Payment Terms as a Freelancer: How to Get Paid Faster

Many Swiss freelancers send their invoice, wait 30 days — and then wait some more. The problem often isn't the customer's willingness to pay, but the invoice itself: an unclear or overly long payment term, missing conditions, or incomplete bank details delay payment before the first reminder ever arrives. This article shows how, as a freelancer, you can choose your payment term strategically and word it on your invoice so misunderstandings never occur in the first place.

How Long Should Your Payment Term Really Be?

In Switzerland, a 30-day payment term is widespread — but it's not a legal standard. Swiss law (Code of Obligations, OR) sets no fixed payment deadline; without explicit agreement, a claim becomes due immediately (Art. 75 OR). In practice, this means: if you don't state a payment term on your invoice, you have little solid ground for a dunning letter.

As a rule of thumb for freelancers:

• 14 days — sensible for regular customers, smaller amounts (under CHF 1,000), or digital services where the customer benefits immediately.
• 20–30 days — standard for most project invoices.
• Over 30 days — only if the customer actively negotiated it and you accepted it in the quotation; economically risky for freelancers without a credit line.

What matters: the payment term should already appear in your quotation and be repeated on the invoice. Setting a deadline for the first time on the invoice that the customer didn't expect invites dispute.

Stating the Payment Term Clearly on Your Invoice

Vague wording like "payable within reasonable time" has no legal weight. Instead, write a specific date or unambiguous deadline:

Wording	Rating
"Payable by 30 June 2026"	✅ Clear, no room for interpretation
"Payable within 20 days"	✅ Acceptable if invoice date is visible
"Net 30"	⚠️ Known, but interpreted differently internationally
"Payable within reasonable time"	❌ Not enforceable

Always supplement the deadline with your complete bank details — QR-IBAN or IBAN depending on your invoice format. With QR-bills, the payment section includes these details automatically, preventing typing errors and measurably speeding up payments.

Early-Payment Discount: Yes or No?

An early-payment discount (e.g., "2% discount if paid within 10 days") is common in Swiss B2B — but rarely worth it for freelancers, except in two scenarios:

1. Large invoice amounts (CHF 5,000+): A 1–2% discount is a concrete CHF figure for the customer and feels motivating.
2. Clients with a known history of late payment: Better to lose 2% than wait 30 days for your money.

Caution: if your customer is VAT-liable, they must correctly record the discount on their end. That's not a reason to avoid offering one — but it is a reason to state it clearly on your invoice.

What Happens When the Deadline Passes?

Without a correctly set payment term, you must first send a dunning notice (formally putting the customer in default) before you can claim default interest. With an explicitly agreed payment term, the debtor automatically enters default when the date passes — a formal reminder is no longer needed to trigger default status (Art. 102(2) OR).

This isn't academic: it means that with a cleanly set deadline, you can immediately claim default interest of 5% per annum and frame your dunning letter directly as a payment request — not as a notice establishing default. Our detailed guide Swiss dunning process — from reminder email to debt collection explains what a professional dunning workflow looks like afterward.

Hourly Rates, Day Rates, and Payment Terms

A commonly overlooked point: with hourly or daily rate invoices, the payment term is often set too long because freelancers don't want to pressure clients. This means work completed in March gets paid in May — and your cash flow suffers.

Consider whether interim invoices make sense for multi-month projects: invoice monthly with a 14 or 20-day payment term each time. This is standard in Switzerland and expected by serious clients. For more on converting time tracking into clean invoice amounts, see Bill every hour: from time log to invoice without gaps.

Don't Forget Mandatory Fields

A short payment term helps little if your invoice is missing mandatory information and gets rejected. As a reminder, a Swiss invoice must include at minimum:

• Name and address of both parties
• Invoice date and invoice number
• Description of the service with quantity or duration
• Amount in CHF; if VAT-liable: tax rate and amount shown separately
• IBAN or QR-IBAN
• Payment term as a date or clear deadline

Those who invoice regularly benefit from setting up these details once as a template. Our guide Freelance invoicing in Switzerland — practical guide provides a solid foundation for this.

At a Glance

• Always write a specific date or clear number of days as your payment term — "reasonable time" has no legal standing.
• 14–20 days are better targets for most freelancers than the default 30 days.
• Agree on the payment term in your quotation, not for the first time on the invoice.
• With an explicitly agreed payment term, you're immediately able to act if payment is late — no separate dunning step is needed to trigger default status.
• Early-payment discounts only make sense for large amounts or customers known to pay slowly.
• Those who send QR-bills with correct payment details reduce the most common cause of payment delays: missing or incorrect bank information.

When you're ready to create your next invoice with correct payment terms, QR payment section, and all mandatory fields, you can do it in minutes with SnapBill's online invoice generator. On our homepage you'll also find an overview of all available features.