Writing an Invoice in Switzerland: Guide, Mandatory Fields and Template

Want to write an invoice and wondering what belongs on it? Short answer: your name and address and your customer's, the date, an invoice number, a clear description of the service, the amount, your IBAN, and, if you are VAT-registered, your VAT number and rate. Plus, since 2022, a Swiss QR code as the payment part.

The fastest route to a correct Swiss invoice is not a Word document but the free invoice generator: you type in the details, the QR code is computed automatically, and you download a finished PDF, no sign-up required.

This guide walks through it in order: the mandatory fields, the VAT question, the QR-bill, and step by step how to write an invoice that gets paid cleanly.

Mandatory fields of a Swiss invoice

For an invoice to pass cleanly and count for bookkeeping, it needs these fields:

• Sender name and address - your company or personal name with full address, so the customer knows who the invoice is from and can record it.
• Recipient name and address - the customer the invoice goes to, ideally with the exact company name for business clients.
• Invoice date - the date you issue the invoice. Payment terms and bookkeeping often hang on it.
• Invoice number - a unique, ideally sequential number (for example 2026-001) that makes every invoice findable and avoids mix-ups.
• Description of the service or goods - what did you deliver? One clear line per item, with quantity and unit price, beats a vague lump sum.
• Amount - the invoice total in CHF, clearly stated. With several positions, show a subtotal and a grand total.
• Payment terms and IBAN - by when and to which account? Your IBAN (or QR-IBAN) and a clear deadline, for example "payable within 30 days".

If you are VAT-registered, two more fields apply:

• VAT number - your UID in the format CHE-123.456.789 MWST.
• VAT rate and amount - the applied rate and the resulting tax amount, shown separately.

That sounds like a lot, but it is quick once you use a good template or a generator that lays out the fields for you.

Remember: This is not about bureaucratic language but about traceability. An invoice must show who owes whom how much for what, and how it gets paid.

Invoice with or without VAT

The key fork: you show VAT only if you are VAT-registered. Registration generally becomes mandatory once annual turnover reaches CHF 100'000. Below that and not voluntarily registered, you invoice without VAT: no rate, no tax amount, no VAT number.

That is not a drawback, it is correct. Anyone not registered must not show VAT at all. If you become liable or register voluntarily, the VAT number and rate belong on every invoice.

For exactly when the obligation kicks in, which rates apply and how registration works, see our VAT obligation guide.

The QR-bill as the standard

Since 1 October 2022 the QR-bill is the standard payment format in Switzerland. It fully replaced the old orange and red payment slips, which banks no longer process.

A proper Swiss invoice today carries a Swiss QR code in the payment part. Your customer scans it with their banking app, all payment data (recipient, IBAN, amount, reference) is already embedded, and the payment is triggered in a few taps. No retyping, no typos, fewer questions.

This is exactly where static templates fail: they cannot produce the QR code. If you want to know how to create a payment part correctly, the create a QR-bill page helps. For the technical details (QR-IBAN, reference types, layout rules), see the detailed Swiss QR-bill guide.

Writing an invoice: step by step

Here is how to write a correct invoice in minutes:

1. Capture sender details - your name or company name, address and IBAN. If VAT-registered, also your VAT number.
2. Enter the recipient - your customer's name and address, as exactly as possible.
3. Set invoice number and date - a sequential number and the issue date.
4. List the items - one line per position with description, quantity and unit price. That yields the total.
5. Apply VAT (if registered) - choose the rate, show the tax amount, total including VAT.
6. Define payment terms - state the deadline (for example 30 days) and your IBAN.
7. Generate the QR payment part - create the Swiss QR code from your payment data.
8. Download as PDF and send - done.

Steps 1 to 8 are fastest directly in the free invoice generator. It handles the QR code calculation and makes sure nothing important is missing.

Template: Word/Excel or online generator?

Many search for an invoice template and land on Word or Excel. That works for layout but has a decisive catch: a static Word or Excel template cannot produce a valid, scannable Swiss QR code. The code must be computed from your payment data and carry a check digit and the Swiss cross, which an Office template cannot do.

The consequence: a plain Word template leaves your invoice without a QR payment part. Customers retype the IBAN by hand, which invites typos and late payments, and you look less professional.

The smarter "template" is therefore a free invoice generator: you fill in the same fields as in Word but automatically get a correct QR payment part and a cleanly typeset PDF, no sign-up and no fiddling with check digits.

Ready for more than one-off invoices?

A single invoice is free with the generator. But once you invoice regularly, automate recurring invoices, track incoming payments and want everything booked cleanly, a tool that grows with you pays off.

That is what LumaBill from CHF 9/month is for: invoices and offers, recurring billing, payment reconciliation and bookkeeping built for Switzerland. You can try it free for 14 days and see in peace whether it fits your workflow.