E-invoicing compliance and regulatory updates - Switzerland

Electronic Invoicing Switzerland

Electronic invoicing in Switzerland has been around for quite some time. It has been required since January 2016 for Business-to-Government (B2G) suppliers to send electronic invoices in a structured format to the federal government entities in which the transaction originates from a contract where the value meets or exceeds CHF 5,000. However, there is no general obligation to send invoices electronically to private sector clients, which means Switzerland follows a hybrid approach.

For Business-to-Business (B2B), electronic invoicing is voluntary. Even though there is no mandatory invoice format in Switzerland, there is a Swiss e-invoicing standard called swissDIGIN that defines content and formats that can be used to exchange invoicing data. More recently, the ZUGFeRD/Factur-X invoice format has been recommended by the Swiss authorities.

The Swiss Federal Tax Administration website can be visited here.

The alpine country allows freedom of evidence of ensuring the I &A of the invoice. From September 2016 it has not been mandatory to use digital signatures, however, it is advisable. Digital signatures are to be used as defined in the Swiss Federal Act on Electronic Signatures (ZertES).

Sending PDF invoices as an attachment in an email is accepted and common in Switzerland. Recently, the requirement to sign the PDF was relieved.

Next to the electronic invoice sending and receiving as required by the federal government, support for electronic payments has been a major driver in digitalising the document exchange.

The ESR, also known as ISR, is a standardised payment slip that represents a unique reference number that the payer can use to pay invoices. It typically was attached to an invoice or sent as a separate file by the biller.

Since June 2020, the ESR is gradually being replaced by the QR-Rechnung which is a machine readable QR code that can be added to an invoice and - when scanned - provides the payment information. From 30 September 2022, the QR-code will be the only valid payment slip.

Want to learn more about e-Invoicing compliance?

Download our Global e-invoicing and Tax Compliance fact sheet here for more information.

Download now

Electronic Invoicing Switzerland

Electronic invoicing in Switzerland has been around for quite some time. It has been required since January 2016 for Business-to-Government (B2G) suppliers to send electronic invoices in a structured format to the federal government entities in which the transaction originates from a contract where the value meets or exceeds CHF 5,000. However, there is no general obligation to send invoices electronically to private sector clients, which means Switzerland follows a hybrid approach.

For Business-to-Business (B2B), electronic invoicing is voluntary. Even though there is no mandatory invoice format in Switzerland, there is a Swiss e-invoicing standard called swissDIGIN that defines content and formats that can be used to exchange invoicing data. More recently, the ZUGFeRD/Factur-X invoice format has been recommended by the Swiss authorities.

The Swiss Federal Tax Administration website can be visited here.

The alpine country allows freedom of evidence of ensuring the I &A of the invoice. From September 2016 it has not been mandatory to use digital signatures, however, it is advisable. Digital signatures are to be used as defined in the Swiss Federal Act on Electronic Signatures (ZertES).

Sending PDF invoices as an attachment in an email is accepted and common in Switzerland. Recently, the requirement to sign the PDF was relieved.

Next to the electronic invoice sending and receiving as required by the federal government, support for electronic payments has been a major driver in digitalising the document exchange.

The ESR, also known as ISR, is a standardised payment slip that represents a unique reference number that the payer can use to pay invoices. It typically was attached to an invoice or sent as a separate file by the biller.

Since June 2020, the ESR is gradually being replaced by the QR-Rechnung which is a machine readable QR code that can be added to an invoice and - when scanned - provides the payment information. From 30 September 2022, the QR-code will be the only valid payment slip.

Want to learn more about e-Invoicing compliance?

Download our Global e-invoicing and Tax Compliance fact sheet here for more information.

Download now

Archiving

In Switzerland, invoice documents need to be stored for 10 years. The archiving should use technical procedures that guarantee the integrity of the stored document. A time stamp must also be used as proof of the time the document was stored.

Basware provides compliant invoice archiving in Switzerland through the Basware Vault service.

Want to know more about Basware’s archiving services?

Download our Basware Vault fact sheet here to learn more about our flexible and scalable solution.

Download now

Basware Services

Basware works with a local partner to send and receive e-invoice documents in Switzerland. The move to ZUGFeRD/Factur-X is also supported by Basware.

Basware also has solutions for PDF invoices and even paper documents that would be sent by your suppliers.

Want to find out how we can help in your specific case?

Speak to a member of our team to learn more.

Contact us

Interoperability

At Basware, we are passionate about delivering the benefits of open interoperability to our customers. That’s why we have partnered with more than 220 e-invoicing networks around the world to ensure the Basware Network remains the largest open commerce network of buyers and suppliers.

Basware enables interoperability on the local Swiss market with:

  • IO-Market
  • Postfinance

Our advice

E-invoicing has been around for a long time in Switzerland and it is commonly accepted.

With the push to QR-Rechnung that will become mandatory as of 30 September 2022, it is the ideal time to switch to electronic invoicing.

Want to understand how we can help in your case?

Get in touch with our experts.

Contact us

Back to Compliance Map

Electronic Invoicing Switzerland

Electronic invoicing in Switzerland has been around for quite some time. It has been required since January 2016 for Business-to-Government (B2G) suppliers to send electronic invoices in a structured format to the federal government entities in which the transaction originates from a contract where the value meets or exceeds CHF 5,000. However, there is no general obligation to send invoices electronically to private sector clients, which means Switzerland follows a hybrid approach.

For Business-to-Business (B2B), electronic invoicing is voluntary. Even though there is no mandatory invoice format in Switzerland, there is a Swiss e-invoicing standard called swissDIGIN that defines content and formats that can be used to exchange invoicing data. More recently, the ZUGFeRD/Factur-X invoice format has been recommended by the Swiss authorities.

The Swiss Federal Tax Administration website can be visited here.

The alpine country allows freedom of evidence of ensuring the I &A of the invoice. From September 2016 it has not been mandatory to use digital signatures, however, it is advisable. Digital signatures are to be used as defined in the Swiss Federal Act on Electronic Signatures (ZertES).

Sending PDF invoices as an attachment in an email is accepted and common in Switzerland. Recently, the requirement to sign the PDF was relieved.

Next to the electronic invoice sending and receiving as required by the federal government, support for electronic payments has been a major driver in digitalising the document exchange.

The ESR, also known as ISR, is a standardised payment slip that represents a unique reference number that the payer can use to pay invoices. It typically was attached to an invoice or sent as a separate file by the biller.

Since June 2020, the ESR is gradually being replaced by the QR-Rechnung which is a machine readable QR code that can be added to an invoice and - when scanned - provides the payment information. From 30 September 2022, the QR-code will be the only valid payment slip.

Want to learn more about e-Invoicing compliance?

Download our Global e-invoicing and Tax Compliance fact sheet here for more information.

Download now