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Everything you need to know about the Swiss QR Bill

The future of payments has begun in Switzerland with the introduction of the QR bill. The first usage of the Swiss QR bill was possible on the 30th of June 2020. Afterward, the red (IS) and orange (ISR) payment slips were gradually phased out during a 2-year period until they were completely replaced by the QR bill on the 1st of October 2022. From that moment on, all invoices are obliged to contain a QR code scannable by the recipient’s smartphone, PC camera, or a special scanner to perform a payment. It simplifies payments, provides extra security, and reduces payment errors.

All domestic and foreign companies that collaborate with Swiss companies should be able to receive (accounts payable) or send (accounts receivable) a QR code.

What is the Swiss QR-bill?

A QR bill is an invoice with a payment part and receipt, which will replace today’s orange and red payment slips in Switzerland. The payment part includes the Swiss QR Code, which contains all relevant information necessary for both invoicing and payment.

Swiss QR Bill example
  1. Payment receipt
  2. Swiss QR code
  3. Payment info

 

The image below shows the red and orange payment slips with their Swiss QR bill counterparts. The QR bill only differs for international billing because the country code should be printed on the payment section as well.

Swiss QR Bill counterparts

The Swiss QR code can be recognized by the Swiss cross in the middle. The QR code is suitable for EUROS and Swiss Francs.

The QR reference is generated automatically and should contain one of the following IBAN:

  • QR-IBAN with QR-Reference
  • Standard IBAN with ISO Creditor Reference
  • Standard IBAN without reference

When you create an accounting document from the invoice, the QR reference will be shown on the PDF file. 

Swiss QR Bill example

This digital transition will modernize the Swiss payment method and includes certain advantages like

  • One QR code for all types of payment and reference
  • Data digitalized for more efficient processing and monitoring of payments
  • Better data quality thanks to more precise information in a standardized form
  • Payment references automated end to end, from initiating party to the recipient
  • Recipients have fewer reading errors and less manual work
  • Issuers also have less manual work, and all payment information is transferred electronically

Finally, the Swiss QR-bill bridges the digital and paper-based world, and the new infrastructure for electronic invoices will ensure a seamless digital payment experience.

QR-bill SAP solutions

The solution is available in the following six components: Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Receivables Management and Payment Handling, Flexible Real Estate Management, Logistics, and Collections and Disbursement.

1. Accounts Payable (FI-AP) component (purchase-to-pay process)

After implementing this solution in your SAP system, extra fields will be added which you can fill in to generate a PDF with a QR code. If you use only the ISR solution, enter the ISR number and the ISR reference number in the relevant fields. If you have chosen to use only the QR-bill or both the QR-bill and the ISR solutions, enter the QR-IBAN and the ISR/QR reference number in the relevant fields. These values are then displayed in the line item details.

Accounts payable QR-code generator
2. Accounts Receivable (FI-AR) component

QR-bill slip is generated during the outgoing invoice processing and sent to the corresponding business partner to pay it. The electronically readable Swiss QR code contains all payment-relevant data.

After the business partner has paid the QR bill, the bank sends a camt.053 or a camt.054 file to the business partner who created the QR bill. The paid item in the camt.054 file contains a unique reference that is used to search for and clear the corresponding line item in the system.

You can use QR-bill as the payment method for a variety of different sales processes. If the relevant sales unit is based in Switzerland, QR Bill – Switzerland is selected by default as Payment Reference Type in the Payments section. Under Bank Account, select the relevant bank account with QR IBAN. Enter additional information, if applicable.

