[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":182},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-get-started-with-ebill-as-a-swiss-sme":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":173,"extension":174,"lastUpdatedAt":175,"meta":176,"navigation":177,"path":178,"publishedAt":175,"seo":179,"stem":180,"__hash__":181},"blog\u002Fblog\u002F0047.how-to-get-started-with-ebill-as-a-swiss-sme.md","How to get started with eBill as a Swiss SME",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":161},"minimark",[9,13,16,21,24,27,30,34,37,40,44,47,54,60,66,72,76,79,95,98,102,111,114,117,121,124,127,131,137,143,154,158],[10,11,12],"p",{},"eBill is Switzerland's national network for delivering invoices directly into the payer's e-banking portal. For a small or medium-sized business that sends invoices to other Swiss businesses or to public sector buyers, it is one of the more straightforward paths into structured e-invoicing — particularly if your customers are already registered as eBill recipients.",[10,14,15],{},"Getting started is less involved than most people expect. Here is the process from scratch.",[17,18,20],"h2",{"id":19},"what-ebill-actually-involves-for-the-biller","What eBill actually involves for the biller",[10,22,23],{},"As a biller, you register with an eBill service provider — a company that connects your invoices to the eBill network operated by SIX. Your service provider handles the technical connection to the network; you either connect your accounting software to them via API or use their portal to upload invoices manually.",[10,25,26],{},"When you send an invoice through eBill, it appears in your customer's e-banking. They see it alongside their other pending payments, can review the details, and can approve it for payment with a single confirmation. No paper, no email, no PDF to process manually on their end.",[10,28,29],{},"The biller — that is, you — pays for the service, typically through a per-invoice fee or a monthly subscription with the service provider. The payer receives invoices for free.",[17,31,33],{"id":32},"step-1-check-whether-your-accounting-software-already-supports-ebill","Step 1: check whether your accounting software already supports eBill",[10,35,36],{},"Before looking at third-party service providers, check what your current accounting software offers. Bexio, Banana Accounting, Sage 50, and several other packages used by Swiss SMEs have built-in eBill connectivity or partnerships with eBill service providers. If yours does, onboarding may be as simple as activating a feature and providing your company details.",[10,38,39],{},"If your software does not support eBill natively, you have two options: switch to one that does, or connect to an eBill service provider independently and feed invoices to them via API or CSV export.",[17,41,43],{"id":42},"step-2-choose-an-ebill-service-provider","Step 2: choose an eBill service provider",[10,45,46],{},"SIX publishes a list of certified eBill service providers on their website. Providers vary in pricing, integration options, and the level of support they offer. The main questions to ask when comparing them:",[10,48,49,53],{},[50,51,52],"strong",{},"Pricing model."," Some charge per invoice; others offer monthly packages. If you send 30 invoices a month, a per-invoice model is usually cheaper. If you send several hundred, a subscription often works out better.",[10,55,56,59],{},[50,57,58],{},"Integration with your ERP or accounting software."," Ask specifically whether they have a pre-built connector for your software, or whether you would need to build an API integration. A pre-built connector dramatically reduces the implementation effort.",[10,61,62,65],{},[50,63,64],{},"Support for the eBill address lookup."," Before you can send an eBill invoice, you need to check whether the recipient has registered as an eBill recipient with their bank. A good service provider makes this lookup straightforward.",[10,67,68,71],{},[50,69,70],{},"Experience with your customer types."," If you invoice the federal government or cantonal authorities, confirm the provider has experience with those document routing requirements.",[17,73,75],{"id":74},"step-3-register-and-set-up-your-biller-profile","Step 3: register and set up your biller profile",[10,77,78],{},"Once you have chosen a provider, registration involves:",[80,81,82,86,89,92],"ul",{},[83,84,85],"li",{},"Providing your company details: name, address, and Swiss UID (Unternehmens-Identifikationsnummer)",[83,87,88],{},"Providing the bank account details for receiving payments — typically your QR-IBAN, which is what recipients use to pay back through the QR-bill channel if they prefer",[83,90,91],{},"Agreeing to the eBill biller terms and any provider-specific terms",[83,93,94],{},"Testing