Printing a Swiss QR-bill: when perforated paper is required and which paper to use

The SIX standard distinguishes three forms of payment part: integrated into a paper QR-bill, enclosed with a paper QR-bill on a separate sheet, or part of a PDF file (Implementation Guidelines 2.4, chapter 3.1). The perforation only concerns the first two. In version 2.4, the payment part with receipt “must be easily separable from the invoice details by means of a perforation”, and this “also applies if the payment part/receipt is enclosed separately from the invoice or correspondence”.

Version 2.4 adds that if the payment part is not separated correctly, “it can lead to the rejection of processing or to delays and additional costs for the debtor or creditor”. This is not a new rule: in its revision history, SIX lists the changes to chapter 3.1 under “various clarifications and textual corrections (without substantive changes)”. The SIX FAQ says the same: QR-bills that are not made out on perforated paper “must be cut off by the customer”, and an incorrect separation can lead to problems at the post office counter or with paper payment orders. In short: mandatory under the standard; without it, a risk of processing problems, not an automatic rejection.

It is not a law. The QR-bill is the standard of the Swiss financial centre, set by SIX: no law requires a payment slip on an invoice, and an invoice with an IBAN remains valid (see the Swiss QR-bill).

A physical payment part with a receipt “must be created on white, perforated paper with a weight of no less than 80 and no more than 100 g/m2”; certified recycled, FSC and TCF papers are permitted, coated or reflecting paper is not (IG 2.4, chapter 3.3). The SIX Style Guide v1.1, valid from 1 January 2026, speaks of “natural white or white paper”.

The geometry is fixed: the payment part (148 × 105 mm, A6 landscape) and the receipt (62 × 105 mm) together form a 210 × 105 mm strip along the bottom edge of the A4 page. So the horizontal perforation runs 105 mm from the bottom of the sheet, and the vertical one 62 mm from the left edge (chapters 3.1 and 3.3).

Nothing is pre-printed: the perforated paper is white, and the whole payment part is printed in black. The permitted fonts are Arial, Frutiger, Helvetica and Liberation Sans, not in italics nor underlined; headings and values on the payment part are 6 to 10 pt, and the title “Payment part” 11 pt bold (chapter 3.4). The Swiss QR Code measures 46 × 46 mm, with a 7 × 7 mm Swiss cross in the middle (chapter 6).

The reverse side of the payment part and receipt “may not be imprinted”, and they may not be used for advertising (chapter 3.1): when printing double-sided, leave the back of the bottom strip blank. The old red and orange inpayment slips (IS/ISR) ended on 1 October 2022 (Swiss Post): a stock of slips pre-printed before that date is useless.

At the Swiss Post Postshop: Swiss Post's QR-bill page lists two perforated A4 papers of 90 g/m², in packs of 100 and 500 sheets, delivered to your home; we do not name brands or paper prices. PostFinance does not sell this paper itself: it points to “the majority of print shops, stationery shops” and to the Postshop.

SIX publishes an extract from a list of printing companies that print QR-bills, supplied by the printing industry association viscom. According to its metadata, the file dates from 20 September 2022 and may be out of date; we do not recommend any of them.

Having it printed by Swiss Post: in a branch, staff create a QR-bill and print it in 1 to 10 copies (package S, CHF 12.90), 25 copies (package M, CHF 16.90) or 50 copies (package L, CHF 23.90), on perforated 90 g paper, prices in CHF including VAT (post.ch, read on 10 November 2026). It is one bill reproduced in identical copies: useful for a slip to hand out (membership fee, collection), not for invoicing ten different customers.

Ordering slips from your bank: depending on what the financial institution offers, a creditor can order pre-printed QR-bills, with or without a reference (SIX FAQ). Beware of old stock: a pre-printed QR payment part with an unstructured address (type K) has not been allowed in a new QR-bill since 22 November 2025, and UBS writes that such QR-bills “can only be accepted for payment until 30 September 2026”; other banks have other dates. Before using old stock, check one slip with the QR-bill checker.

