Customer Instalment Plans in Switzerland | Magic Heidi

A customer asks to pay in instalments for work already delivered and fully invoiced. Check whether the plan is realistic and record the amount, dates and consequences of missed payments in writing. Instalments do not eliminate default risk and can temporarily change how you enforce the claim.

Deferral versus instalments: A deferral postpones payment of the whole balance; an instalment plan spreads it across several dates. State explicitly which earlier payment and interest terms are replaced and which remain in force.

When a payment plan can help

A temporary cash-flow problem, open communication and affordable instalments favour an agreement more than permanent inability to pay. Compare the effort and risk with a conversation, settlement or debt enforcement. There is no universal minimum amount for instalment plans.

Entirely fictional calculation: An outstanding CHF 2,400.00 is divided into six monthly instalments of CHF 400.00, totalling CHF 2,400.00. This is a payment plan, not a new supply or a promise that every instalment will arrive.

What belongs in the agreement?

• The correct parties and, where relevant, authorised signatories.
• A clearly identified original invoice and actual outstanding balance after partial payments.
• Specific dates, instalment amounts and payment method.
• Treatment of accrued interest and costs, and future default.
• Conditions for any acceleration of the remaining balance.
• Signatures and a complete copy for each party.

A verbal agreement is not worthless simply because it is unwritten, but it is harder to prove. A simple email confirmation does not automatically have the same value as a signed acknowledgement of debt under Article 82 SchKG. The court decides whether the actual document is sufficient for provisional setting aside of an objection (provisorische Rechtsöffnung / mainlevée provisoire). It guarantees no litigation outcome.

A starting-point template, not a universal contract

This template concerns a simple business payment plan. It must fit the facts and is not intended for unchecked use with consumer credit.

Instalment Payment Agreement
Creditor: [Name / business, address]
Debtor: [Name / business, address]

Original invoice: [number, date, description of supply]
Acknowledged outstanding invoice balance: CHF 4,800.00
Payments already received are included in that balance.

Payment schedule:
CHF 1,200.00 by [date 1]
CHF   900.00 by [date 2]
CHF   900.00 by [date 3]
CHF   900.00 by [date 4]
CHF   900.00 by [date 5]

Payment method / allocation: [account, invoice, reference]
Accrued interest and costs: [amount / waiver / arrangement]
Interest while payments follow the plan: [arrangement]
Consequences of a missed instalment: [reviewed terms]
Any acceleration of the balance: [reviewed conditions]
Other terms / contractual provisions replaced: [details]

Place, date, signatures of both parties: [details]

These five instalments total CHF 4,800.00. Check your own figures before signing; interest and costs must not inadvertently be added to the principal a second time.

Review acceleration and consumer protection separately

An acceleration clause can make future instalments due following specified failures. It does not operate automatically simply because one payment is missing. The trigger, any grace period, required notice and remaining balance must match the agreement and applicable law.

Calculation only: Two of five CHF 1,780.00 instalments have been paid. The remaining balance is CHF 5,340.00. Whether you can demand it immediately depends on the effective agreement and its conditions, not the arithmetic.

For private customers, the Consumer Credit Act (KKG) may be relevant, including where payment is deferred for a charge. Not every subsequent payment plan falls within it. Check its scope, exceptions and mandatory protections before agreeing interest, costs or acceleration. A blanket “10-day acceleration clause” or “14-day grace period” is no universal substitute. Have these cases reviewed professionally; the KKG on Fedlex is the statutory starting point.

Default interest and reminder fees

An agreed fixed deadline can trigger default without a reminder; otherwise a reminder after the payment falls due is generally needed (Article 102 CO). Statutory default interest is generally 5% a year (Article 104). Decide whether existing interest is suspended or waived while payments follow the plan. Financing interest for deferring payment is not the same as default interest.

Calculate interest only on the outstanding principal that actually bears interest and for the relevant period. CHF 5,340.00 × 5% equals CHF 267.00 for a full year with unchanged principal; one twelfth is CHF 22.25. Partial payments reduce the calculation basis accordingly.

