Quotes in Switzerland: a free template and what the Code of Obligations says about validity, price and revocation

The Code of Obligations does not define a “quote”. It speaks of offers (Art. 3 to 9) and, for work, of the work contract: “the contractor undertakes to produce a piece of work and the customer undertakes to pay the contractor for that work” (Art. 363). The word “estimate” only appears in Art. 375. No form is required: a contract needs a particular form only if the law prescribes one (Art. 11). A quote accepted orally, within its time limit and without a reservation under Art. 7, therefore in principle forms a contract, unless the parties agreed to be bound only in writing (Art. 16). The written quote is above all your proof.

What matters is how the quote is worded. The table sums up the cases the law covers.

This choice matters most in a dispute. The template above has a tick box for each of the three cases.

No rule sets an acceptable percentage by which an approximate estimate may be exceeded: the law speaks of an estimate “exceeded by a disproportionate amount”, without a figure, and in a dispute a court decides. If the cost is likely to exceed your estimate, the safest course is to tell the customer and get their agreement before you carry on.

Art. 40a to 40f of the Code of Obligations apply to contracts for goods and services intended for the customer's personal or family use, where the supplier acts in a professional or commercial capacity and the customer pays more than CHF 100 (Art. 40a). The customer may then revoke their offer or acceptance if the deal was proposed at their place of work, on residential premises or in their immediate vicinity, on public transport or a public thoroughfare, at a promotional event linked to an excursion, or by telephone or a comparable means of simultaneous verbal communication (Art. 40b).

There is no right of revocation if the customer “expressly requested the contractual negotiations”, or made their declaration at a market or trade-fair stand (Art. 40c). A customer who calls you out to their home may fall into this case, but the law says no more, and whether these articles apply to work on a building is debated among lawyers.

Where the right exists, the supplier must inform the customer, in writing or in another form that can be evidenced by text, of the right of revocation, of the form and time limit for using it, and give their address; the information must be dated, identify the contract and reach the customer when they propose or accept the contract (Art. 40d). The time limit is 14 days and starts only once the customer has the information; revocation “need not be in any particular form”, and the time limit is met if the customer informs the supplier or posts the written notice on the last day. The supplier must prove when the customer received the information (Art. 40e): keep a signed copy. After a revocation, both sides return what they received; a customer who used the goods owes a fair rent, and for services already provided only outlays and expenses are reimbursed (Art. 402); no further compensation is owed (Art. 40f).

The “Right of revocation” box on the template contains this information: you only write your address and the quote number and date. If these articles apply, filling in the box starts the 14 days, which do not run until the customer has this information (Art. 40e). If they clearly do not apply (a business customer, for example), cross the box out: a right of revocation written on a signed quote could be relied on by the customer even outside the legal cases. Filling it in when in doubt is our advice, not a legal rule.

Unless agreed otherwise, “the customer must pay for the work on completion or delivery” (Art. 372 para. 1 CO). Where the work is delivered in stages and payment in instalments has been agreed, each stage is paid on its delivery (para. 2). So you cannot demand a deposit afterwards without the customer's agreement: agree it up front, and the quote is the natural place to write it (a percentage or an amount, payable on order).

The template has a “Deposit on order” line. In Fele-facture, a deposit invoice is created from the quote, as a percentage or an amount, and is deducted automatically from the final invoice (VAT and a worked example: deposit invoice). If an invoice then stays unpaid, the steps are in unpaid invoice in Switzerland.

Fele-facture creates quotes the same way as invoices: by voice, by photographing a work report or a handwritten quote (this template, for example), or by typing. The quote PDF shows a “Valid until” date and carries neither a QR payment part nor an IBAN: nobody pays a quote. When you photograph it, the app reads the customer and the lines (and, if written, the deposit in the payment terms); the validity date, the type of price and the “Right of revocation” box stay on paper. A quote from the app is valid for 30 days after its date and says “This quote is valid until the date shown above”, so it binds you until that date (Art. 3 CO); a “without obligation” reservation added in the terms would contradict it. Write the type of price or the revocation information in the “Payment terms (this document)” field (500 characters at most), which is printed on the PDF.

When the customer accepts, “Convert to invoice” creates the invoice: in one click from the quote screen; from My documents, or if deposit invoices were issued, the app first opens the pre-filled invoice (deposits deducted) for you to confirm. The invoice gets a new number and today's date. Each quote and each invoice counts towards your monthly documents. From the quote you can also create one or more deposit invoices, and send the PDF to the customer by email from the app (“Email to …”, only when you tap it, with a copy to you).

The QR-bill on invoices is included from the Independent plan (CHF 15 a month); the Free plan (5 invoices or quotes a month) produces invoices without the QR payment part. What an invoice must contain, with or without VAT, is in how to invoice as a freelancer in Switzerland, and the payment slip itself in the Swiss QR-bill. Other Swiss tools that make quotes are compared in invoicing software in Switzerland.