The full list of relevant sales processes:

  • Sales Order
  • Service Order
  • Customer Invoice (and recurring)
  • Down Payments
  • Project Invoice
  • Intercompany scenarios
3. Receivables Management and Payment Handling (FI-CA) component
4. Flexible Real Estate Management (RE-FX) component
5. Logistics

QR reference number
You need to specify the reference number when creating and transferring a billing document that uses Swiss QR-bill with the reference type QRR or SCOR. Three types of reference can be defined with the new QR bill:

  • QR-Reference (QRR): This is the same as the currently used ISR number, a 27-digit numeric reference with a check digit in position 27 that is calculated with modulo 10 recursive. When choosing QRR, a QR-IBAN is needed.
  • Creditor reference according to ISO 11649 (SCOR): This is a 25-digit alphanumeric reference that starts with RF followed by 2 check digits which are calculated the same way as the IBAN check digits. When choosing SCOR, a normal IBAN is needed.
  • No Reference (NON): With NON, no reference type 

Form Template
You need to create a form template for printing the billing document. The data providers, either XFA Interface-based forms (ECC) or XFA2 Gateway Service-Based forms (S/4HANA-OP and S/4HANA-Cloud) should contain the following two sets of information:

  • Invoice information is the basic billing document header/ item information along with the associated material and customer master data information and certain pricing information. The method to fetch this information from the billing document is the same as the method involved in ISR invoices and hence can be reused with QR-bill printing too.
  • QR-bill payment part consists of the following components:
    • Account/ Payable to: Contains account number, company code, and the address details
    • Reference: we can see either a 27-digit QR reference or a 25-digit ISO 11649 creditor reference.
    • Additional Information: Contains structured and unstructured information. Unstructured information is fetched from the invoice text and Structured information is fetched from the entries in the table GLO_QR_CH_SWICO.
    • Payable by: Contains the address of the payer
    • Swiss QR Code with the embedded Swiss Cross at the center.
    • Control Data parameters from the control table T049Q for dynamic layout adjustments.
    • SAP has delivered routines to fetch the QR-bill payment information corresponding to the SD invoice. This could be directly reused (or you can refer to the logic) in the Form Data Provider.

Form Layout
The QR-bill style guide explains the different formats and languages in which the QR-bill could be printed. Also, SAP has delivered configurations and interfaces to help you design the QR-bill layout and supports the following:

  • Languages: SAP supports the printing of QR-bill invoices in German, French, English, and Italian, and the mandatory headings in different languages are automatically adapted to the language you want to print the form in.
  • Formats: In the SAP-delivered configuration for QR-bill control, you can choose from the following formats:
    • PDF output form with scissors/ separated lines: If you want the payment part of the invoice to be separated with the scissors icon or with a separation line from the actual invoice data in the PDF output.
    • Integrated QR-bill A4: If you want the QR-bill to be part of the invoice.
    • Separated QR-bill A5: If you want the QR-bill to be generated separately and not as part of the invoice.
6. Collections and Disbursement (FS-CD) component

What to do now and how PIKON can help

If you have a Swiss bank account, you can manually enter the payment details to generate a QR code automatically.
However, there is a fast, reliable, and automated way of processing the new Swiss QR bill by using an electronic invoice provider like SAP. This is where PIKON, as a certified SAP consultancy company, steps in to provide a solution for your business. PIKON can set up and customize this automated process to fit your business requirements. Automating this is a superior alternative if your business frequently needs to send out invoices and especially to do this as efficiently as possible.

Do you have customers or vendors located in Switzerland? Does your business have any branches or plans to have a new location in Switzerland? It will be our pleasure to answer your questions on this topic. Please feel free to request a web meeting or write us a comment in the corresponding area at the end of the article.

With more than 25 years of experience, PIKON can help you to adapt your system landscape and maintain your migration. We are a strategic partner who ensures that your SAP system and business processes meet the different country-specific legal requirements. Together with you, we analyze and define the best possible, future-proof SAP solution scenario for you and implement this in a minimum of time according to your pre-agreed budget and your specific requirements. Additionally, with proper training and support, we will not only put you on track but also help you to stay on the right digital path.

Contact us!

Do you have any questions about the Swiss QR Bill? Reach out! 

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About the author
Danny Sarlee
Danny Sarlee
Danny Sarlee was a technical SAP Consultant at PIKON Benelux in Genk, Belgium. Next to his main SAP software development project activities, he had a strong focus on the SAP Document Compliance solution and helped our customers meet legal requirements all over the world.

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