A maintenance contract that quietly renews for a year, a leasing agreement terminated too late, a software licence that nobody needs any more: in many SMEs, contract management fails not because it is complicated but because of a lack of overview. The contracts sit in folders, mailboxes and people’s heads, and the notice deadline falls due just when nobody is thinking of it. This guide shows what details a contract register needs, how to calculate notice deadlines correctly, what the Code of Obligations says about periods and how to get reminded in good time.
Why notice deadlines get lost
Contracts are signed once and then filed away. They are only asked for again when something goes wrong or when the deadline for giving notice has long passed. Three patterns recur: the contract end appears only in the PDF and in no list. The notice period is confused with the contract end, although notice falls due months earlier. And the person who concluded the contract has left the business or changed role.
A contract register does not solve this through extra work but through a single rule: every contract carries the same five or six details, and one place calculates the deadline from them and sends a reminder.
What belongs in a contract register
The law prescribes no particular contract register. What follows is practice, not a statutory requirement. These details have proved their worth for each contract:
- Contracting party and type of contract: who, and what is supplied or performed.
- Contract end: the date on which the contract ends without notice or is renewed.
- Notice period: as stated in the contract, with a number and a unit, for example “3 months” or “90 days”.
- Renewal: whether and for how long the contract is renewed if nobody gives notice.
- Responsible person: who looks after the contract and has to decide in good time. A name, not “the management”.
- Storage location of the signed document, so that the notice refers to the correct wording.
You can add costs, contract start or a contact person at the partner. What matters is that the fields are named the same and filled in the same way for every contract.
What the Code of Obligations says about periods
Which period applies depends on the type of contract and on the contract itself; however, the law does not permit deviations everywhere. The Code of Obligations (CO, OR) contains rules for individual types of contract. The following overview reproduces only what the articles cited say, as at 1 October 2026:
| Type of contract | Rule in the law | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Lease of residential premises | Notice with three months for a customary local date, otherwise for the end of a three-month lease term | Art. 266c CO |
| Lease of commercial premises | Notice with six months for a customary local date, otherwise for the end of a three-month lease term | Art. 266d CO |
| Lease of movable property | Notice with three days for any date | Art. 266f CO |
| Employment contract after probation | One month in the first year of service, two months from the second up to and including the ninth, three months thereafter, in each case for the end of a month; variable by written agreement, standard or collective employment agreement, below one month only by collective employment agreement and only in the first year of service | Art. 335c, paras. 1 and 2 CO |
| Mandate | May be revoked or terminated by either party at any time; if this happens at an inopportune moment, the party withdrawing must pay damages | Art. 404 CO |
Three notes on this. First: for leases, under Art. 266a, para. 1 CO the parties may agree a longer period or a different date. If someone does not observe the period or date, notice applies under para. 2 for the next possible date. Second: residential and commercial premises must be terminated in writing (Art. 266l, para. 1 CO); the landlord needs a form approved by the canton for this (para. 2). Third: under Art. 266, para. 1 CO, a fixed-term lease ends without notice when the term expires; if the parties tacitly continue it, it is deemed to be of indefinite duration under para. 2.
Employment relationships belong in the personnel file and follow their own rules, for example on probation (Art. 335b CO) and protection periods. You will find help on this in the guide Calculating notice periods. For many other contracts, such as maintenance, licences, leasing or subscriptions, the contract is decisive in the first place. Whether mandatory statutory rules also apply, such as the right to terminate at any time in a mandate (Art. 404 CO), depends on the legal classification. Whether such a contract is legally more a mandate, a contract for work or a mixed contract cannot be said in general terms. If in doubt, clarify this with a specialist before giving notice.
Calculate the notice deadline correctly
In practice you calculate backwards: contract end minus notice period gives the day by which the notice should at the latest be with the other party. This is a planning rule, not legal advice: whether dispatch or receipt counts for timeliness depends on the contract and on the type of contract. Always plan with receipt, therefore, and leave a margin.
Two rules from the CO show how the law calculates periods:
- Periods in months end, under Art. 77, para. 1, point 3 CO, on the day of the last month that corresponds by its number to the day the contract was concluded. If that day is missing in the last month, it is the last day of that month. Under para. 2, this applies by analogy where the period runs from another point in time.
- If the last day of a period falls on a Sunday or on a public holiday recognised by the state at the place of performance, the next following working day applies under Art. 78, para. 1 CO; agreements to the contrary remain reserved (para. 2). A footnote in the law records that, for statutory periods under federal law and periods set by authorities, Saturday is treated as equivalent to a public holiday. Whether and how this rule applies to the notice for your contract should not be decided from memory. Anyone who wants to be safe gives notice a working day earlier.
Also pay attention to the unit. “3 months” and “90 days” are not the same: for a contract ending on 15.06.2027, “3 months” leads to 15.03.2027, “90 days” to 17.03.2027. Anyone who adopts the wrong wording shifts the deadline by two days.
