You are starting an assignment and need to issue your first invoice. This article explains what it contains, what the law requires and what common practice adds.
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Invoicing as a consultant in Switzerland starts with your very first assignment. The invoice identifies the parties, describes the service, and states the date and the amount. VAT only appears on it if you are entered in the register of taxable persons, under the Federal Act on Value Added Tax (LTVA). Then come payment by QR-bill, reminders in the event of late payment and the retention of records. The sections below follow this order.
Who issues the invoice: you, your company or another arrangement?
As a self-employed consultant in Switzerland, you invoice in your own name. If you have a company, the company invoices: the invoice bears the identity of whoever provides the service.
Under an employment contract, your employer pays you a salary, and you do not issue an invoice for that work. To find out whether your situation is a mandate or an employment contract, see Self-employed or employee in Switzerland: which status should you choose?
If a company places you with a client, you are in a different arrangement, presented in Portage Salarial in Switzerland: Is It Really Legal?. The following sections describe the invoice that you issue yourself to your client.
What a consultant's invoice must state
Article 26 of the LTVA describes the invoice of a person entered in the register of taxable persons. If you are not registered, it does not apply to you as such, but it gives a useful benchmark for drawing up a clear invoice. Its paragraph 2 sets out a principle: the reader must understand without ambiguity who provides the service, who receives it and what type of service it is.
In practice, the details required by law are as follows:
- The invoice names the supplier by their name and place of business, as they appear in commercial transactions.
- It states that the supplier is entered in the register of taxable persons, with the number under which they are registered (only if you are registered).
- It identifies the recipient of the service.
- It gives the date or period of the service, if they differ from the invoice date.
- It specifies the type, subject and scope of the service.
- It sets the amount of the consideration.
- It states the tax: the applicable rate and the amount due.
If your client asks for it, the supplier issues them an invoice that meets these requirements (art. 26 para. 1).
The invoice number (not to be confused with the VAT registration number) does not appear in this list, and neither does the invoice issue date: add both as a matter of practice. Both remain very useful: they help you find a document and track your payments. The due date and bank details are also a matter of practice: you add them to get paid, and the list in the law does not mention them. Also think about the currency: the amount is written in Swiss francs (CHF), unless otherwise agreed with your client.
With or without VAT on the invoice
It depends on your registration. Invoicing without VAT in Switzerland is the rule as long as you are not entered in the register of taxable persons: the law then prohibits you from showing the tax on your invoices (art. 27 para. 1). You simply state the amount of the service. This situation can change with your turnover, as the next paragraph shows. Once registered, the invoice also states the tax rate and the amount of tax (art. 26 para. 2 let. f).
A total turnover of less than CHF 100,000 within one year, in Switzerland and abroad, from services that are not excluded from the scope of the tax, is one of the conditions for exemption from VAT liability (art. 10 para. 2 let. a).
The threshold, registration and tax returns go beyond the scope of an invoice. They are covered in VAT for the self-employed in Switzerland: from what threshold?
Describing the assignment: days, fixed fee, rebilled expenses
A precise description avoids unnecessary back-and-forth with your client's accounts department. Choose the wording according to the form of your assignment:
- For an assignment billed on a time basis, you state the number of days or hours.
- For a fixed fee, you name the deliverable and the period covered.
- For expenses, you add a separate line, with supporting documents.
If your assignment takes the form of a mandate, the Code of Obligations provides that remuneration is due to the person who performs the mandate, the agent, if it has been agreed or is customary (art. 394 para. 3). What matters most is what you have agreed with your client, preferably in writing.
The principal, in other words your client, must also reimburse the agent, in other words you, for the advances and expenses incurred in properly performing the mandate (art. 402 para. 1). Showing these expenses separately on the invoice makes it clear what pays for your work and what reimburses an advance.
To set the amount of your day rate or your fixed fee, read Consultant Rates in Switzerland: How to Calculate Your Day Rate in 2026.
The QR-bill: payment attached to the invoice
According to SIX's QR-bill page, the QR-bill definitively replaced Swiss payment slips on 1 October 2022. It had been in circulation since June 2020.
