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Freelance services agreement, in German (Switzerland)
Switzerland · in German
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Made for use in Switzerland
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For clients and freelancers in Switzerland, in German: a mandate (Auftrag) under Art. 394 ff. CO covering the services, duration, fee with a VAT choice, expenses, payment terms, independence, AHV as a self-employed person, rights in the work results, confidentiality and data protection. It names false self-employment: the AHV compensation office decides the status on the actual facts, not the contract. Either party may terminate at any time (Art. 404 CO). Signed by both parties.
- Made for use in Switzerland
- Last updated November 4, 2026
Published byDocMuse
When to use this document
- You work as a freelancer in Switzerland and want a written contract with a client.
- Your company is hiring a freelancer and wants the services, fee and rights to the results on paper.
- You want to make clear that you work independently and are not an employee.
- You are starting a project for a client and want to agree the fee, expenses and payment terms.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Client
- Client's address
- Contractor
- Contractor's address
- Contractor's UID or VAT number (optional)
- Services
- Start date
- End date of the contract
- Fee
- VAT: the contractor is registered, or not liable
- Expenses: included in the fee, or reimbursed on receipts
- Days to pay an invoice
- Contractor's AHV compensation office (Ausgleichskasse) (optional)
- Agreed place of jurisdiction (optional)
- City
- Date
Common questions
- When is a freelancer in Switzerland treated as falsely self-employed?
- What counts is not the contract's name but how the work is done (Art. 18 para. 1 CO). Someone built into the client's organisation, following instructions on hours and method, carrying no business risk and working mainly for one client, may count as an employee — in employment law (Art. 319 CO) and for AHV, where the compensation office decides on the actual facts. The client may then have to pay contributions as an employer.
- Can a Swiss mandate be agreed with a fixed notice period?
- Not with binding effect: either party may revoke or terminate a mandate at any time (Art. 404 para. 1 CO), and the Federal Supreme Court does not allow this right to be excluded. Whoever terminates at an inopportune time pays the other party the damage that this timing causes (Art. 404 para. 2 CO); work done up to the termination is paid. If you want a finished result for a fixed price, a contract for work (Werkvertrag, Art. 363 CO) is often the better fit.
- As a freelancer in Switzerland, must I charge VAT and register with AHV?
- You are exempt from VAT if your turnover from taxable supplies in Switzerland and abroad stays below CHF 100'000.00 within a year (Art. 10 para. 2 let. a VAT Act, MWSTG); below that you charge no VAT unless you registered voluntarily. For AHV you register as self-employed with your compensation office (Ausgleichskasse), which decides your status. The contract records both but does not replace the registration.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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