Writing an invoice in Switzerland: step-by-step with template
An invoice in Switzerland must clearly show who delivered what to whom, when, and at what price. A statutory list of mandatory details only exists for VAT-liable businesses: Art. 26 VAT Act requires the name and location of both parties, the VAT number, the date of performance, the service/product, the consideration, as well as the tax rate and tax amount. For all others, these details are considered best practice.
What must be on every Swiss invoice?
Which details are legally required depends on whether you are registered in the VAT register. For VAT-liable businesses, Art. 26 para. 2 MWSTG lists six elements that an invoice "usually" must contain. This includes the VAT number, i.e. the UID with the suffix MWST in the format CHE-123.456.789 MWST. The standard VAT rate is 8.1% (since 2024).
For non-VAT-liable businesses, the law does not prescribe a list. However, whoever is registered in the commercial register must use the company name on invoices fully and unmodified as registered (Art. 954a CO). And because every booking must be covered by a verifiable receipt (Art. 957a CO), the same basic details belong on every invoice in practice.
The UID number can be looked up at any time in the UID register of the Federal Statistical Office, provided you do not have your own number at hand. Read more about this in the article UID number on invoices.
Detail | Legal situation |
|---|---|
Name and location or address of the performing party (if registered in the commercial register, exactly as registered) | Art. 26 para. 2 let. a MWSTG; Art. 954a CO; otherwise practice |
Name and location or address of the receiving party | Art. 26 para. 2 let. b MWSTG; otherwise practice |
Invoice date | Practice |
Unique, sequential invoice number | Not prescribed; practice and help for proof of booking |
Type, object and scope of the service | Art. 26 para. 2 let. d MWSTG; otherwise practice |
Date or period of the service | Art. 26 para. 2 let. c MWSTG, if it differs from the invoice date |
Amount (consideration) | Art. 26 para. 2 let. e MWSTG; otherwise practice |
Payment details (IBAN or QR-IBAN) and payment deadline | Not prescribed, but necessary for you to get paid |
VAT number (format CHE-123.456.789 MWST) | Only if VAT-liable |
Applied tax rate (8.1%, 2.6% or 3.8%) | Only if VAT-liable |
Tax amount | Only if VAT-liable; for prices incl. VAT, stating the tax rate is sufficient |
For your customers' input tax deduction, it is crucial that you are registered in the VAT register and charge the tax correctly on the invoice. A complete invoice according to Art. 26 MWSTG is the simplest proof for this. If an details is missing, the deduction is not automatically lost: under the VAT procedure, free appreciation of evidence applies (Art. 81 para. 3 MWSTG). However, complete invoices save queries during an audit.
What is the difference if you are not liable for VAT?
Anyone who generates less than CHF 100,000 in turnover from taxable services in Switzerland and abroad within one year is exempt from VAT liability (Art. 10 para. 2 MWSTG; for voluntarily run sports and cultural associations as well as non-profit organisations, the limit is CHF 250,000).
As long as you are not registered in the register of taxable persons, you must not refer to VAT on invoices. Anyone who nevertheless shows a tax amount owes it to the Federal Tax Administration, even if the error arose from ignorance. Exempt from this is only a corrected invoice that refers to the original and revokes it, or credible proof that the Confederation has not suffered any tax loss, for example because the customer has not deducted any input tax.
What this means in concrete terms:
No VAT showing: Neither tax rate nor tax amount appear on the invoice.
No VAT number: You must not use the suffix MWST after the UID. You do not have to state the UID itself, but you may display it without the suffix.
Voluntary subjection possible: Anyone below the turnover threshold can waive the exemption according to Art. 11 MWSTG and register with the FTA, for example if high input tax amounts are incurred. The waiver applies for at least one tax period.
No notice necessary: The invoice does not have to explicitly state that there is no VAT liability. A missing VAT block is sufficient.
How is an invoice structured in Switzerland?
An invoice follows a structure that leads from the top down from the performing to the receiving party and concludes with the payment details. The layout is free, the order below has proven itself in practice. Invoice numbers are not legally prescribed. A unique, sequential number is still standard because it assigns each invoice to a document in accounting. It can consist of pure numbers or letter-number combinations, for example RE-2026-001.
Header area
Content: Sender information of the performing party.
What belongs in it: Company name (if registered in the commercial register, exactly as registered) or first and last name, address, in case of VAT liability the VAT number in the format CHE-123.456.789 MWST, optionally a logo.
Common error: The VAT number is missing for VAT-liable businesses, or the UID is listed without the MWST suffix.
Recipient address
Content: Details on the receiving party.
What belongs in it: Name and full address of the customer, for corporate clients also the department or contact person.
Common error: Only the company name without the full address, which causes problems for postal mailings and accounting reconciliation.
Invoice date and number
Content: Identification and timestamp of the invoice.
What belongs in it: Issue date of the invoice and a unique, sequential invoice number (e.g. RE-2026-042).
