QR-Bill Mandatory Fields: Checklist for Error-Free Payments

When issuing a QR-bill for the first time, many business owners face an unwelcome surprise: the payment never arrives — not because the customer won't pay, but because the bank's system or the payer rejects the invoice due to a missing or incorrectly formatted field. This article shows you which fields are actually mandatory, where the most common gaps occur, and how to create a foolproof QR-bill.

What the Swiss Standard Requires

The technical specifications for QR-bills come from SIX Interbank Clearing and apply to all invoices with Swiss payment recipients. The Swiss QR Code — the square image with a Swiss cross in the middle — contains structured data in a precisely defined format. If even a single mandatory element is missing or the formatting is incorrect, the bank's scanning system cannot process the data properly.

For the complete step-by-step process of building such an invoice, it's worth consulting our comprehensive guide to creating Swiss QR-bills, which covers everything from IBAN selection to printing.

The Mandatory Fields at a Glance

Creditor Information (Payment Recipient)

Field	Requirement	Common Error
QR-IBAN or IBAN	Exactly 21 characters, CH or LI	Regular IBAN instead of QR-IBAN when using QRR reference
Creditor name	Max. 70 characters	Company name abbreviated, doesn't match bank account
Street and house number	Separate fields	Everything entered in one field
Postal code	4-digit (CH)	5-digit foreign postal codes without country code
City	Max. 35 characters	—
Country	ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 (e.g. CH)	Missing entirely

Debtor Information (Payer)

The name and address of the paying party are technically optional (the field can remain empty), but in practice they are essential: without this information, the bank often cannot perform automatic assignment, and with larger customers using centralized accounts payable, the payment may not go through at all.

Recommendation: Always enter complete address details of the customer.

Amount and Currency

• Amount: Decimal number with a maximum of two decimal places, full stop as separator (e.g. 1250.00). The field may remain empty if the amount is open — this is only sensible for donations or advance payments.
• Currency: Either CHF or EUR. According to the standard, only these two values are permitted.

Reference and Additional Information

This is where most errors occur:

• QRR Reference Type (QR Reference): 27-digit number with check digit. Mandatory in combination with a QR-IBAN.
• SCOR Reference Type (Structured Creditor Reference according to ISO 11649): Can be combined with a regular IBAN.
• No Reference Type (NON): Possible, but then there is no structured assignment in e-banking.

Choose your reference type consciously. Many SMEs and freelancers use NON because they don't operate a payment reference infrastructure — that's legitimate, but it complicates automatic posting on your side.

The Unstructured Message field (max. 140 characters) is optional but useful: enter your invoice number here so the payment can be assigned immediately in your inbox.

VAT Details

The Swiss QR Code itself contains no explicit VAT field — that's a matter of the invoice text above the payment section. Nevertheless: if you are VAT-liable, your tax identification number (UID with VAT suffix), the applicable tax rate, and the tax amount must appear on the invoice. Current standard rates, reduced rates, and exemptions for 2026 are summarized in our article on Swiss VAT basics 2026.

Checklist Before Sending

Go through this list before sending the invoice as PDF or paper:

• QR-IBAN correct (starts with CH and contains 21 characters)?
• Creditor name and address match the bank details?
• Amount in CHF or EUR, correctly formatted?
• Reference type and reference number are consistent (QRR → QR-IBAN, SCOR → IBAN)?
• Invoice number entered in the unstructured message?
• VAT number, tax rate, and amount visible on the invoice (if applicable)?
• Payment deadline clearly stated (e.g. "due within 30 days net")?
• Payer's address details complete?
• QR code clearly legible, not scaled or distorted?
• Payment section and payment slip in correct A6 format (105 × 148 mm) on the invoice?

Particulars When Delivering Digitally

If you send invoices by email as PDF, make sure the QR code has a resolution of at least 200 dpi. At lower resolution, smartphone e-banking may not read the code correctly. Also: the payment section must always be on a separate page or in the bottom third of the last invoice page — never embedded in running text.

For those issuing many invoices regularly, it's worth checking whether eBill is a suitable delivery channel: the QR code is omitted entirely because the structured data is transmitted directly into the recipients' e-banking systems.

Error-Free Creation in Practice

The fastest way to fill in all mandatory fields correctly is an online tool that handles validation. The SnapBill invoice generator automatically checks whether QR-IBAN and reference type match when you create an invoice, formats the amount according to the standard, and generates the QR code at the correct resolution.

Summary

• Mandatory: QR-IBAN or IBAN, creditor name and address, currency (CHF/EUR), country code.
• Choose reference type consistently: QRR only with QR-IBAN, SCOR with regular IBAN, NON if no reference is needed.
• VAT belongs in the invoice text, not in the QR code.
• Payment section format (105 × 148 mm) and QR code resolution (min. 200 dpi) should not be overlooked.
• Use the unstructured message for your invoice number — this makes posting on both sides significantly easier.

If you implement these points consistently, you'll prevent the most common follow-up questions and payment delays — and save both yourself and your customers unnecessary effort.