Key points at a glance
- Receivables are open invoices to customers (account 1100); payables are open invoices from suppliers (account 2000).
- The invoice increases the account, the payment clears it again. Cash discounts, credit notes and losses also correct the VAT or the input tax (Art. 41 VATA).
- The total of your open-items list must always match the balance of account 1100 or 2000.
- You account for doubtful receivables with a valuation adjustment (bad debt allowance) and write off lost ones. Most claims become time-barred after 10 years, many from crafts and retail sales after 5.
- The DSO ratio shows how many days your customers take to pay on average.
What are debtors and creditors?
The terms come from Latin: the debtor is the one who owes, the creditor the one who is owed. From your business's point of view:
| Debtors | Creditors | |
|---|---|---|
| Who? | A customer who owes you money | A supplier you owe money to |
| What is it for you? | Receivable | Liability (debt) |
| Account in the Swiss SME chart of accounts | 1100 Trade receivables | 2000 Trade payables |
| Side of the balance sheet | Assets, current assets | Liabilities, current liabilities |
| Arises with | your invoice | the supplier's invoice |
| Disappears with | payment, credit note or loss | your payment or a credit note |
The balance sheet must show both items separately (Art. 959a CO). How accounts, debits and credits work in general is covered in the article Chart of accounts and double-entry bookkeeping. This one follows an invoice all the way through.
Booking receivables: from invoice to payment
All examples assume a VAT-registered business using the effective method and reporting on the basis of agreed consideration (standard rate 8.1%). You invoice a service of CHF 2'000 plus VAT and grant a 2% cash discount for payment within 10 days. The customer pays on time and deducts the discount.
| Transaction | Debit | Credit | CHF |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invoice CHF 2'000 plus 8.1% VAT | 1100 Receivables | 3400 Revenue from services | 2'000.00 |
| 1100 Receivables | 2200 VAT owed | 162.00 | |
| Payment less 2% cash discount | 1020 Bank | 1100 Receivables | 2'118.76 |
| Cash discount CHF 43.24, of which CHF 3.24 VAT | 3800 Reductions in revenue | 1100 Receivables | 40.00 |
| 2200 VAT owed | 1100 Receivables | 3.24 |
After that, this invoice is back at zero on 1100. You book a partial payment the same way as the payment, just with the smaller amount – the invoice stays open with the remainder. A credit note to the customer, for example after a complaint, is booked like the cash discount: revenue and VAT on the debit side, receivables on the credit side. You correct the VAT in the period in which you book the credit note (Art. 41 para. 1 VATA); in the VAT return it counts as a reduction in consideration.
Booking payables: invoice, cash discount, payment
A supplier invoice is the mirror image: the print shop charges you CHF 1'500 plus VAT for flyers you need for a customer job and grants a 2% cash discount. Because it is a class 4 expense, the input tax goes to 1170.
| Transaction | Debit | Credit | CHF |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invoice received CHF 1'500 plus 8.1% VAT | 4400 Cost of purchased services | 2000 Payables | 1'500.00 |
| 1170 Input tax | 2000 Payables | 121.50 | |
| Payment less 2% cash discount | 2000 Payables | 1020 Bank | 1'589.07 |
| Cash discount CHF 32.43, of which CHF 2.43 input tax | 2000 Payables | 4400 Cost of purchased services | 30.00 |
| 2000 Payables | 1170 Input tax | 2.43 |
With agreed consideration, you may deduct the input tax as soon as the invoice arrives, not only when you pay it (Art. 40 para. 1 VATA). If the price drops later through a cash discount or credit note, you correct the input tax (Art. 41 para. 2 VATA). The VAT calculator works out the amounts quickly.
Is a cash discount worth it? 2% for paying 20 days earlier is equivalent to roughly 37% interest per year. If the money is there, almost always take it. Today you rarely enter payments one by one in e-banking: accounting software creates a pain.001 payment file – the ISO 20022 message "Customer Credit Transfer Initiation" as defined for credit transfers in the Swiss Payment Standards by SIX. You upload it to e-banking and approve the payments there. The way back, the account statement as a camt file, is described in the article Booking bank statements automatically.
The receivables list: open items and ageing
Account 1100 shows only one number. Which invoices are behind it is shown by the open-items list: customer, invoice number, date, due date, amount outstanding. Its total must always match the balance of 1100 exactly – if it doesn't, an entry is missing or a payment was booked straight to revenue. The same applies to the payables list and account 2000.
