Depositing Share Capital: The Capital Deposit Account Explained

You want to set up a GmbH (Swiss LLC) or AG (Swiss stock corporation) and keep stumbling over the term “capital deposit account”? Don’t worry – behind it lies a simple mechanism that only matters once in your company’s life: at formation. This article explains what the account is, how the process works, what it costs – and clears up the biggest misconception: no, your money is not “gone” afterwards.

What is a capital deposit account?

A capital deposit account (also called an escrow, blocked or consignment account) is a special account at a Swiss bank into which you deposit your future company’s capital before formation:

• GmbH: CHF 20’000 share capital, paid in full
• AG: share capital of at least CHF 100’000, of which at least CHF 50’000 paid in (paying-in of at least 20%, but never less than CHF 50’000)

The account is blocked: neither you nor anyone else can access it before the commercial register entry. That is exactly the point – the bank guarantees to the notary and the commercial register office that the capital actually exists and remains in place until formation. The law requires this safeguard because the GmbH and AG are capital companies: creditors have recourse to the company’s capital, not to your private assets.

Incidentally, you don’t need a capital deposit account for a sole proprietorship – it has no minimum capital requirement. If you are still weighing up the legal forms, the article GmbH or sole proprietorship? will help.

The process in 5 steps

1. Open the capital deposit account

You open the account at a Swiss bank of your choice – in the name of the “company in formation” (e.g. “Muster GmbH in formation”). For this, you usually need the draft articles of association, a copy of your ID and details of the founders. Banks charge a one-time fee of around CHF 200 to 300, depending on the bank.

2. Deposit the capital

You transfer the capital to the blocked account – the full CHF 20’000 for a GmbH, at least CHF 50’000 for an AG. If several shareholders contribute, each transfers their share.

3. Receive the capital deposit confirmation

Once the money has arrived, the bank issues the capital deposit confirmation. This document is the proof for the notary that the capital is in place – without the confirmation, there is no public notarization of the formation.

4. Notarization and commercial register entry

With the confirmation, the notary notarizes the formation, and the company is then filed with the commercial register office. How exactly this step works and what it costs is covered in the article Commercial register entry: costs and process.

5. Release of the capital

After the entry in the commercial register, you submit the commercial register extract to the bank. The bank lifts the block and transfers the capital to the newly formed company’s regular business account. The capital deposit account is closed – it has served its purpose.

The biggest misconception: “So the 20’000 francs are gone!”

No – and this point is so important that it deserves its own section. Many founders believe the share capital is a kind of deposit that stays blocked forever. That is not true:

After the release, the money belongs to your company and can be used freely. The GmbH can buy laptops and tools with it, pay salaries, transfer rent, fund marketing – anything that serves the business purpose. The capital is start-up capital in the literal sense: it finances the build-up of your business.

What you may not do: simply take the money back as a private individual. It now belongs to the company, not to you personally. Withdrawals must run through proper channels such as salary, expense reimbursements or dividends. And the company should not be permanently over-indebted – but the fact that the GmbH’s bank account dips below CHF 20’000 in day-to-day business because money was invested is completely normal and legal.

Costs and bank comparison: what to look out for

Conditions vary from bank to bank. These points are worth comparing:

Criterion	Typical range	What to look out for
Capital deposit account fee	approx. CHF 200–300 one-time	Some banks waive the fee entirely
Condition for the fee waiver	Opening a business account at the same bank	Check the business account’s ongoing account fees
Time to open the account	a few days to ~2 weeks	Online opening is usually faster than a branch visit
Business account afterwards	CHF 0–30/month depending on bank and plan	Compare total costs over the year, not just the deposit fee

The most important money-saving tip: Some banks waive the fee for the capital deposit account if you subsequently open your business account with them. Exactly this principle is also behind the free offers from formation platforms: the partner bank (such as PostFinance or a cantonal bank) covers fees and contributes to the platform’s costs – in return, you become its business customer. How this model works in detail is explained in the article Free company formation: partner deals. Which formation platform works with which bank and what that means for your costs is shown by our provider comparison calculator.

Alternative: contribution in kind instead of cash

Instead of money, you can also pay in the capital with assets – for example a company vehicle, machinery or IT infrastructure. This is called a contribution in kind and is considerably more involved:

• It requires a contribution-in-kind agreement and a formation report justifying the value of the assets.
• A licensed auditor must sign off on the report with an audit confirmation (formation audit).
• The articles of association and the commercial register entry must disclose the contribution in kind.

The additional costs for the auditor and the extra work for the notary make a contribution in kind worthwhile only if you genuinely want to contribute valuable assets and cash is tight. For most founders, the cash deposit is the simpler and cheaper route.

Conclusion: a mandatory step, but not an obstacle

The capital deposit account is not a bureaucratic monster but a simple safeguard mechanism: open the account, deposit the money, send the confirmation to the notary, and after the commercial register entry everything flows to your business account. Expect a fee of CHF 200–300 (or CHF 0 with the right bank deal) and two to four weeks until the capital is available again. And never forget the most important point: your share capital is not gone – it is the start-up capital your company gets going with.