Swiss QR-Bills: The Complete Guide for Freelancers

Since October 2022, the old Swiss payment slips (orange and red Einzahlungsscheine) are no longer accepted by banks. Every invoice in Switzerland now needs a QR-bill payment slip — the standardized format with a Swiss QR code that contains all payment information.

If you're a freelancer or self-employed professional in Switzerland, this guide covers everything you need to know about creating compliant QR-bill invoices.

What is a Swiss QR-Bill?

A Swiss QR-bill is a standardized payment slip defined by SIX Group (the Swiss financial infrastructure provider). It contains a QR code with structured payment data that can be scanned by any Swiss banking app. The format is defined in the "Swiss Payment Standards" and is mandatory for all invoice payments in Switzerland.

The QR-bill payment part has a fixed height of 105mm and sits at the bottom of an A4 page. It consists of two sections:

• Receipt (left side, 62mm wide) — a tear-off receipt for the payer
• Payment part (right side, 148mm wide) — contains the QR code with all payment data

What Information is Encoded in the QR Code?

The Swiss QR code follows the ISO 20022 standard and contains:

• Creditor IBAN (must be a CH or LI IBAN)
• Creditor name and address
• Payment amount and currency (CHF or EUR)
• A structured reference number (QR-Reference or Creditor Reference)
• Optional: debtor information and additional message

QR-IBAN vs. Regular IBAN

There are two types of IBAN you can use on QR-bills:

• QR-IBAN — a special IBAN (starts with specific bank clearing numbers 30000-31999) used together with a QR-Reference. This is what most businesses use because the structured reference enables automatic payment matching.
• Regular IBAN — your normal bank account IBAN, used without a structured reference or with a Creditor Reference (ISO 11649). Simpler but no automatic matching.

Ask your bank for a QR-IBAN if you want automatic payment reconciliation. Most Swiss banks provide this free of charge.

The QR-Reference Number

The QR-Reference is a 27-digit number with a check digit (modulo 10 recursive). It's the successor to the old ESR reference number. You generate it yourself — typically by embedding your invoice number and adding the check digit.

When your client pays, their bank transmits this reference back to your bank. This allows accounting software (or SwissQRBills) to automatically match incoming payments to the correct invoice.

What Do Freelancers Need?

To send QR-bill invoices, you need:

1. A Swiss bank account (CH-IBAN) — UBS, PostFinance, Raiffeisen, ZKB, etc.
2. A QR-IBAN from your bank (optional but recommended for payment matching)
3. Invoicing software that generates compliant QR-bill PDFs

With SwissQRBills, you enter your bank details once in Settings, and every invoice automatically includes a valid QR payment slip. Your clients can pay by scanning the QR code with their banking app — no manual IBAN typing needed.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Wrong IBAN format — Swiss IBANs have exactly 21 characters (CH + 2 check digits + 5 bank clearing + 12 account digits)
• Missing address — The creditor address is mandatory on QR-bills. A PO Box alone is not sufficient.
• Incorrect reference check digit — If the check digit is wrong, the payment will be rejected by the bank
• Amount with too many decimals — Only 2 decimal places are allowed (CHF 100.00, not CHF 100.005)

MwSt on Freelancer Invoices

If your annual revenue exceeds CHF 100,000, you must register for MwSt (VAT) and add 8.1% to your invoices. Even below this threshold, voluntary registration can be advantageous if you have significant business expenses (you can claim back Vorsteuer/input tax).

Your QR-bill invoice should clearly show the net amount, MwSt rate, MwSt amount, and total. SwissQRBills handles this calculation automatically and generates quarterly MwSt reports for your Treuhänder.

Getting Started

You can create your first QR-bill invoice in under 2 minutes:

1. Sign up for a free SwissQRBills account
2. Enter your company details and bank IBAN in Settings
3. Add your first customer
4. Create an invoice — the QR payment slip is generated automatically

The free plan includes 5 invoices per month. For unlimited invoices, recurring billing, and bank import, the Pro plan is CHF 19/month.