FAQ

Accounting

How to set up a new workspace for accounting?
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Here are the steps to follow to set up a new workspace for pre-accounting with Sway Finance.

  1. Creating the workspace. See How to create a new workspace?
  2. Setting up bank accounts. See How to add a bank account?
  3. Accounting setup. See How to configure the accounting settings?
  4. Let's get started!

The whole process takes 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the number and type of bank accounts you add.

If you have any questions, you can contact Sway Finance at any time:
- By telephone or e-mail, see our contact page.
- Via the interactive chat feature in the Sway app by clicking on the "Ask Support" button at the bottom left of the menu bar.
How to create a new workspace?
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💡 If you do not yet have a user account, start by registering at https://business.swayapp.io/sign-up. You will be prompted to create a workspace at the end of the process.

1. From your existing workspace, click on the selector in the top left corner, then select "Create a workspace".

2. Enter the name of your workspace and click on the "Create workspace" button.

✅ The new workspace has been created!

How to add a bank account in Sway?
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💡 To set up a bank account, you must either have the e-banking credentials to connect the account or have the account number to create a manual account.

Connected account : via Open Banking

1. In the menu on the left, select the "Bank accounts" entry.

2. Click on the blue "Add account" button and select the "Live bank account" option.

3. Select the country, then the bank. Follow the steps on your bank platform to connect the desired bank account to Sway Finance.

Manual account: bank statements

1. Navigate to the bank accounts screen, as described in step (1) above.

2. Click on the blue "Add account" button and select the "Manual bank account" option.

3. Select the country, then the bank. Complete the account information (name, IBAN, etc.) and submit the form: the account is created and ready to receive data.

To learn how to add data to your offline account, please refer to the dedicated FAQ.

How to configure the accounting settings?
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1. In the menu on the left, navigate to the workspace settings ("Settings"), then the submenu "Accounting settings" (accounting information).

2. Select your VAT scheme:
1. Cash basis
2. Accrual basis (currently not supported)
3. Net tax rate
4. Flat tax rate

3. Then navigate to the "Chart of accounts" submenu.

4. There, you'll have the choice to:
a. Use a standard chart of accounts (by clicking on the blue text at the bottom);
b. Upload your own chart of accounts by clicking on the blue "Upload" button.

5. Once you have selected one of the two options, you can check that the chart of accounts is displayed correctly and save it by clicking on the blue "Create chart of accounts" button.

6. Last step: you must assign at least one bank account to one of your accounting accounts and define a suspense account:

i. Click on the first item in the blue list above the chart of accounts: "Link at least one bank account (...)": a pop-up window will appear.

ii. Select a bank account and your corresponding bank account in Sway. Click on the "Link bank account" button.

iii. Click on the second link, "Designate or create a suspense account", and a second pop-up window will appear.

iv. If you already have a suspense account defined in your chart of accounts, you can select it from the list.

v. Otherwise, click on the blue text "Or add a new account instead".

vi. In this last pop-up window, enter an account number (e.g. 1099) and a name (e.g. "Suspense account"). The other fields can be ignored.

vii. Click on Add account.

You can access the "Accounting" menu, where you will find all the transactions for the account(s) you defined above. You will be able to access automatic encoding functions (based on AI and the rules you define), as well as export to your preferred accounting tool.

💡 If you cannot find the "Accounting" menu item, please contact Sway Finance (you can use the integrated chat): this feature is activated upon request by our partners.
How to export the chart of accounts from Winbiz?
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Winbiz is a well established accounting software in Switzerland. You can easily optimise your pre-accounting workflows by using Sway Finance:

  • To collect banking and invoice data,
  • Generate auto-encoded accounting entries (thanks to a sophisticated AI),
  • And export a file ready to import in Winbiz, thus not altering your actual accounting processes.

Here's how to proceed:

1. Open the chart of accounts (from the Accounting tab).

2. Go to the "Tools" tab, then "Import, Export" > "Export".

3. Check the tabs:

   a. Export to...
      i. Select the correct destination folder (to find the chart of accounts once exported)
      ii. File type: “Semicolon-delimited with quotation marks”

   b. Export options:
      i. Choose Windows ANSI - 1252 format
      ii. Keep all boxes unchecked (Memo Fields, Null Values, After Export).

4. Click on Start.

✅ A CSV file is generated. You can import it directly into Sway Finance in the workspace settings and the "Chart of accounts" submenu.

How to export the chart of accounts from Crésus?
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Crésus is a well established accounting solution in Switzerland. You can easily streamline your pre-accounting process by using Sway Finance:

  • To collect banking and invoice data,
  • Generate auto-encoded accounting entries (thanks to a sophisticated AI),
  • And export a file ready to import in Crésus, thus not altering your actual accounting processes.

Here's how to proceed:

1. From the chart of accounts view, go to the "File" menu, then "Export...".

2. Tick the box “Export column names”

3. Click the"OK" button

A .txt file is generated. You can import it directly into Sway in the workspace settings, in the "Chart of accounts" submenu.

