What is the QR-bill?

Definition

The QR-bill (German: QR-Rechnung, French: QR-facture) is the Swiss invoicing standard developed by SIX Group and introduced on 30 June 2020. It became mandatory on 1 October 2022, when the orange (BVR) and red (BV) payment slips were definitively withdrawn from circulation.

The principle: a standardised payment section, printed at the bottom of the invoice, contains a Swiss QR code encoding all data required for payment — IBAN, amount, reference, and the creditor's and debtor's details. Banks and accounting software read this code automatically, with no manual re-entry.

How it works

The QR-bill document consists of two parts:

1. The receipt (left) — a tear-off section retained by the debtor as proof of payment.
2. The payment section (right) — contains the Swiss QR code and human-readable data.

The debtor scans the QR code with their e-banking application or point-of-sale system, which automatically pre-fills the payment order. No manual entry of the amount or reference is required.

Key components

QR-IBAN

The QR-IBAN is a variant of the Swiss IBAN reserved for QR-bills with a QR reference. It is provided by your bank and always starts with the digits 30 to 31 after the country code (CH3000... or CH3100...). It differs from your standard IBAN but is linked to the same account.

QR Reference

The QR reference is a 27-digit string (format similar to the former BVR reference) that uniquely identifies each invoice. It enables automatic reconciliation of incoming payments in your accounting system.

Amount and currency

The amount can be pre-filled (fixed invoice) or left blank (open payment notice, donation). The currency is always CHF or EUR.

Creditor and debtor details

Name, address and country are encoded directly in the QR code. The format is standardised by SIX Group under the Swiss Payment Standards (SPS) specification.

Why it has been mandatory since 2022

The obligation stems from the national cashless payment strategy driven by SIX Group and supported by the Swiss National Bank. The objectives are:

• Automation: eliminating manual re-entry in the accounting systems of SMEs and large companies.
• Standardisation: a single format replaces the three coexisting formats (BVR, BV, free bank transfer).
• ISO 20022 compliance: the QR-bill is aligned with the international financial messaging standard, facilitating cross-border exchanges.

Accounting software publishers were required to update their systems before the deadline. Banks stopped printing and processing the old payment slips.

How Neoffice generates them

Neoffice natively integrates the SIX-compliant QR-bill module:

• Automatic generation from existing client and invoicing data in the ERP.
• QR-IBAN configured once in the company settings — all subsequent invoices use it.
• PDF delivery by email or direct printing.
• eBill: option to send structured invoices directly to the client's e-banking.
• CAMT.054 reconciliation: incoming bank statements are automatically matched to open invoices using the QR reference.

The result: zero re-entry between invoicing and accounting, and a reduced average payment time thanks to the ease of payment for the client.