Abacus is a modular system that many Swiss SMEs run together with an Abacus partner. Exporting therefore does not go through a single button but through individual programs, each with its own number. This guide shows which program delivers what, and where it is better to ask your partner.
Before you start: what you need
Not every program is necessarily enabled for every user. Your Abacus partner and your fiduciary know best which modules your business uses. So involve the partner early: they know your setup, your clients and the choice of fields. Create a folder in which to collect all the files. Export before you cancel Abacus: you must keep the accounting records for ten years (Art. 958f of the Swiss Code of Obligations, CO).
Step by step: exporting from Abacus
The details follow the Abacus help for financial accounting. Program names are those of the German-language Abacus interface.
- Chart of accounts: program 554 «Kontenplan Import/Export» exports charts of accounts, cost centre and project plans together with their classification. The format is ASCII or XML; there is no Excel format there.
- Postings: program 5534 «Import/Export Buchungen AbaConnect» exports the journal as ASCII, XML or Excel (xlsx). Choose the journal, actual postings and the area «Finanzbuchhaltung & Kostenrechnung» (financial accounting and cost accounting).
- Journal as a report: program 15 «Journalauswertungen» (journal reports) delivers the journal as a list. How to output this list as Excel is described in a guide written by an Abacus partner (see the sources); if in doubt, ask your partner.
- Balances and opening balances: in program 31 «Bilanz / Erfolgsrechnung / Saldi» (balance sheet, income statement, balances), call up the export of the annual figures in the balance view, at the level «Jahreszahlen» (annual figures), with a right-click, for example to Excel. This gives you the opening balances.
- VAT codes: program 535 «Import/Export Mehrwertsteuer Code» exports your VAT codes.
- Open items: program 14 «Offene-Posten-Listen» (open item lists) produces the lists for receivables and payables. The help does not describe whether or how to output them as Excel; if in doubt, a PDF list at the reference date is enough, and we reconcile it.
Repeat the exports for every financial year you want to bring across.
Receivables, payables and addresses
For customers, suppliers, addresses and contact persons, Abacus offers the AbaConnect interface, for example «DEBI Kunden» (customers) as an XML file. This is a technical route, and no menu path for non-specialists exists. Have your Abacus partner set up and trigger these exports. They can see straight away which fields you actually maintain.
Payroll
Abacus states that journals and lists from payroll accounting (AbaLohn) can be saved as Excel or PDF, as can personnel lists. We have no documented menu path for this; the Abacus help does not describe exporting payslips, holidays and absences. Here too, ask the partner or the manufacturer's support. Also keep salary certificates and payslips as PDF.
Practical example: Alpstein Bau AG
Alpstein Bau AG is a fictitious building firm with twelve employees. It switches on 1 January. In November it asks its Abacus partner for the exports: chart of accounts, postings for the last two years, the balance list at 31 December, VAT codes and a list of open items. The files go into a folder, and the firm sends them to KMU | base. In the trial run it sees what will be created. The balance list serves as a check: the accounts agree, or they are corrected before approval.
How KMU | base helps
1. You supply the export, we sort and enter the data. The data transfer is free and takes at most 24 hours on working days. Everything else is on the page From Abacus to KMU | base.
2. Trial run before the transfer. You see what will be created and what already exists. Nothing is transferred until you approve it, and a transfer can be rolled back.
3. Templates for common systems. We have templates for exports from common Swiss systems, so you do not have to rework your files.
If you would like to try it yourself, take a look at the Demo or open a test account.
Sources
- Abacus Help «Finanzbuchhaltung» (as at 19.09.2024) and year-end description 2022, accessed 9 November 2026: downloads.abacus.ch
- Abacus AbaConnect, «DEBI Kunden» interface and overview of the documentation, accessed 9 November 2026: downloads.abacus.ch
- HR payroll brochure (2019), accessed 9 November 2026: media.abacus.ch
- Heyde (Schweiz) AG for HSLU, guide to exporting data from Abacus (2021): sites.hslu.ch
- Swiss Code of Obligations (CO, SR 220), Art. 958f: fedlex.admin.ch (German original)
This guide describes the Abacus menus according to the manufacturer's help; names may change. Information as of 9 November 2026.