 Oct 2026; jobs.ch advert first posted 22 Sep 2026, online on 13 Oct 2026
Language for the first contact	German	Company website, checked 13 Oct 2026
Recent changes	Procuration registered for the person in the canton of Zurich: shows that someone in that canton can now sign, with a second signature; leaves open the role. The service-technician advert: shows hiring; leaves open whether the role is new or a replacement.	SHAB, 3 Mar 2026; jobs.ch, 22 Sep 2026
Unresolved facts	Who runs payroll today: the parent in Freiburg, the fiduciary that hosts the seat, or the Dietikon office. Settled by asking the Dietikon office. Open.
Next research question	Who runs payroll for the nine people in Dietikon? The back office there can answer in one call.
Decision	Wait until a call to the Dietikon office settles who runs payroll. If the fiduciary or the parent runs it, drop for a year and note why.
Owner and date	Sales, payroll bureau	13 Oct 2026

The seat and the owners decide this brief. The "c/o" puts a fiduciary between the company and its paperwork, one of the fiduciary's partners signs for the company, and the sole partner puts a German parent above it. Either could already run payroll, and an email offering payroll services would then reach someone with no reason to answer. The procuration and the job advert are real changes, and neither says anything about payroll, so the brief records them without building an email on them.

Where Prospex fits

Prospex builds a list of Swiss companies that match a description of your customers and explains why each one matches. For each company it shows the register data and the changes published about it: commercial-register notices, trademark filings, job adverts and website changes, each dated and linked to its source. The company report, which you can download as a PDF, adds the officers and how they sign. That covers the register rows of the worksheet and most of the changes. The judgement on the buying entity and the decision stay with you.

See an example list, or read where Swiss company data lives for the sources behind each row.