The list becomes more telling when you group the open items by age:
| Receivables as at 31 March 2026 | CHF | Share |
|---|---|---|
| not yet due | 12'400 | 58% |
| 1 to 30 days overdue | 5'900 | 27% |
| 31 to 60 days overdue | 2'150 | 10% |
| more than 60 days overdue | 1'080 | 5% |
| Total = balance of account 1100 | 21'530 | 100% |
The further down an amount is, the greater the risk it never arrives. What the list means for your cash planning is covered in the article Keeping liquidity under control.
Dunning run and limitation periods
In the dunning run you regularly – say, every week – go through the overdue items: first a friendly payment reminder, then a formal reminder. If a fixed payment date was agreed on the invoice, the customer is in default once it has passed, without a reminder; otherwise with the reminder (Art. 102 CO). From then on, 5% default interest is owed (Art. 104 CO).
Don't let open items sit for years. Most claims become time-barred after 10 years (Art. 127 CO); claims from, among other things, work by craftsmen, retail sales and periodic payments after 5 years (Art. 128 CO), in each case from the due date (Art. 130 CO). What to do when reminders don't help is described in the article Debt collection.
Doubtful receivables: valuation adjustments and losses
Assets must be valued prudently. If there are specific signs that a receivable is overvalued, you must adjust its value (Art. 960 para. 3 CO). You account for such losses in value with valuation adjustments, deducted directly or indirectly from the receivable – not shown under liabilities (Art. 960a para. 3 CO). The Swiss SME chart of accounts provides the contra-asset account 1109 Value adjustments on trade receivables (often called the bad debt allowance), with the expense on 3805 Losses from bad debts, changes in value adjustments. For tax purposes, too, such corrections for loss risks on receivables are allowed (Art. 29 para. 1 let. b DBG for the self-employed, Art. 63 DBG for GmbH and AG; both in German); discuss the amount with your accountant.
Example: a customer runs into difficulties
An invoice for CHF 3'243 (CHF 3'000 plus CHF 243 VAT) has been open for months at year-end, and the customer has stopped paying. The accountant expects to lose about half and books 3805 to 1109 CHF 1'500. The invoice itself stays open on 1100, and the VAT remains unchanged.
The following year, the debt collection ends with a certificate of unpaid debt. Now the loss is final: 3805 to 1100 CHF 3'000 and 2200 to 1100 CHF 243 – you recover the VAT on the consideration you never received through the correction under Art. 41 VATA. The valuation adjustment that is no longer needed is released: 1109 to 3805 CHF 1'500.
Simple bookkeeping: open invoices at year-end
Sole proprietorships and partnerships with revenue under CHF 500'000 only have to keep accounts of income and expenditure and of their financial position (Art. 957 para. 2 CO). During the year, a list of payments is therefore enough. But the financial position also includes what customers owe you and what you owe suppliers on the closing date. With simplified bookkeeping, you attach statements of income and expenditure, of your financial position and of private withdrawals and contributions to your tax return (Art. 125 para. 2 DBG, in German). So record as at 31 December which customer and supplier invoices are still open – with name, date and amount.
VAT: agreed or collected consideration?
The reporting method determines when the VAT on your receivables becomes due (Art. 39 and 40 VATA):
| Agreed consideration | Collected consideration | |
|---|---|---|
| When? | the standard case | only on application to the FTA |
| VAT owed | on invoicing | when payment is received |
| Input tax deductible | on receipt of the invoice | on payment |
| Effect on open receivables | You pay the VAT even if the customer hasn't paid yet; if the payment fails, you correct it later. | The VAT on open invoices hasn't been reported yet. |
You must keep the chosen method for at least one tax period (Art. 39 para. 3 VATA). Especially with many open items and long payment terms, reporting on agreed consideration ties up cash.
DSO: how long do you wait for your money?
The DSO ratio (days sales outstanding) shows how many days of revenue are tied up in your open invoices. A common simple formula:
DSO = receivables ÷ revenue for the period × number of days
Calculate receivables and revenue both with or both without VAT – receivables include VAT, so it's easiest to take revenue including VAT.
Example: Sandra's electrical GmbH in Q3 2026
From July to September, Sandra invoiced CHF 90'000 plus VAT, i.e. CHF 97'290 including VAT. At the end of September, CHF 32'430 is outstanding. DSO = 32'430 ÷ 97'290 × 92 days = about 31 days. Her payment term is 30 days – so on average her customers pay on time.
If CHF 48'645 were outstanding at the end of September, the DSO would be about 46 days: customers would on average take a good two weeks longer than agreed. That's the moment to tighten the dunning run or ask for a deposit on large jobs.
