Handshake during a business meeting, top view

Invoice scanning for construction companies in Gurbrü explained simply

Between VAT, social contributions and the year-end close, a Swiss SME juggles dozens of deadlines a year. This page focuses on invoice scanning in Gurbrü: what the law requires, what can be automated, and when to delegate.

Digitalising invoice scanning: what actually works

Digitising does not mean hoarding PDFs: without the document-entry link, a digital file is as opaque as a box of archives — true in Gurbrü as everywhere.

For an owner in Gurbrü, a dashboard only has value if the data is fresh: automating data entry means, first of all, buying up-to-date information about your own business.

Outsource invoice scanning or keep it in-house?

Outsourcing invoice scanning to a fiduciary frees up time and secures compliance; keeping it in-house preserves a continuous view and costs less in fees. The best answer is often hybrid: the company captures and digitises as it goes, the fiduciary supervises, closes the books and represents the company before the authorities.

For invoice scanning, a quarterly 30-minute check-in with the fiduciary beats an annual marathon: questions get handled while they are small.

QR-bills and friction-free collections

Supplier invoices benefit from the same standard: the QR code is read on receipt, the payment is staged in e-banking with the desired due date, and the expense entry is proposed with the correct VAT. The purchase-payment-posting chain takes three moves.

The winning trio remains: QR-bills for collections, e-banking connected to the accounts for statement imports (camt.053), and automatic matching rules. Exceptions — partial payments, duplicates, missing references — are then handled in minutes, not hours.

Handshake during a business meeting, top view

The Swiss legal frame for invoice scanning

Three documents summarise the health of a Swiss business: the balance sheet (what it owns), the income statement (what it earns) and the notes (what else you should know). All the work of invoice scanning converges on those three pages, in Gurbrü too.

One simple principle drives invoice scanning: every franc in or out must be explainable by a document, an entry and an account. All of Swiss accounting law fits inside that traceability requirement.

Gurbrü: what changes, what does not

Gurbrü (postal code 3208, canton Bern) applies the same federal rules as the rest of the country: what changes in Gurbrü are the cantonal counterparts — tax administration, compensation office, commercial register.

For a business in Gurbrü, that means VAT returns identical to anywhere in Switzerland, but a tax return and family allowances governed by the canton Bern.

Frequently asked questions

Which social contributions does a Swiss employer pay?

AHV/IV/APG: 5.3% employer share (the same is withheld from the employee); unemployment insurance: 1.1% each up to CHF 148,200 a year; occupational pension (LPP) by age and plan (employer at least 50%); occupational accident insurance paid by the employer; family allowances by canton. For an employer in Gurbrü, family allowances follow the canton's rates.

How long must records related to invoice scanning be kept?

Ten years from the end of the financial year concerned (art. 958f CO). Electronic retention is permitted if the integrity and readability of the records are guaranteed — a serious digital archive validly replaces paper binders. A business in Gurbrü can therefore archive fully digitally.

When is entry in the commercial register mandatory?

A Sàrl and an SA only come into existence with their registration. A sole proprietorship must register from CHF 100,000 of annual revenue; below that, registration stays voluntary but adds credibility and protects the business name. Registration goes through the canton's commercial register office — for Gurbrü too.

What are the current Swiss VAT rates?

Since 1 January 2024: 8.1% (standard), 2.6% (reduced — for example food and medicines) and 3.8% (accommodation). Returns must be filed and paid within 60 days after the period ends (quarterly under the effective method, semi-annually under the net tax rate method). These federal rates apply unchanged in Gurbrü.

Also worth reading

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Switch to accounting that keeps itself up to date

MyFiducia.ai automates invoice scanning for businesses in Gurbrü: AI-read documents, posting suggestions, VAT and exports ready for your fiduciary. Try the platform or browse our other guides.

The application is operated in French.