Print the PDF at 100%, a setting often called “actual size”, and untick anything that fits or shrinks the document to the page. The Implementation Guidelines require that printed PDFs comply with the format specifications (chapter 3.7), the SIX FAQ adds “print in original size”, and the Style Guide warns, about its own grid sheet, that “the whole A4 format is slightly reduced” when printed, so the dimensions may no longer be accurate (v1.1, p. 24). A print reduced by a few per cent no longer lands on the perforation.

Make a first test on an unperforated sheet, then hold it against a perforated sheet up to the light: the bottom line must fall on the horizontal perforation, the receipt line on the vertical one. Which way the perforated sheet goes into the tray depends on the printer; the test tells you.

Invoice of several pages: the perforation is required between the invoice details and the payment part, so only the sheet that carries the payment part needs to be perforated. Print pages 1 to n − 1 on unperforated sheets, then the last one alone, from the manual feed, on the perforated sheet.

Before sending a batch, scan the first printed payment part with your banking app: SIX notes that “an incorrectly printed Swiss QR Code can cause processing problems” and that such payment parts can be rejected (SIX FAQ). The Style Guide's grid sheet helps you check the dimensions; SIX states that only the design features outlined in the Implementation Guidelines are mandatory.

The lines and the scissors symbol are there for that: they tell the debtor to separate the payment part and receipt neatly if they want to send the QR-bill to their bank by post or pay it at the post office counter (IG 2.4, chapter 3.7).

SIX nevertheless states that QR-bills in PDF format “are only suitable for payments in e-banking or mobile banking, but not for paper-based payment transactions at the counter” (chapter 3.7). If a PDF is to be processed on paper anyway, “the creditor must ensure that the relevant requirements are met”: an A6 payment part, separation along the given lines, paper of 80 to 100 g/m² (SIX FAQ). In practice: for a customer who pays at the counter or by paper payment order, send the invoice on perforated paper.

Even a “blank” QR payment part always carries your account (IBAN or QR-IBAN, CH or LI) and your name and address in the code (IG 2.4, chapter 4.2.2). Only the amount and the debtor can be left blank, in boxes with black corners that the payer fills in by hand: 40 × 15 mm and 30 × 10 mm for the amount, at least 65 × 25 mm and 52 × 20 mm for the debtor (“Payable by (name/address)”, chapters 3.5 and 3.6).

For such a slip, there are two routes: neutral pre-printed slips from banks that offer them, or the free QR-bill generator, where you leave the amount and the payer empty, then print it on perforated paper. With a QR-IBAN, the QR reference is mandatory and must be printed too.

Fele-facture invoices are A4 PDFs. The QR payment part goes at the bottom of the last page, in Helvetica (or in Liberation Sans, a font the standard allows, when a name contains a letter such as č or ł), with the cutting lines and scissors symbol required for sending by email; if less than 105 mm is left on the last page, the payment part moves to an extra A4 page, never to a page the size of the slip alone. A setting in the invoice appearance options always puts the payment part at the bottom of a separate A4 page: on paper, that page must be perforated too.

The “Print” button opens your browser's print window on a computer and, on a phone, the PDF in the viewer or the share sheet (where “Print” appears): the scale (100%, actual size) is set in that window, the app does not fix it. Fele-facture does not sell paper, does not print for you, does not post anything and does not issue eBill.

Plans: Free, 5 invoices or quotes a month, PDF without the QR payment part. The QR-bill is included from the Independent plan (CHF 15 a month, 25 invoices or quotes); Unlimited CHF 29 a month; yearly CHF 150 or 290. A full 14-day trial starts when you enter a Swiss or Liechtenstein IBAN, once per IBAN. The payment part needs a valid CH or LI IBAN, your name, postcode and town, an amount due above 0 and a document that is neither a quote nor a receipt; invoices in the app are in Swiss francs (CHF). Other Swiss tools are compared in invoicing software in Switzerland.