A consultant's QR-bill has two parts: a payment part and a receipt. You can produce it on paper or in digital form. Your client pays the invoice using the QR code, without having to copy your bank details.
One point on timing: since 22 November 2025, QR-bills may only contain structured addresses (type "S"); the combined address (type "K") is no longer accepted for new invoices. If you issue your invoices with accounting software, check with your bank or your fiduciary that it only uses structured addresses.
Payment terms, reminders and default interest
The payment term you put on the invoice is a matter of agreement with your client. The Code of Obligations first deals with the case where nothing has been agreed: in the absence of a term stipulated or arising from the nature of the transaction, you can demand payment immediately (art. 75).
Next comes default, which gives entitlement to interest. It occurs in two ways:
- Through a demand from the creditor: the debtor of an obligation that has fallen due is in default when you demand payment, for example with a written reminder (keep a record of it) (art. 102 para. 1).
- Through the mere expiry of the day, where it was set by mutual agreement, or set by one of the parties under a right reserved to them and by means of due notice (art. 102 para. 2).
A debtor in default on a sum of money owes default interest at 5% a year (art. 104 para. 1). If you agree on a specific payment date from the start of the mandate, the wording of article 102 paragraph 2 places you in the second case: default then results from the mere expiry of that date. To find out whether the wording of your payment term meets this condition, a fiduciary or a legal adviser can answer you.
Keeping your invoices and your accounts
The invoices you issue and receive serve as supporting documents for your accounts. The Code of Obligations provides that accounting records and vouchers must be kept for ten years, and that this period starts at the end of the financial year (art. 958f para. 1).
The level of accounting depends on your turnover. A sole proprietorship or a partnership whose turnover in the last financial year was less than CHF 500,000 may limit itself to simplified accounting, which tracks income, expenditure and assets (art. 957 para. 2).
If you are registered for VAT, a specific rule applies on top of this: you must duly keep your accounting records, supporting documents and business papers until the absolute limitation period for the tax claim has expired (art. 70 para. 2 LTVA).
For what your records change in your tax return, read Taxes for the self-employed in Switzerland: what to declare.
Key takeaways
Four reflexes help you prepare a first invoice:
- Check whether you are entered in the register of taxable persons before showing VAT on it.
- Describe the assignment (subject, period, scope) and show rebilled expenses separately.
- State a due date and attach a QR-bill if you choose this method of payment.
- Keep the document for ten years from the end of the financial year (a specific period applies if you are registered for VAT).
Numeriq Payroll supports, among others, self-employed consultants in Switzerland, alongside SMEs, foreign companies and recruitment agencies.
Sources
- Fedlex, Federal Act of 12 June 2009 on Value Added Tax (LTVA), art. 10, 26, 27 and 70, version of 31 March 2025;
- Fedlex, Code of Obligations (CO), art. 75, 102, 104, 394, 402, 957 and 958f, version of 1 January 2026;
- SIX, "QR-bill" page;
- SIX, QR-bill – Transition period 2025–2026, factsheet of 19 August 2025.
Frequently asked questions
Does a consultant's invoice need a number?
The list in article 26 of the LTVA does not mention an invoice number. It is a practice worth following: continuous numbering makes your accounting and your exchanges with the client easier.
Can you invoice without VAT when you are starting out?
Yes, if you are not entered in the register of taxable persons. The law then prohibits you from showing the tax on the invoice (art. 27 para. 1). Whether you need to register depends on your situation, which our article on VAT for the self-employed explains in detail.
How long do you need to keep your invoices?
Accounting records and vouchers are kept for ten years from the end of the financial year (art. 958f para. 1). A specific rule for VAT-registered persons applies on top of this, presented in the section on record keeping.
From when does a late-paying client owe interest?
The debtor owes interest as soon as they are in default. Default results from your demand for payment, or from the expiry of a date set by mutual agreement, or set by a party who has reserved that right, by means of due notice. The debtor then owes default interest at 5% a year (art. 102 and 104).
How do you correct an invoice that has already been sent?
Under article 27 paragraph 4 of the LTVA, an invoice can be corrected subsequently, within the limits allowed by commercial law, by a document that refers to and cancels the original invoice and whose receipt must be confirmed by the recipient.
