Commercial Employee CV: Example and Template
This is what a compelling CV for commercial employees (Employé de commerce) looks like in Switzerland - with figures, qualifications and system skills.
CV example — two-page template
This template is editable straight away — or upload your existing CV and it is carried into this layout automatically.
Which qualification belongs on a commercial employee's CV?
The key qualification is the Federal Certificate of Proficiency as a Commercial Employee (EFZ) - with sector, profile and relevant further training.
State your qualification in full: «Commercial Employee EFZ, Service and Administration sector, Profile E» says more than «commercial training». HR managers distinguish between Profile B, E and M, as well as between the sectors Service and Administration, Banking, Insurance, Public Administration, Trust/Fiduciary or Trade. If you hold or are pursuing a vocational baccalaureate, include it with its type (Business and Services) and completion year in the education section.
If you obtained your qualification abroad, list the recognition by the SBFI or a level assessment from swissuniversities. For career changers, Art. 32 BBV is relevant: the EFZ can be obtained retroactively through validation of prior learning with five years of professional experience - state an ongoing procedure transparently, along with the planned completion date.
Further training is effective when it matches the position. For accounting, these are certificates from edupool.ch/veb.ch (Accounting Specialist), followed by the Federal Diploma in Finance and Accounting; for administration and assistant roles, the Executive Assistant with Federal Diploma; for HR services, the HR Specialist certificate or the Personnel Administrator certificate. Additionally, list specific courses such as VAT for SMEs, Swiss Payroll Accounting or Excel Advanced, with the year.
How do I present my professional experience as a commercial employee convincingly?
Describe the area of responsibility for each position with figures, systems and results rather than job-description sentences.
Commercial tasks can quickly sound interchangeable. Make the scope visible: number of documents processed per month, amount of the payment run, number of payroll accounts managed, quotes per week, calls per day, number of companies or mandates. Phrase things in terms of results: «Reduced DSO from 46 to 31 days» or «Shortened accounts payable cycle from 9 to 3 days» is verifiable, «Assisted in accounting» is not.
Name the systems specifically, as this is what recruiters filter by: Abacus, SAP, Bexio, Sage 50, Navision/Business Central, Klara or industry-specific solutions, as well as your Excel level (Pivot, VLOOKUP, Power Query). Add professional procedures relevant to your field - VAT returns with the FTA (ESTV), Swiss Payroll Standard (ELM), notifications to the AHV compensation office, BVG and Suva, dunning up to formal debt collection requests under the Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act (SchKG), ISO 20022 and QR-bill.
Divide each position into two parts: one line of context (industry, company size, team size, reporting line) followed by three to four achievement bullet points. If you have several short temporary or part-time assignments, group them under one block titled «Temporary assignments via staffing agency». Explain gaps of more than three months factually in one line, for example further training, a language stay in Lausanne, or family time.
How long should the CV be, and is a photo required?
Two pages, a professional photo and complete standard Swiss details are the safe choice for commercial positions.
Stick to two A4 pages; after an apprenticeship or with less than three years of experience, one page is sufficient. The first two-thirds of page one are decisive: a three-sentence profile, an «At a Glance» section with qualification, systems, workload and availability, followed by the current position. Details about the apprenticeship and compulsory schooling no longer need space once you list several positions.
In Switzerland, an application photo is still common and is often expected for commercial positions involving customer contact: friendly, neutral background, business attire, taken by a professional photographer. Omit details on marital status, religion or denomination. Do state, however, year of birth, place of residence, nationality or permit type (C, B, G), desired workload, availability and - if relevant to the position - Category B driving licence.
Adapt your CV to each job posting: adopt the terminology used in the advertisement (for example «accounts receivable accounting» instead of «invoicing») and put the required language first if French or English skills are requested. State language levels according to the CEFR (B2, C1) rather than «good». List references as «References available on request» or with two contacts including their role - send work references and diplomas as a separate PDF within the same application package. A salary expectation does not belong in the CV; if requested in the job posting, state it in the cover letter, for example CHF 85'000 gross per year at 100%.
The CV in full
To read through and reuse.
