The honest answer to "how much does payroll cost in Switzerland?" depends on four variables: headcount, complexity (CLAs, industry, special wages), the model you choose and hidden follow-on costs. We run a Swiss payroll platform ourselves and see every day that companies fool themselves on pricing comparisons — usually because they only look at the sticker price, not the real total cost of ownership.

This article shows what you'll realistically pay in 2026, across four different company sizes and four different models. Numbers are based on publicly listed tariffs and market observation. Disclaimer and sources at the end.

What payroll cost is actually made of

Seven cost drivers determine what you'll effectively pay for payroll at the end of the year:

  • Internal staff cost. If you do it yourself: a part-time payroll/HR person. Rule of thumb: 30 employees need roughly 20–30% of a full-time role. At Swiss salary levels of CHF 90'000–120'000 plus social charges that's CHF 25'000–40'000 per year just for the person, without tools.
  • Software licences. Bexio Payroll from CHF 7/month (1 employee) up to CHF 25/month (5 employees). SwissSalary 365 CHF 39–74/month plus Business Central licences. Abacus is quote-based. None of this includes your own tariff maintenance work.
  • Flat retainer accounting firm. Typically CHF 30–80 per employee per month, depending on complexity and region. Upside: predictable. Downside: every change is either bundled into the price — or charged extra.
  • Hourly rate accounting firm. CHF 120–180/hour. Makes sense at very small headcounts below 10 employees, gets expensive fast as you scale.
  • Platform subscription. Per employee per month: payrollnow CHF 12 (self-service) or CHF 25 (outsourcing), other vendors between CHF 18–40.
  • Setup/migration. One-off: at payrollnow CHF 1'500–5'000 depending on scope. With accounting firms it's often "hidden" in extra hours during the first mandate year. Big-4 setups regularly run into five figures.
  • CLA and industry edge cases. L-GAV hospitality, LMV construction, CLA staffing add real complexity and effort — regardless of which model you pick. Companies without the specialists in-house pay either by the hour at their accounting firm or via mistakes and corrections internally.

Pricing models in the Swiss market 2026

Four models dominate the market:

  • In-house with software. You buy payroll software (Bexio, SwissSalary, Abacus) and run payroll yourself. Software cost is low, staff cost dominates.
  • Classic accounting firm. You hand the payroll mandate to an accounting firm. Flat retainer or hourly. You keep no software in-house — you receive monthly PDF payslips.
  • Modern platform (with or without service). Per-employee pricing. You can either run payroll yourself (self-service) or hand it to an operational team (outsourcing). Example: payrollnow.
  • Big-4 / enterprise outsourcing. KPMG, PwC, EY, Deloitte. Quote-based. For corporates and listed companies from 500 employees up.

Concrete cost comparisons: 5, 15, 50 and 200 employees

For four typical company sizes we compare the models. All numbers are annual total cost including setup in year 1. Accounting-firm flat retainer calculated at CHF 50/employee/month (mid-range). In-house using Bexio Payroll as software + internal time at CHF 80/h.

Scenario A — 5 employees (micro SME)

  • In-house with Bexio Payroll: Software CHF 25/mo × 12 = CHF 300/yr. Internal time approx. 5h/mo × CHF 80/h × 12 = CHF 4'800/yr. Total approx. CHF 5'100/year.
  • Classic accounting firm (flat retainer): 5 × CHF 50 × 12 = CHF 3'000/year.
  • payrollnow Self-Service: 5 × CHF 12 × 12 = CHF 720/yr + setup CHF 1'500 = Y1 CHF 2'220. Y2+ just CHF 720.
  • payrollnow Outsourcing: 5 × CHF 25 × 12 = CHF 1'500/yr + setup CHF 1'500 = Y1 CHF 3'000. Y2+ just CHF 1'500.

Observation: At 5 employees the accounting firm is often more expensive than payrollnow Outsourcing — and payrollnow Self-Service is by far the cheapest option.

Scenario B — 15 employees (small SME)

  • In-house with Bexio Ultimate: Software approx. CHF 600/yr. Internal time approx. 10h/mo × CHF 80 × 12 = CHF 9'600/yr. Total approx. CHF 10'200/year.
  • Classic accounting firm: 15 × CHF 50 × 12 = CHF 9'000/year.
  • payrollnow Self-Service: 15 × CHF 12 × 12 = CHF 2'160 + setup CHF 1'500 = Y1 CHF 3'660. Y2+ CHF 2'160.
  • payrollnow Outsourcing: 15 × CHF 25 × 12 = CHF 4'500 + setup CHF 1'500 = Y1 CHF 6'000. Y2+ CHF 4'500.

Observation: payrollnow Outsourcing here is about one third cheaper than the accounting firm, with considerably more transparency and a modern employee app on top.

Scenario C — 50 employees (mid-sized SME)

  • In-house with dedicated payroll lead (0.5 FTE): Headcount cost CHF 55'000/yr + software CHF 3'000/yr = CHF 58'000/year.
  • Classic accounting firm: 50 × CHF 50 × 12 = CHF 30'000/year.
  • payrollnow Self-Service: 50 × CHF 12 × 12 = CHF 7'200 + setup CHF 3'000 = Y1 CHF 10'200. Y2+ CHF 7'200.
  • payrollnow Outsourcing: 50 × CHF 25 × 12 = CHF 15'000 + setup CHF 3'000 = Y1 CHF 18'000. Y2+ CHF 15'000.

Observation: Anyone still running payroll in-house at 50 employees pays 2–6× more than at payrollnow. The accounting firm is also significantly more expensive.