Tacit renewal
Many contracts provide that they are renewed for a fixed term unless notice is given in time. This is a contractual arrangement and not a statutory automatism. In the contract register it belongs in its own field, for example “12 months”. Anyone who misses the deadline is then bound for the next term, and the next notice deadline falls a full year later. This case can become expensive.
Practical example: Weber Elektro AG
Weber Elektro AG is a fictitious electrical installation company with twelve employees in Musterstadt. Office manager Sandra Keller keeps three contracts in the register. The values come from the respective contracts; the deadlines have been recalculated:
| Contract | Contract end | Period | Renewal | Give notice by | Reminder (60 days before) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workshop lease (commercial premises) | 30.09.2027 | 6 months | 12 months | 31.03.2027 | 30.01.2027 |
| IT support maintenance contract | 31.12.2026 | 3 months | 12 months | 30.09.2026 | 01.08.2026 |
| Planning software subscription | 15.06.2027 | 90 days | 12 months | 17.03.2027 | 16.01.2027 |
For the lease, the law gives six months for a customary local date for commercial premises (Art. 266d CO). In the example, the term, period and renewal are expressly set out in the contract; the contract text, which you read before giving notice, is decisive. Where the contract end falls on the end of a month, the register – as is usual in practice – also calculates the notice deadline to the end of a month (here 31.03.2027).
The maintenance contract shows the critical case. The reminder arrives on Saturday, 01.08.2026; Sandra Keller reads it on Monday, 03.08.2026: 58 days remain until 30.09.2026. She notes that the provider has reacted late several times in recent months and decides on 14.09.2026 to give notice. The letter goes out by registered mail on Monday, 14.09.2026, 16 days before the deadline. She records the termination with a dispatch date of 14.09.2026 and effect on 31.12.2026. Had she done nothing, the contract would have been renewed by twelve months after 30.09.2026, until 31.12.2027, with the next notice deadline on 30.09.2027.
The software subscription shows the value of the unit: with “90 days”, the deadline falls on 17.03.2027; with “3 months” it would be 15.03.2027. Anyone who misses the deadline remains bound until 15.06.2028; the next notice deadline would then be 17.03.2028.
Checklist
- Every contract carries contract end, notice period and renewal in the same fields
- The notice period is stated with a number and a unit (“3 months”, “90 days”), not only as running text
- A responsible person is entered by name
- The signed document is attached to the contract, not only in the mailbox
- For residential and commercial premises: notice given in writing; the landlord needs the form approved by the canton (Art. 266l CO)
- The notice deadline is checked against weekends and public holidays; if in doubt, a working day earlier
- It is clear whether dispatch or receipt counts; the notice is sent so that it arrives in time
- Dispatch date and effect of the notice are recorded
- The contract register is reviewed when the responsible person leaves or changes role
How KMU | base helps
In Docu | base, the contract is a document of the type “Contract” and carries the details the register needs. This is how the route looks.
1. File the contract. Docu | base comes with ready-made document types, including “Contract” with the fields Contract end, Notice period, Tacit renewal and Responsible (email address). You file the contract via Inbox, confirm the type, company and fields, and only then is it archived. You create your own document types with their own fields under More › Document types; for the register, all documents count whose type has a “Contract end” field.
2. View the register. Under Contract deadlines you see all contracts with contract end, notice period, the “Give notice by” date and the renewal. Filter by status: Notice due soon, Running, Renewed, Terminated, Ended. With a renewal entered, the register rolls on to the next term after the deadline; the original contract end remains visible as a note.
3. Get reminded. The responsible person receives an email 60 days before the notice deadline. The recipient is the person entered in the “Responsible” field (the email address of a person with access to KMU | base), otherwise the person who recorded the contract. The email is sent once per deadline.
4. Record the notice. On the document page, open “Record termination” in the “Contract” section, enter the dispatch date and “Effective on”, and add a note if you wish. If the dispatch date is after the notice deadline, Docu | base warns you. The register switches to “Terminated”.
What Docu | base does not do: it calculates in calendar days and calendar months, takes neither weekends nor public holidays into account, and reads only the number and unit from the “Notice period” field. Additions such as “for the end of a quarter” or “for a customary local date” are not evaluated; in that case, enter the specific contract end and check the deadline yourself. The warning compares the dispatch date with the deadline, not the arrival at the contracting party. Legally, Docu | base does not assess any contract; it reminds and documents.
If you would like to try it yourself, take a look at the Demo or open a test account. If you have questions, we will help you via the Contact page. You will find the current terms under Pricing.
Sources
- Code of Obligations (OR, SR 220), Art. 77, para. 1, point 3 and para. 2, Art. 78, Art. 266, 266a, 266c, 266d, 266f, 266l, Art. 335b, 335c and Art. 404, as at 1 October 2026: fedlex.admin.ch (German original), accessed on 27.10.2026.
This guide does not replace legal or tax advice. Information as at 27.10.2026.