Glossary of Swiss accounting terms
Clear definitions of Swiss business terms: QR-bill, VAT, SwissDec, LPP, OASI and many more. Understand before choosing your ERP.
Glossary
What is OASI?
OASI (Old-Age and Survivors' Insurance, in German AHV, in French AVS) is the first pillar of the Swiss three-pillar pension system. It guarantees a retirement pension and survivor's cover to anyone who has contributed in Switzerland, funded by contributions from employers, employees and the self-employed.
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What is CAMT.053?
CAMT.053 is the ISO 20022 format for electronic bank account statements used in Switzerland and Europe. It replaces legacy proprietary formats (MT940, bank-specific CSV) and provides a structured XML statement, enabling fully automated bank reconciliation in accounting software.
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What is the Swiss salary certificate?
The salary certificate (Lohnausweis) is a mandatory annual tax document that every Swiss employer must provide to its employees. It summarises all income received during the year and deductions made, enabling the employee to complete their tax return and allowing the tax authorities to verify their income.
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What is the Swiss VAT return?
The VAT return is the periodic declaration that each company subject to Swiss VAT submits to the FTA (Federal Tax Administration). It summarises the VAT collected on sales and the input tax recovered on purchases, and determines the amount to be paid or refunded.
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What is EBICS?
EBICS (Electronic Banking Internet Communication Standard) is a secure bank communication protocol that allows businesses to automatically exchange payment files and statements with their banks, without going through the e-banking portal. In Switzerland, it is used to transmit pain.001 payment orders and to receive CAMT statements.
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What is an ERP?
An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is software that centralises and integrates all of a company's management processes — accounting, invoicing, inventory, HR, CRM, procurement — in a single shared database, eliminating information silos between departments.
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What is Swiss source tax?
Source tax (impôt à la source / Quellensteuer) is a method of collecting income tax in Switzerland whereby the employer withholds the tax amount directly from the employee's salary and remits it to the cantonal tax authority. It applies primarily to foreign nationals without a settlement permit (permit C).
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What is ISO 20022?
ISO 20022 is the international financial messaging standard that standardises data exchanges between financial institutions and between banks and businesses. In Switzerland, it has replaced the legacy DTA, LSV and ESR formats, and forms the technical foundation of the QR-bill, CAMT formats and SEPA payments.
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What is the LAA?
The LAA (Federal Act on Accident Insurance, in German UVG) is the third mandatory social insurance for employees in Switzerland. It covers occupational accidents, non-occupational accidents and occupational diseases, guaranteeing medical care and benefits in the event of incapacity.
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What is the LPP?
The LPP (Federal Act on Occupational Retirement, Survivors' and Disability Pension Plans, in German BVG) constitutes the second pillar of Switzerland's three-pillar pension system. It is compulsory for most employees and aims to maintain the standard of living in retirement, complementing OASI.
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What is the nFADP?
The nFADP (new Federal Act on Data Protection) is the complete revision of the Swiss data protection law, which entered into force on 1 September 2023. It modernises the Swiss legal framework to align it with European standards (GDPR) and strengthens the rights of data subjects and the obligations of businesses.
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What is the Swiss chart of accounts?
The Swiss chart of accounts is the account classification framework used by Swiss SMEs. It is defined by the veb.ch association (formerly EXPERTsuisse for SMEs) and structured according to the Sterchi standard, which organises accounts into homogeneous classes to facilitate the preparation of financial statements.
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What is the QR-bill?
The QR-bill is the Swiss electronic invoicing standard that replaced the orange payment slip (BVR) on 1 October 2022. It incorporates a QR code containing all payment data, enabling fully automated processing.
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What is the QR-IBAN?
The QR-IBAN is a special IBAN number reserved for Swiss QR-bills. Distinct from the standard IBAN, it enables a unique QR reference to be linked to each payment, making fully automated bank reconciliation possible.
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What is Swissdec?
Swissdec is a Swiss association that defines and manages the ELM standard (Einheitliches Lohnmeldeverfahren / Uniform Salary Reporting). This standard certifies payroll software and allows employers to transmit salary data in a single submission to all relevant institutions.
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What are the VAT rates in Switzerland?
Since 1 January 2024, Switzerland applies three VAT rates: the standard rate of 8.1%, the reduced rate of 2.6% and the special accommodation rate of 3.8%. These rates were raised to fund the AHV pension system following the popular vote of September 2022.
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What is Swiss VAT?
Swiss VAT (value added tax) is an indirect tax levied by the Confederation on the consumption of goods and services. It is administered by the FTA (Federal Tax Administration) and applies at different rates depending on the nature of the goods or services.
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