New QR Invoicing process in Switzerland

New QR Invoicing process in Switzerland

I wanted to update you on yet another localization, which will impact your output management, this time it is in the land of Alps, Chocolate, and watches – Switzerland. Traditional invoices having red and orange payment slips are now being replaced with the more modern QR invoicing setup.
From summer 2020 it has been possible to use the QR invoicing and it is expected to become mandatory during 2021. Swiss authorities will publish this at the beginning of the new year. Despite it is only optional we still recommend everyone to adopt this as soon as possible. This way you can continue to make reliable payments in the future and comply with all legal regulations.
Please note that the Swiss QR capabilities have been added to the software at NO additional license charge to our customers. This accounts for all our products on IBM I, Linux, Windows etc.
The sooner you get started the quicker you benefit from the following:

• No more preprinted colored payment slips, the QR-invoice will be printed on white paper
• PDF & Email invoices identical to a printed copy
• Easier way to handle payment transactions
• Able to use additional local services like e.g. eBill

What do I need to do?

So with a few changes to your existing setup, you are able to have the above benefits. The first thing you need to do is to prepare and enrich your print program with additional data. What is now required is beyond what you previously had, so you need to arrange this.
The second step would be to modify your existing design or create a new invoice template according to the “Swiss Payment Standards 2019”- Swiss Implementation Guidelines QR-invoice. Here you have two options you can add a payslip on your existing template or create a completely new page/sheet. You can freely decide what is best for you. See the example below.

If you are not using our software then please be aware of a few very important things:

You need to pay special attention to the actual barcode as it is not just a normal QR barcode. If you look carefully you can see that there is a Swiss flag in the center of the barcode. Technically and I won’t go too deep into that, the barcode also behaves differently than a normal barcode as this has to have a fixed size. This diverts from a normal QR barcode that scales according to the amount of data you include. Additionally, the guidelines describe the data format that needs to go into the barcode. It tells you where the data must be positioned on the document along with other layout requirements. Keep yourself updated here https://www.paymentstandards.ch/de/shared/news/2020/qr.html

With InterForm you already have the special Swiss QR barcode when upgrading to the latest version you are good to go. If you are able to prepare the required data then our professional service team has prepared a package that includes all of this and is delivered in about 2 days’ time.
This is a kind of project that you can also turn around on your own. Our first implementation took 2 weeks as you spend a lot of time reading and understanding the guidelines.
So exactly for that reason and to have the benefits of the QR invoicing get started as soon as you can.

Example

Insert image from Word document. Could also be used in the header.