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Executive summary

Switzerland has been one of the pioneers in E-Invoicing and is, according to Billentis (EBPP consulting company), still among the leading countries in Europe. Billentis estimates that more than 10% of the national invoice volume is exchanged electronically. "E-invoicing in B2B in Switzerland is driven by large companies that want to streamline their accounts payable processes. They engage service providers who support them in getting their suppliers on board. One-to-one e-invoicing is not common. The industries with the largest adoption are: retail, pharma and financial services. By the moment no strong initiatives of public administration to foster e-invoicing can be identified . Roaming of invoices is still low, as service providers don't reach the necessary figures for a successful business case. Central issues in roaming are the differing business models of the providers and issues regarding responsabilities among the involved providers in terms of digital signature, format conversion and provision of achive data. The regulatory framework is stable since spring 2002 (ELDI-V, ordinance of the Federal Department of Finance on electronic data and information). Small adjustments have been made in November 2007. Switzerland requires an advanced electronic signatures based on a certificate issued by a certification authority accepted by the Swiss Tax Administration. " The swissDIGIN-Forum (swiss digital invoice, www.swissdigin.ch

) and GS1 are setting standards and promoting e-invoicing in Switzerland. The swissDIGIN-Forum picks up relevant issues, discusses them in bi-annualy events and regularly publishes recommendations. GS1 developped an ideal message for EANCOM INVOIC. Furthermore economiesuisse, the largest umbrella organization representing the Swiss economy, published a guideline on e-invoicing for SMEs. The Swiss Tax Administration is acting in a supportive way. The strongest promoters are the handful of service providers offering a wide range of e-invoicing solutions and services.

Legal aspects

E-Invoicing is regulated in the Ordinance of the Federal Department of Finance on Electronic Data and Information (OEIDI) since 30 January 2002. It states that e-invoices have to be signed with an advanced electronic signature to secure authenticity and integrity. The issuance of an electronic invoice can be delegated to a third party. In terms of verifyability and storage of e-invoices the ordinance is refering to the Ordinance of 24 April 2002 on Accounting Records.

Important Links

English translation of the Ordinance of the Federal Department of Finance on Electronic Data and Information (OEIDI) à OEIDI as PDF document

Swiss Federal Tax Administration FTA Link

swissDIGIN-Forum - promoting E-Invoicing in Switzerland    Link

GS1 Switzerland (EANCOM Ideal Message Invoic) in German Link