Nadja Zumbrunn
Commercial Employee EFZ, Service and Administration sector - Accounting Specialist (edupool.ch)
Commercial employee with eight years of experience in financial and operational accounting, order processing and administration in Swiss SMEs. Responsible for accounts receivable and payable with around 1'400 documents per month, VAT returns under the effective method, and payroll for 120 employees in Abacus. Bilingual German/French and experienced in the transition to QR-bill and ISO 20022.
What sets me apart
Confident in financial statement closing, not just data entry: Independently prepares monthly and annual financial statements in accordance with Art. 957 ff. CO: accruals, provisions, receivables valuation and account reconciliation through to handover to the auditors.
VAT and social insurance practice: Prepares quarterly VAT returns with the FTA (ESTV) (effective method, acquisition tax) and handles annual reports to the AHV compensation office, BVG pension fund, Suva and the withholding tax authority.
Payment transactions to Swiss standard: Introduced QR-bill and pain.001/camt.054 in e-banking and automated payment reconciliation - manual follow-up work reduced by 70%.
Bilingual customer contact: Handles customers from the Romandie in writing and by phone in French: quotes, dunning and complaints without a translation loop.
Key achievements
Reduced outstanding receivables by CHF 235'000. Restructured a three-stage dunning process with payment agreements and referral to debt collection: open items over 60 days fell from CHF 380'000 to CHF 145'000 within 11 months.
Accounts payable cycle cut from 9 to 3 days. Digitised incoming invoices with an approval workflow in Abacus AbaScan: 1'400 documents per month, cash discount income of around CHF 18'000 per year achieved.
VAT audit with no objections. Prepared and supported the FTA (ESTV) audit in 2023 for three companies: revenue reconciliation over 4 years, result: zero adjustments and no additional charges.
Experience
Accounting and Administration Specialist — Aarehof Handels AG, Olten, 03/2021 - present
Wholesale company with 120 employees and three legal entities, accounting team of two people.
- Responsible for accounts receivable and payable with around 1'400 documents per month, as well as the weekly payment run averaging CHF 1.2 million
- Preparation of 12 monthly financial statements per year within 6 working days, including account reconciliation and accruals
- Payroll processing for 120 employees in Abacus Payroll, including withholding tax, child allowances and Swiss Payroll Standard (ELM) reporting to all social insurance bodies
- Reduced DSO from 46 to 31 days and achieved cash discount income of around CHF 18'000 per year
Commercial Employee, Inside Sales — Bielstein Technik GmbH, Biel/Bienne, 08/2018 - 02/2021
Technical trading company with 45 employees, customers in German-speaking Switzerland and the Romandie.
- Recorded and followed up around 45 quotes per week in SAP S/4HANA, increasing the conversion rate from 22% to 29%
- Processed 60 to 80 orders per week, including delivery date monitoring, customs documents and shipping orders
- Reduced the complaint rate from 4.2% to 1.8% through structured case intake and a credit note process
- Managed the telephone switchboard with 60 calls per day, around 30% of which in French
Apprentice Commercial Employee EFZ, Profile E — Seetal Versicherungen AG, Sursee, 08/2015 - 07/2018
Three-year basic vocational training, Service and Administration sector, rotations through four departments.
- Processed around 250 claims and contract files per month in non-life claims handling
- Completed the qualification procedure with a grade average of 5.3, workplace experience grade 5.5
- Independently managed mail processing and material ordering with an annual budget of CHF 24'000
- Introduced a template library for standard correspondence, reducing time per letter by 8 minutes
Education
Federal Certificate of Proficiency (EFZ), Commercial Employee, Service and Administration sector, Profile E — Berufsbildungszentrum Sursee · 2018
Certificate as Accounting Specialist, Finance and Accounting (edupool.ch / veb.ch) — KV Bildungszentrum Olten · 2022
Vocational Baccalaureate (in progress, completion 2026), Business and Services, Business type — Berufsmaturitätsschule Aarau · 2024 - 2026
Accounting Specialist edupool.ch/veb.ch, 2022 · Swiss Payroll Accounting Certificate (Swiss Payroll Standard ELM), 2023 · VAT Seminar for SMEs, Returns and Acquisition Tax, 2023 · Excel Advanced (Pivot, Power Query), 2021