DSO is an approximation: if your revenue fluctuates a lot, for example with a large invoice just before the closing date, the ageing list tells you more. Above all, compare the figure with yourself, quarter by quarter.
Common mistakes
- Payment booked straight to revenue: the invoice then appears twice in revenue and stays open on 1100.
- List and account don't match: check at least at the end of each quarter and year that the open items match the balances of 1100 and 2000.
- Cash discount or credit note without VAT correction: you then pay too much VAT or deduct too much input tax.
- Supplier invoices only entered on payment: due dates and discount periods get forgotten, and the input tax comes later than necessary.
- Paid twice: both the supplier invoice and the reminder transferred. Checking against the open payables prevents this.
- Uncollectible items carried along: years-old receivables without a valuation adjustment make the balance sheet look better than it is – and the limitation period keeps running.
How it works in Easly
In Easly, receivables and payables come from your daily work – you don't keep a list by hand:
- Open items: the invoice overview shows all invoices with status and due date, can be filtered by period, status and customer and exported to Excel. Overdue invoices appear on the dashboard, and the account statement per customer as a PDF shows invoiced, paid and outstanding amounts.
- Two-level dunning: first a payment reminder, then a reminder with a fee – sent automatically per customer or only after your approval.
- Bank import with automatic matching: you upload the account statement (camt.053/054) or send it by e-mail. Easly automatically matches payments to your QR-bills and sets the invoices to "paid". You confirm partial payments as a suggestion; you write off a remainder such as a cash discount as a reduction in revenue.
- Supplier invoices: you enter invoices that are still open with due date and payment reference, and see those due on the dashboard. Easly handles partial payments, credit notes and cash discounts with corrected input tax. On request, Easly creates the pain.001 payment file for e-banking; it matches the payment from the bank import to the invoice.
- Automatic double-entry bookkeeping: Easly books the invoice on the invoice date as "Receivables 1100 to revenue and VAT owed", the open supplier invoice as "Expense to Payables 2000" and the payments via the bank – following the Swiss SME chart of accounts. Always active for GmbH and AG, optional for sole proprietorships.
What Easly doesn't do for you
Easly doesn't connect to your bank and doesn't trigger payments: you upload the pain.001 file to e-banking yourself and approve it there. You or your accountant enter valuation adjustments and other closing entries as manual entries. The VAT return in Easly counts invoices by invoice date, i.e. on the basis of agreed consideration – if you report on collected consideration, check the figures before submitting. You file for debt collection yourself at the debt enforcement office.
Frequently asked questions
Is a debtor someone who owes or someone who is owed?
Someone who owes: the debtor is your customer who still owes you money for an invoice. The creditor is the one you owe, i.e. the supplier. That's why receivables are on the assets side of the balance sheet and payables on the liabilities side.
Do I have to record receivables with simple bookkeeping?
Not as a separate account during the year. But you must keep accounts of your financial position (Art. 957 para. 2 CO), and that includes open receivables and debts. Record at year-end which customer and supplier invoices are still open.
When do I owe the VAT on an invoice that hasn't been paid yet?
If you report on agreed consideration – the standard case – on invoicing, so also for open invoices. Only when reporting on collected consideration, which you have to apply for with the FTA, does the tax arise when payment is received (Art. 40 VATA).
How do I book a cash discount the customer deducts?
Split the deducted amount into net and VAT: the net part to an account for reductions in revenue (3800 in the Swiss SME chart of accounts), the VAT part back to VAT owed, both against receivables. The invoice is then cleared.
When does an open invoice become time-barred?
As a rule after 10 years (Art. 127 CO); claims from, among other things, work by craftsmen, retail sales and periodic payments after just 5 years (Art. 128 CO) – in each case from the due date. Acknowledgement by the customer, such as a partial payment, or debt collection proceedings interrupt the limitation period (Art. 135 CO).
Information as of: see above, 2026 figures. Sources: Swiss Code of Obligations (Art. 102, 104, 127, 128, 130, 135, 957, 959a, 960 and 960a CO), Value Added Tax Act (Art. 39, 40 and 41 VATA), Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation (Art. 29, 63 and 125 DBG; in German), school chart of accounts for SMEs (© SwissAccounting, on kmu.admin.ch) for account numbers 1100, 1109, 1170, 2000, 2200, 3800, 3805 and 4400, ISO 20022 in the Swiss Payment Standards (SIX) for pain.001. The booking examples are simplified; account numbers may differ depending on your accountant's chart of accounts. The DSO formula is a common approximation, not a statutory figure. This article does not replace advice from your accountant.