You can create a Swiss QR-bill in three ways, all of them free: through your bank's QR generator, through a free online tool like qr-rechnung.net, or directly with Swiss invoicing software. On this page you'll find all three options, plus a QR generator you can use right now without signing up.

Key takeaways

• QR-bills have been mandatory in Switzerland since 30 September 2022. No Swiss bank processes the old orange or red payment slips anymore.
• Bank generators and free tools only produce the QR payment section, the strip with IBAN and QR code. The actual invoice content (line items, services, VAT) you have to create separately.
• You don't need a QR-IBAN. Your normal Swiss IBAN is enough for most freelancers.
• Creating a QR-bill costs nothing — not at your bank, not with the free tools, and not on Magic Heidi's free plan.
• For freelancers issuing more than one bill per month, real invoicing software pays off: enter data once, VAT calculated automatically, every PDF archived.

Bank generator: directly in your e-banking

Almost every major Swiss bank offers a QR-bill generator. You log in, fill in recipient, IBAN, amount, and reference, and you get a PDF with the payment section. Important: these generators only create the QR payment section. The actual invoice itself, with services, line items, and VAT breakdown, you have to build yourself in Word, Pages, or a PDF editor.

Free online tool: no signup, no bank login

If you don't want to log into e-banking, or you're not currently signed in, you can generate the QR section directly online. Both tools below are completely free and require no account. Same caveat: only the QR payment section, not a full invoice with line items.

Or directly on this page

With our embedded QR tool you can create a QR-bill right here, no signup, no account, no clicking away:

Full invoicing software: for more than one bill a month

If you invoice regularly, you need more than just the QR section. Real Swiss invoicing software like Magic Heidi handles the QR section plus the invoice text, VAT logic, customer archive, PDF sending, and the legally required 10-year archiving. Enter your company details and IBAN once, and from then on three clicks per invoice is the maximum. The first three invoices are free, no credit card and no time limit.

Comparison: which path fits you?

Marc, an IT consultant in Zug with 14 regular clients, used the PostFinance generator for one quarter in 2024. He calculated that each invoice took him about twelve minutes, because he had to retype the customer address, IBAN, reference, invoice number, and VAT breakdown every time. With 18 invoices a month, that came to three hours a month he wasn't billing. Since switching to Magic Heidi, an invoice takes him about 90 seconds.

What is a Swiss QR-bill, exactly?

A QR-bill is a Swiss invoice with the standardized Swiss cross inside a QR code, which has fully replaced the old orange and red payment slips since 2022. The QR code holds all payment information in structured form, so your client can pay the invoice with a single scan in their e-banking, without having to type the IBAN, amount, or reference by hand.

The standard was developed by SIX Group and is based on ISO 20022, the international format for payment traffic. For you as a freelancer that means the QR-bill is not just a new layout — it's part of a digital payment flow that also shows up in bank statements and accounting tools (keyword camt.053).

What stays the same compared to the old payment slip? Your IBAN, the recipient, and the amount. To the client, the invoice still looks like an invoice on top with the payment section underneath, just with a QR code instead of the old postal slip fields.

What's new? The QR code, an optional structured QR reference, a defined format for the reference text, and a mandatory layout for the payment section and receipt. All of it on an A4 sheet with a perforation, or as a separate A6 sheet. SIX Group has published the full style guide on paymentstandards.ch if you want to dive into the technical details.

What information must appear on a correct QR-bill?

This is where it gets confusing, because two sets of rules apply at the same time: the mandatory data for any Swiss invoice (Code of Obligations, VAT regulation) and the mandatory data for the QR section (SIX standard).

Mandatory data on the invoice itself (for any Swiss invoice, not just QR):

• Your name and address as the issuer
• The customer's name and address
• Invoice date
• A unique invoice number (continuously numbered, this is a CO requirement)
• Description of the service with date or period
• Amount in CHF (or another currency)
• If you're VAT-registered: your VAT number (CHE number with VAT suffix), VAT rate, and VAT amount shown separately

Mandatory data on the QR section (so the bill can be paid):

• IBAN or QR-IBAN of the recipient (you)
• Recipient name and address
• Amount and currency (can be left blank for donations)
• Payment recipient name (same as above, but mandatory)

Optional but recommended:

• Structured QR reference (only mandatory if you have a QR-IBAN)
• Reference text (e.g. "Invoice 2026-014, consulting April")
• Additional information for your client

If you're a VAT-registered freelancer and you're not sure your invoice meets all the requirements, read the official VAT guide from the FTA or use software that locks in these fields. The VAT features in Magic Heidi prepare your quarterly return automatically — at the end you just copy the numbers into the FTA portal.

5 mistakes freelancers often make with QR-bills

From the support requests we get every day, here are the five most common pitfalls.

Sandra, a hairdresser in Bern, couldn't find two invoices from 2017 during a tax audit in 2025. She'd used her old bank's generator at the time, then switched banks, and the old PDFs only existed in the old e-banking. It worked out in the end (she rebuilt the invoices from her bank statements), but it cost her two days and an angry phone call to her tax advisor. Since then, our advice to every freelancer is: archive every invoice as a PDF in a place you'll still be able to reach in ten years — the simplest option being dedicated software.

Which path for you?

If you send one invoice per quarter, a bank generator is fine (links above). Log into your e-banking, generate the QR section, paste it onto your Word invoice text.

If you send one invoice a month or more and you also want to handle expenses, VAT, or clients, get a Swiss invoicing software. Setup takes about 10 minutes; after that you save hours every month.

If you're still not sure what you need, try Magic Heidi for free or look at a Bexio alternative. Three invoices, no credit card, no time limit, no demo call. In ten minutes you'll know whether that's the level of complexity you're looking for.

Written by Nathan Ganser, co-founder of Magic Heidi. We use Magic Heidi for our own business, and we generated our first QR-bills in 2022 — the same week the orange payment slip was retired. For any questions, you can reach Nathan directly at nathan@magicheidi.ch or by phone at the number on magicheidi.ch.

Last updated: 8 May 2026.