Reminder fees are not an automatically payable standard tariff. An effective fee agreement or proven additional loss under Article 106 CO needs separate assessment; see reminder fees.

Swiss VAT on instalment payments

Do you need a separate VAT invoice for each instalment? No. For the completed, fully invoiced service discussed here, the original invoice remains the invoice for the full amount including VAT. Instalments are payments against it.

Timing depends on your VAT accounting basis (Articles 39–40 of the VAT Act). The default is accounting on agreed consideration (vereinbarte Entgelte): the tax liability arises on invoicing, and you declare the full invoice VAT in the invoicing period regardless of instalment payments. Only where the FTA has approved accounting on received consideration (vereinnahmte Entgelte) do you declare each instalment's VAT share in the period of receipt.

If part of the invoice is never paid, under agreed consideration you correct VAT on the loss as a reduction in consideration under Article 41, at the time the correction is booked or the corrected consideration received. Consult the statutory wording and FTA practice for the actual case.

Example at 8.1% VAT, using received consideration: A CHF 1,000.00 instalment contains CHF 74.93 VAT and CHF 925.07 net. Declare that VAT share in the receipt period. Rounding individual instalments can create centime differences; reconcile them transparently with the total invoice. Under agreed consideration, the normal basis, the full VAT was already declared in the invoicing period; receiving instalments does not change it again.

Invoice details: The original invoice must contain the applicable information under Article 26 of the VAT Act. Where consideration includes VAT, paragraph 2 letter f allows the applicable rate to be stated. Mentioning the payment plan, for example “payable in five monthly instalments under the agreement dated 22 September 2026”, helps both parties and bookkeeping.

Advances are different: A payment on account is made before or during performance against an ongoing supply. This article's instalments are subsequent payments for an already completed and fully invoiced supply. Genuine partial supplies may warrant partial invoices; a payment plan for an existing completed invoice does not.

If you fall behind on your own VAT, you can submit a payment-plan proposal to the FTA.

Allocate payments without recording revenue twice

Record each instalment as a payment against the original invoice. An additional QR payment section can help with the amount and allocation; it is not another invoice for a new supply. Use only references that your process can actually allocate and reconcile total payments against the outstanding balance.

Do not create recurring new revenue invoices for the same service. Automatic matching, reminder sending and native instalment plans depend on the product and are not promised here for Magic Heidi. The QR-bill guide explains the payment section; for a few cases, a carefully maintained spreadsheet can serve as your instalment register.

If an instalment is missed

1. Check payments and the agreement, then contact the customer calmly.
2. Establish when that instalment became due and whether default has begun; document any required reminder and its receipt.
3. Invoke acceleration only if its conditions are fulfilled. Observe mandatory consumer protection.
4. Calculate the balance, permissible interest and justified costs separately, then weigh further action.

Keep official and limitation deadlines in your calendar. An ordinary reminder does not interrupt limitation; acknowledgement, including a part payment, or legal steps may be relevant under Article 135 CO. Whether and how this agreement affects limitation needs separate assessment. See invoice limitation periods.

Frequently asked questions

Is an email as good as a signed acknowledgement?

Not automatically. It may help prove the agreement, but qualification as a title under Article 82 SchKG requires a separate assessment by the court.

Does one missed instalment make the whole balance due?

Not automatically. Check the effective acceleration agreement, its requirements and any mandatory consumer rules.

Do I issue a new invoice for every instalment?

No, not for the completed and fully invoiced supply covered here. Allocate receipts to the original invoice and keep VAT timing consistent with your approved accounting basis.

Sources and limits

• Code of Obligations on Fedlex: Articles 102, 104, 106 and 135.
• Article 82 SchKG: provisional setting aside of an objection.
• VAT Act, Articles 26 and 39–41: invoices and tax timing.

General information, not individual contractual, legal or tax advice.