Challenge

The agency management software market is either too generic, too expensive, or problematic when it comes to infrastructure: data sits on American servers, Swiss compliance (FADP, CO 957, QR invoice, VAT) is handled superficially, and pricing scales poorly as the team grows.

There’s also a structural problem: most tools are black boxes. You don’t know what happens to your own data – or your clients’ data. For agencies working in regulated sectors, or simply those who want to appear professional, this is an increasingly real barrier to closing deals.

Starting point: FreelanceOS – a CRM/invoicing tool built for personal use. Single user, SQLite, on a VPS. Functional, but far from a marketable product.

Solution

Rather than incrementally extending FreelanceOS, the project was rebuilt from scratch – this time with a clear architecture and a defined market strategy. Three guiding principles shaped every technical and infrastructural decision:

1. Swiss compliance as a core feature – not an afterthought

Swiss QR invoice, VAT (flat-rate and effective methods), CO 957a-compliant snapshots, OAFER-compliant document archiving. All in V1, not as a later add-on.

2. Data sovereignty as a business argument

The entire infrastructure runs in Switzerland: VPS, database, object storage, email – exclusively at Infomaniak (Lausanne/Lugano) and Metanet. No AWS, no Google, no data in the US. Not out of technical nostalgia, but because more and more clients demand it – especially since the revised FADP came into force (September 2023).

3. Two deployment models – the choice stays with the client

Cloud subscription for agencies that want to get started quickly without managing infrastructure. Self-hosted with a license key for those who need full control over their data. The license model follows the FSL-1.1-Apache-2.0 standard (as popularised by Sentry): source code viewable and auditable, fully Open Source after two years.

Results

agency-atelier is a modular PSA platform covering:

Clients & Contacts

Companies and contacts managed separately – one contact can work for multiple clients. Full activity history for every relationship.

Projects & Time Tracking

Projects are directly linked to clients. Hours are logged per project, task and team member. The connection between “logged hours” and “billed hours” is direct – no manual reconciliation.

Quotes with Block Library

Professional quotes built from reusable content blocks (service descriptions, introductions, terms). When sent, a legally binding snapshot is created – later changes to the catalogue don’t affect documents already sent (CO 957a).

Invoicing & QR Invoice

Invoices with correct numbering, integrated QR code (Swiss Payment Standard), VAT calculated using the flat-rate or effective method. PDF output compliant with OAFER.

Bank Reconciliation

Import bank statements, automatically match incoming payments to open invoices. The matching algorithm works with amount, QR reference and date. What used to be a manual weekly task becomes a validation task.

Roles & Permissions

Granular rights management: who can create quotes, who sees invoices, who can export data. Suited to teams with different levels of access.

Infrastructure (100% Switzerland)

VPS + database + object storage + SMTP + DNS – exclusively Swiss providers. No data transit to the US or EU.

Self-Hosting with License Key

Deployment on your own infrastructure via Docker. Activation via a cryptographically signed Ed25519 key. Source code open and auditable.