I also use bexio and am quite happy with it. You can directly import the transactions from your bank account, which makes the accounting much easier.
Starting up should be a relatively smooth experience, you just have to follow the legal process quite rigorously, but there are many good guides regarding that. Something to keep in mind is that you need to change all existing contracts with customers (because they are now with a different legal entity). After you have set up the company, there are a few tax optimization methods that are not so well known (sometimes not even by accountants):
- You have to pay wealth tax for your shares and the value is calculated according to your profit and balance sheet. However, there is a special provision in “Kreisscheiben 28” that a different formula can be applied when the company is completely dependent on one person. But the tax office does not apply this provision automatically, you have to explicitly ask for it. In my case, this reduces my taxable wealth by a few millions.
- You can pay yourself lump-sum expenses (“Pauschalspesen”) if you have internal expense regulations (“Spesenreglement”) that are authorized by the cantonal tax office. This is a way to pay yourself a few thousand francs per year tax free.
- It usually makes sense to buy and register a car with the company. You can use it privately, but you have to pay tax on a virtual salary (10.8% of the car value) for that. However, it is usually still worth it because you can pay all car expenses from the account of the company.
- If you are working from home, you can pay yourself rent (from your company to yourself as a private person). The legal details are a bit complicated (and it probably does not apply in your case when you have a separate office), but it can be worth it, especially if you own an apartment.
Yes, I would definitely consider the lower Pillar 3a contribution. However, something to consider is also pillar 1: When you own the business, you can choose the provider and you can also use special plans for management (pillar 1e) that allow you to invest up to 25% of your salary with up to 100% stocks. Moreover, you can use dividends to fill gaps in your 1st pillar, which can be very interesting and reduce your overall tax level significantly (especially if you have large gaps, which is presumably the case for you). As you can see, considering everything becomes quite complicated, but you do not have to do that unless you are completely crazy like I am and want to optimise every last percentage.
Yes exactly, I have separate IBKR accounts (and also bank accounts) for myself and the LLC. It’s a bit an administrative hassle (because AML/KYC procedures are much more strict for companies), but you get used to it.