Scenario D — 200 employees (upper SME / Mittelstand)

  • In-house with team (1.5 FTE): Headcount cost CHF 165'000/yr + software/licences CHF 15'000/yr = CHF 180'000/year.
  • Classic accounting firm: 200 × CHF 50 × 12 = CHF 120'000/year.
  • payrollnow Self-Service: 200 × CHF 12 × 12 = CHF 28'800 + setup CHF 5'000 = Y1 CHF 33'800. Y2+ CHF 28'800.
  • payrollnow Outsourcing: 200 × CHF 25 × 12 = CHF 60'000 + setup CHF 5'000 = Y1 CHF 65'000. Y2+ CHF 60'000.
  • Big-4 / enterprise outsourcing: typically CHF 100/employee/month × 200 × 12 = CHF 240'000/year, plus significant setup cost.

Observation: At 200 employees payrollnow Outsourcing saves approximately CHF 55'000/year vs. the accounting firm and over CHF 100'000/year vs. in-house — with substantially more transparency and an employee app.

What payrollnow actually costs — transparent

We don't play the "starting at CHF X" game — that's usually only realistic for the smallest configuration. At payrollnow you pay exactly what the table above shows: two clear tariffs, no bundles, no minimum fees.

Self-service
CHF 12 / employee / month

You run payroll yourself — the engine walks you through every event. No prior payroll know-how required. Employee app included.

View platform →
Done-for-you
CHF 25 / employee / month

Platform plus Swiss payroll specialists. We handle the operational work. You approve.

View payroll outsourcing →

Four points explain why payrollnow is structurally cheaper than most alternatives:

  • Event-based architecture — no payroll know-how required. Even in the CHF 12 self-service tier. You report what happened, the engine generates every required task and walks you through each step. With Bexio, SwissSalary and Abacus you have to know which steps to take — with payrollnow you don't.
  • Swiss payroll specialists for every CLA. Our team handles L-GAV hospitality, LMV construction, CLA staffing, hairdressing, painting and every relevant cantonal industry standard — so there are no hidden costs from special-case handling.
  • Software OR outsourcing in one platform — switch any time. You can start on CHF 12 self-service and switch later to CHF 25 outsourcing if your needs change. No data migration involved.
  • Employee app with AI chat included. Native iOS/Android app. Employees resolve leave requests, expenses and address changes themselves — saving HR time (and indirectly, cost) at scale.

Setup is transparent: CHF 1'500–5'000 depending on scope. You receive a fixed quote before signing — no time-and-materials surprise at the end. Cancellable monthly, no minimum term.

Hidden costs most people miss

Pricing comparisons usually only look at sticker prices. Real total cost of ownership often comes from these six places:

The six typical hidden costs

1. Corrections in the next pay run. Classic monthly-run software books errors only in the next cycle — and that costs hours. At payrollnow every correction triggers an immediate recalculation, with no surcharge.

2. CLA edge cases and industry standards. An employee with staffing CLA and multi-employer status often costs the accounting firm several extra hours per month. At payrollnow Outsourcing this is included in the CHF 25/employee package.

3. Compliance updates. With in-house software you have to track everything yourself: new withholding-tax tariffs, BVG adjustments, cantonal special rules. A platform handles this in the background.

4. Audit prep (AHV/SUVA reviews). Often billed separately by accounting firms. payrollnow Outsourcing includes support — at no extra cost.

5. Employee app and self-service. With SwissSalary and Abacus the ESS app is a separately purchasable module. At payrollnow it's included in both tiers.

6. Setup and data migration. Switching accounting firms often means 1–3 months of extra effort. At payrollnow you get a binding CHF 1'500–5'000 quote.

Which model fits which company size?

An honest use-case differentiation based on the numbers above:

  • 1–5 employees, simple payroll structure, already on Bexio: Bexio Payroll in-house + optional accounting firm for year-end. Cheapest option, but operational load stays with you.
  • 5–30 employees: payrollnow Self-Service (CHF 12/employee/mo) is usually the most economical choice — especially if you have someone on the team who can approve the monthly pay run. Setup CHF 1'500 typically pays back within 3–6 months vs. an accounting-firm retainer.
  • 20–100 employees with CLA complexity (construction, hospitality, staffing): payrollnow Outsourcing (CHF 25/employee/mo) delivers the best price-performance ratio. Swiss specialists handle the operational work, you save roughly 30–50% vs. an accounting-firm retainer and get live transparency instead of a black box.
  • 100–500 employees: Compare payrollnow Outsourcing vs. a dedicated in-house team. At 200 employees payrollnow saves about CHF 100'000/year — with substantially better scalability. Big-4 is usually overkill at this size.
  • 500+ employees, listed, international: Big-4 or ADP. Here institutional depth and international reach matter more than pricing optimisation.
Concrete reality check

If you currently work with a classic accounting firm at CHF 50–80/employee/month or more and have at least 15 employees, the switch to payrollnow is worth running through the maths honestly. At CHF 25 per employee/month for complete payroll outsourcing — including platform, Swiss specialists, employee app and AHV/SUVA review support — the margin is usually substantial. Open live pricing calculator →

Next step

If you want to run the numbers for your own situation, you have two options at payrollnow — depending on how much of the work you want to hand off:

Self-service
CHF 12 / employee / month

Payroll software

You run payroll yourself — the engine walks you through every event. No prior know-how needed. Employee app included.

View platform
Done-for-you · Popular
CHF 25 / employee / month

Payroll outsourcing

Platform + Swiss payroll specialists. We handle registrations, EO, authorities, insurers, statistics, audits. You approve.

View payroll outsourcing

Not sure which fits? Book a demo → or open live pricing calculator →

Pricing disclaimer: All third-party price ranges in this article are based on publicly listed information and market observation (as of June 2026). Specific conditions vary by setup, mandate complexity and region. Corrections welcome — let us know.