the connection with a small number of invoices before going live",[10,96,97],{},"Most providers can complete onboarding within a few working days. Technical integrations with accounting software take longer — typically one to two weeks if a pre-built connector exists, longer for custom integrations.",[17,99,101],{"id":100},"step-4-check-which-of-your-customers-can-receive-ebill","Step 4: check which of your customers can receive eBill",[10,103,104,105,110],{},"eBill only works if your customer has registered as an eBill recipient with their bank. Swiss banks actively promote eBill registration to their business banking customers, and the public sector — federal agencies, many cantonal administrations — is either already on eBill or required to be by the ",[106,107,109],"a",{"href":108},"\u002Fblog\u002Fswiss-e-invoicing-mandates-what-changes-in-2026","2026 federal mandate",".",[10,112,113],{},"Your eBill service provider will offer a recipient lookup: you enter the customer's UID or email address and the system tells you whether they are registered and can receive eBill invoices. Start with your highest-volume customers. Even getting your top ten customers onto eBill has a meaningful effect on your processing overhead.",[10,115,116],{},"For customers who are not yet registered, you can send them a standard PDF invoice as a fallback. eBill and PDF delivery can coexist; you do not have to switch entirely on day one.",[17,118,120],{"id":119},"step-5-send-your-first-ebill-invoices","Step 5: send your first eBill invoices",[10,122,123],{},"Once your profile is active and your software is connected, the process of sending an eBill invoice should be close to identical to sending a normal invoice. You fill in the invoice as usual; the software routes it through the eBill service provider to the network. The main difference is that you can see delivery confirmation — whether the invoice was successfully delivered to the recipient's e-banking, when they viewed it, and whether they have approved it for payment.",[10,125,126],{},"That visibility is one of the practical advantages over PDF invoices. You know the invoice arrived. You know when it was looked at. You do not have to follow up with \"did you receive my invoice?\" emails.",[17,128,130],{"id":129},"common-questions","Common questions",[10,132,133,136],{},[50,134,135],{},"Do I need to send QR-bills too?"," eBill and QR-bill are separate systems. eBill sends invoices digitally into e-banking; QR-bill is a payment slip format for paper or PDF invoices. You do not need to include a QR-bill section on an invoice sent via eBill — the payment details are already part of the eBill message. You do still need QR-bills for customers who receive paper or PDF invoices.",[10,138,139,142],{},[50,140,141],{},"What about credit notes?"," eBill supports credit notes. The process is similar to sending an invoice — you flag the document as a credit and reference the original invoice number. The credit appears in the recipient's e-banking as a negative amount.",[10,144,145,148,149,153],{},[50,146,147],{},"Can I send eBill invoices to private individuals?"," Yes. Private consumers can register for eBill through their personal e-banking. eBill is widely used by utilities, telecoms, and subscription businesses for exactly this reason. The ",[106,150,152],{"href":151},"\u002Fblog\u002Febill-for-utilities-and-subscription-billing","eBill for recurring billing post"," covers high-volume consumer billing in more detail.",[17,155,157],{"id":156},"what-to-do-if-your-customer-is-not-on-ebill","What to do if your customer is not on eBill",[10,159,160],{},"Not every customer will be registered as an eBill recipient. For those, maintaining a PDF fallback is the practical approach in the short term. As eBill recipient registration grows — driven partly by the 2026 federal mandate and partly by banks actively onboarding their business customers — the share of your customer base you can reach via eBill will increase over time without you having to do anything additional.",{"title":162,"searchDepth":163,"depth":163,"links":164},"",2,[165,166,167,168,169,170,171,172],{"id":19,"depth":163,"text":20},{"id":32,"depth":163,"text":33},{"id":42,"depth":163,"text":43},{"id":74,"depth":163,"text":75},{"id":100,"depth":163,"text":101},{"id":119,"depth":163,"text":120},{"id":129,"depth":163,"text":130},{"id":156,"depth":163,"text":157},"A step-by-step guide for small and medium-sized businesses looking to send invoices via the eBill network.","md","2026-10-24",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-get-started-with-ebill-as-a-swiss-sme",{"title":5,"description":173},"blog\u002F0047.how-to-get-started-with-ebill-as-a-swiss-sme","KveEem7CXbvHa2RxvadKfOh3_nUb3dGRdvlFC26Lotg",1781082546080]