Payment terms on invoices: common deadlines, late payment and default interest

The payment term determines how quickly your money reaches your account – and what happens when the client does not pay. In Switzerland, the rules are clearer than many think. Here are the key points for freelancers and the self-employed.

Is there a statutory payment term?

No fixed statutory standard exists. The term results from your agreement with the client – in the contract, the quote or on the invoice. Anything not agreed is due immediately (Art. 82 CO): the debtor must pay as soon as you demand it.

Three terms have become established in practice:

• 10 days – for small amounts and recurring jobs
• 30 days – the business-to-business standard
• 45/60 days – sometimes used by large corporations and public administrations, but uncomfortable for small suppliers' liquidity

Recommendation: state 30 days as your standard and negotiate shorter terms actively. Whatever is already fixed in your quote is hard to dispute later.

Stating the term correctly on the invoice

Formulate the deadline unambiguously, ideally with a concrete date. Instead of just "payable within 30 days", write: "Payable within 30 days, by 15 September 2026". On the QR bill the due date goes into the "payable by" field – the client sees it immediately when scanning.

Two additions that pay off:

• Mention early payment discounts if you offer one – see our article on offering Skonto.
• Announce default interest: "5 % default interest is charged on late payments." Not mandatory, but it increases the pressure on slow payers.

What applies in case of late payment

Default begins when the payment term expires – if the date is on the invoice, you do not even need to send a reminder (Art. 102 CO). From that moment you have two claims:

1. Default interest of 5 % – enshrined in Art. 104 CO unless agreed otherwise. You can simply add it to the reminder.
2. Reminder costs – actually incurred costs (postage, debt enforcement fees) can be passed on. Flat-rate reminder fees are delicate without a contractual basis.

If the client stays silent, debt enforcement is the next step. The Swiss enforcement system is cheap and straightforward for creditors: a payment demand at the competent office costs a small fee, and the mere threat moves most clients to pay. Our article on getting paid faster walks through the process.

Combining terms with the QR bill

The QR bill makes payment terms more effective because paying no longer requires effort: the client scans the code, amount and date are pre-filled, the payment is triggered in ten seconds. Combined with clear terms, the effective collection period often shrinks by one to two weeks. With the free invoice generator you create such invoices in under a minute.

Three rules to stay in control

1. Clarify the term before the job – no surprises on the invoice.
2. Concrete date instead of just a day count – avoids interpretation disputes.
3. Follow up consistently – friendly at 7 days overdue, firmer at 14, enforcement as the last resort.

For a deeper dive (in German), gründer-schweiz.ch offers a practical guide on invoicing and payment terms, and buchhaltung-für-selbständige.ch explains how to keep open receivables systematically under control.

Note: this article is not legal advice.