Common error: Numbers are assigned twice or chosen without a system, which makes assignment in accounting difficult.
Service description and line items
Content: Detailed list of the services rendered.
What belongs in it: Service date or period, designation of each item, quantity, unit, unit price and line total (e.g. 3 h at CHF 150.00 = CHF 450.00).
Common error: The service was rendered in a period other than the invoice date, but only the invoice date is shown on the invoice.
Subtotal, VAT and Total
Content: Mathematical summary of the invoice amount.
What belongs in it: Subtotal (Net), tax rate and tax amount if VAT-liable, total amount (Gross).
Common error: VAT is shown although there is no VAT liability, or with multiple tax rates, the assignment of items to the respective rate is missing.
Payment details and deadline
Content: All information the customer needs for payment.
What belongs in it: IBAN or QR-IBAN, payment deadline (e.g. 30 days net), for QR invoices, the payment part with receipt at the bottom margin of the sheet or on a separate page.
Common error: The payment deadline is missing. Without an agreed deadline, the claim is indeed due immediately (Art. 75 CO), but the customer only falls into default upon receiving a reminder (Art. 102 CO). Another error: a QR-IBAN without a QR reference or a regular IBAN with a QR reference. Both result in an invalid payment part.
Sample template
Without VAT liability, the suffix MWST after the UID and the VAT line are omitted; the total then corresponds to the subtotal.
What is the QR payment part and when is it necessary?
The QR payment part was introduced on 30 June 2020 and replaced the orange and red payment slips, which were only processed until 30 September 2022. It is not legally required: you can also just state your IBAN. However, if you want to enclose a payment slip, you can no longer avoid it.
The Swiss QR Code stores all payment information in machine-readable form, so that the customer scans the code with their banking app and triggers the payment within seconds. If you want to know more about the technical implementation, you can find all details in the article Create a QR invoice for your business.
The standard is defined by SIX on behalf of the Swiss financial centre and published via paymentstandards.ch. Fixed dimensions apply for the correct print implementation:
Element | Dimension |
|---|---|
Total QR payment part (payment part + receipt) | 210 × 105 mm |
Payment part alone | 148 × 105 mm |
Receipt alone | 62 × 105 mm |
Swiss QR Code (print size) | 46 × 46 mm |
Layout | Payment part on the right, receipt on the left |
For PDF delivery, the payment part and receipt must be separated by lines with a scissors symbol. Alternatively to the scissors symbol, the notice "Separate before paying" above the line is permissible. Since 21 November 2025, addresses in the Swiss QR Code must be entered in a structured format, i.e. street, house number, postcode and town in separate fields.
The following applies to the IBAN: A QR invoice works with your regular IBAN (without reference or with Creditor Reference). Only those who want to use the 27-digit QR reference for automatic payment reconciliation need a QR-IBAN. It differs from the regular IBAN and is issued separately by the bank.
Word and Excel do not have a built-in function for the Swiss QR Code. With an add-in or with a payment part that you generate in your bank's e-banking and insert into the invoice, a valid QR invoice can still be created. However, this means manual work for every invoice, and errors in size, address format or reference only become apparent when the code cannot be read.
Is a private individual allowed to write an invoice in Switzerland?
A private individual is allowed to issue an invoice for a one-off service. VAT details and UID are omitted. The MWSTG links tax liability not to the legal form, but to a business within the meaning of Art. 10 MWSTG: an independent professional or commercial activity aimed at sustainable income, and a turnover above the limit of CHF 100,000.
What applies when issuing an invoice as a private individual:
No VAT showing: Without registration with the FTA, no VAT may appear on the invoice.
No UID number: Private individuals do not have a business identification number and leave this field blank.
List basic details anyway: Name, address, service description, service date, amount and payment details are not legally prescribed for private individuals. However, without them, the invoice is hardly verifiable and difficult to enforce in the event of a dispute.
Declare income: Even the fee from a one-off service is taxable income and belongs in the tax return.
Regularity is crucial: Anyone who regularly issues invoices is quickly considered self-employed. Whether this is the case is decided by the AHV compensation fund. For self-employed secondary income up to CHF 2,500 in a calendar year, AHV contributions are only levied upon request. If in doubt, it is worth talking to the compensation fund or a trustee before the second or third invoice goes out.
How nextesy creates invoices with QR payment part
Anyone who issues more than a handful of invoices a month saves manual work in numbering, VAT showing and payment part with software. In nextesy, QR invoices according to the Swiss standard are fully integrated. You convert quotes and orders into an invoice with one click.
Swiss QR Code: You store your IBAN or QR-IBAN and your master data once, the payment part is generated for each invoice.
Sequential invoice numbers: nextesy assigns the invoice number automatically.
Templates: Logo, colours, layout, payment terms and text blocks are customizable.
Dispatch by email: Invoices go directly from nextesy to customers, also in foreign currencies.
VAT accounting: nextesy supports the effective method and the flat tax rate.
Trustee offices manage their clients in the same system and work with them in real-time.