How do I export the chart of accounts from WinEUR?
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It's easy to export your WinEUR chart of accounts to import it into a third-party tool such as Sway Finance. For example, you can automate the coding of accounting lines using our AI algorithms and then import them into WinEUR, saving you valuable time.

To export the WinEUR chart of accounts in XML format:

1. In the main menu of the selected company, open the "Import/Export" submenu and select "Import/Export XML".

2. Select the default format and click "Change" (A) or create a new format (B):

3. In the "Export" submenu:  

i. Select items to be exported > "Without entries".

ii. Deactivate all options except "Export general ledger accounts".

4. Close this window and then click on the ‘Export’ button. The export window will open.

5. Enter the name and/or location of your file (you can restore it later if you use GIT Cloud).

6. Click on "Export" and then on "Retrieve (GIT Cloud)" to retrieve your chart of accounts exported in XML format.

How to import transactions into Winbiz?
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After having automatically encoded your accounting lines with Sway Finance, you can seamlessly export them into the Winbiz format and import them into your accounting.

Simply follow these steps.:

1. From the accounting tab, open the accounting entries.

2. Click Action > import, export > standard import.

3.  In the import parameters, make sure to select the correct file format. If you exported your data from Sway, select semicolon separators and UTF-8 conversion.

4. Once the import is complete, a success message will confirm the number of imported transactions.

Note:

  • After a successful import, you will need to close the accounting entries window and reopen it to see the result.
  • If the import fails even partially, an error message will be displayed. Contact your Sway Finance support team, as there could be a difference in the configuration between yuor Sway Finance account and your Winbiz. Alternatively, you may still import the transactions: they will be identified with the question mark, and you will be able to correct them manually.
How do I import transactions into WinEUR?
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1. From the global menu of the selected company, open the import/export submenu and select "Import entries with column selection".

2. Configure or verify the configuration:

  1. Select the file (via GIT cloud, you will need to add the file to the directory)
  2. Select Text file with tab separators (number 9).
  3. Indicate "First line to import": 2
  4. Select the option to renumber documents and "Last part used + 1". ⚠️ You must have configured the document numbers beforehand, if you have not already done so (see FAQ here).
  5. Select the columns in the file in the following order:
    1. Date
    2. Document
    3. Account code
    4. Account currency
    5. Entry description 1
    6. Entre description 2
    7. Amount in original currency
    8. Amount in reference currency
    9. Tax code
  6. Click on the "Settings" button in the top right corner.

3. Under "Options", check that the selected date separator is "Minus sign" and the date format is "Year Month Day". Click "OK".

4. Click on "Check" (number 1 in the screenshot below); no errors should be displayed. If errors are displayed, check your configuration in the previous steps. Contact GIT or Sway Finance support if the error persists.

5. Then click on "Run" (number 2 in the screenshot below). The transactions are imported.

6. From the main menu, you can click on "Entry of entries" to view the imported entries.

How do I set up document numbering in WinEUR?
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1. From the global menu of the selected company, open the Utilities submenu > "Company settings".

2. In the Accounting > General Ledger > Entry Settings submenu, you can define the numbering of accounting documents. Choose a meaningful keyword and/or simply enter a starting number.

3. Also check that the "Sequential Numbering" option is selected.

4. Click OK. WinEUR will automatically number the documents by incrementing the value from the number you specified.

How to sync my Swiss bank with Xero?
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Once you've signed up, created your workspace, and connected a first bank account, you can easily enable the Xero daily sync. Simply go through the steps below or follow along the video.

1. Invite the Sway Bot

  1. Go to "Settings" from your Sway dashboard
  2. Select "Collaborators" from the menu
  3. Click the button to Invite the Sway bot to your workspace
  4. You will be notified by e-mail when the Bot was successfully enabled

2. Configure Xero Access

  1. Open Xero and click the menu button at the top left
  2. Navigate to "Settings" → "User"
  3. Send an invitation to: bot@swayapp.io with "Business and Standard Accounting" rights

Your benefits

Once setup is complete, you'll benefit from:

  1. Automatic daily transaction sync between your Swiss bank accounts and Xero, each business day
  2. Real-time reconciliation capabilities that keep your books balanced
  3. Up-to-date accounting records reflecting your current financial position
  4. Streamlined financial management that reduces manual work

On top of that, you can easily invite collaborators to your Sway Finance workspace to easily manage bills and invoices, submit payments to your banks and automate your cash management and accounting processes.

Complete setup takes 5-10 minutes and only needs to be done once. Your financial data will then flow seamlessly and securely between platforms.

How to invite the Sway Bot?
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Inviting the Sway Bot to your workspace will allow enabling workflow automations such as the parsing of PDF bank statements, the pre-processing of your data for accounting, or the synchronisation with third-party tools.

To do so, proceed as follows:

  1. Go to "Settings" from your Sway dashboard
  2. Select "Collaborators" from the menu
  3. Click the button to Invite the Sway bot to your workspace
  4. You will be notified by e-mail when the Bot was successfully enabled