Why receivable/payable management is crucial
In Switzerland, the average payment delay for SMEs stands between 15 and 25 days beyond the contractual due date, with peaks exceeding 60 days in the construction and professional services sectors. For a business with annual turnover of CHF 2 million, this means tying up between CHF 80,000 and CHF 140,000 in overdue receivables — capital that earns no return and puts operational cash flow under pressure.
Structured management of payables (suppliers to pay) and receivables (customers to collect from) is the cornerstone of corporate treasury. An efficient process reduces collection times (DSO – Days Sales Outstanding), improves credit ratings and frees up liquidity for investment and growth. According to a SECO study, Swiss SMEs that digitalise the receivable/payable cycle reduce their average DSO by 40–55%.
This guide explains how to set up an automated accounts receivable and payable management system with AccountEX: from automatic scheduling to aging analysis, from integrated reminders to supplier batch payments, through to full reconciliation — all compliant with the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO) and VAT regulations (LTVA).
The active and passive cycle
The active cycle (customer receivables) and the passive cycle (supplier payables) are the two sides of current financial management. Understanding the complete flow is the first step to optimising it:
Active cycle — from quotation to collection
Quotation → Order confirmation → Delivery/Service → Invoice issuance (QR-invoice) → Receivable recording → Due-date monitoring → Reminder → Collection → Item closure. An SME with 200 invoices/month and a DSO of 45 days has approximately CHF 250,000 tied up in receivables. Reducing the DSO to 25 days frees CHF 110,000 in liquidity.
Passive cycle — from purchase to payment
Purchase order → Goods/service receipt → Invoice receipt → Verification and approval → Payable recording → Payment scheduling → Payment execution → Item closure. Optimising supplier payment timing (by exploiting 2–3% cash discounts) can generate savings of CHF 10,000–30,000/year for a typical SME.
Cash conversion cycle (CCC)
The CCC measures the time between paying suppliers and collecting from customers: CCC = DSO + DIO – DPO (Days Sales Outstanding + Days Inventory Outstanding – Days Payable Outstanding). For a typical Swiss SME, the CCC ranges from 30 to 60 days. The goal is to reduce it as much as possible without compromising commercial relationships.
Impact on liquidity
Every day of DSO reduction corresponds, for a business with CHF 3 million turnover, to approximately CHF 8,200 of freed liquidity. With an automated system, reducing DSO by 15–20 days is realistic: that equates to CHF 123,000–164,000 of additional liquidity, without the need for extra bank financing.
Automatic scheduler
The automatic scheduler is the heart of receivable/payable management. It eliminates Excel spreadsheets, centralises due dates and automatically triggers workflows:
AccountEX scheduler features
- Automatic due-date registration upon invoice creation (issued or received) — payment terms (30 days net, 10 days 2% discount, end of month) are applied automatically
- Visual dashboard with daily, weekly and monthly views of all expected collections and outgoing payments — filter by customer, supplier, amount and status (open, partial, overdue)
- Automatic calculation of overdue days and default interest per art. 104 CO (5% annual rate for commercial receivables, unless a different contractual rate applies)
- Automatic alerts via email and in-app notification when an invoice approaches its due date (7 days before), reaches its due date (same day) and exceeds its due date (1, 15, 30, 60, 90 days)
- Integration with the bank account for automatic matching of received/executed payments: when a customer pays, the item closes automatically and the DSO is updated in real time
Receivables aging analysis
Aging analysis classifies open receivables by time bands, highlighting insolvency risk and suggesting corrective actions. Here is the standard framework:
| Time band | Risk level | Recommended action |
|---|---|---|
| 0–30 days | Low — normal | No action needed. Monitor the due date. Send a courtesy reminder 5 days before the deadline. |
| 31–60 days | Medium — attention | First formal reminder. Phone contact. Check for disputes. Block new orders if the amount exceeds CHF 5,000. |
| 61–90 days | High — critical | Second reminder with notice of default interest (5% annual per art. 104 CO). Propose a repayment plan. Consider debt assignment or debt enforcement proceedings (DEBA). |
| Over 90 days | Very high — probable loss | Third reminder with notice of legal action. Initiate debt enforcement proceedings (DEBA art. 67 ff.). Provision the receivable to the doubtful debts reserve (ducroire). Consider assignment to a debt collection agency. |
According to Federal Statistical Office data, approximately 3–5% of commercial receivables in Switzerland become uncollectable. A rigorous and timely aging analysis can reduce this percentage to below 1%, saving tens of thousands of CHF per year.
Integrated payment reminders
AccountEX's automated reminder system follows a 4-level protocol, compliant with Swiss commercial practice and the CO. Each level can be customised in content, timing and delivery channel:
Level 1 — Courtesy reminder (due date + 5 days)
Automatic email with friendly tone: 'Dear customer, we would like to remind you that invoice no. XXXX for CHF YYYY was due on DD.MM.YYYY. Please arrange payment within the next few days.' Attached: PDF copy of the invoice and QR code for immediate payment. Average recovery rate: 60–70%.
Level 2 — First formal reminder (due date + 20 days)
Email and paper letter referencing contractual terms and art. 102 CO (debtor's default). Statement of accruing default interest (5% annual) and a peremptory 10-day payment deadline. Option to automatically block new orders for the customer. Cumulative recovery rate: 85–90%.
Level 3 — Second reminder with formal notice (due date + 45 days)
Registered letter with notice of legal action and detailed calculation of accrued interest. Proposal for an instalment repayment plan. Statement that the receivable will be assigned or that enforcement proceedings (DEBA) will be initiated. Cumulative recovery rate: 93–96%.
Level 4 — Enforcement proceedings (due date + 75 days)
Automatic generation of the enforcement request (DEBA form) with pre-filled debtor details. Integration with the e-LP portal (enforcement and bankruptcy) for digital submission. Automatic provisioning to the ducroire reserve in the accounts. The last resort — but with the integrated system, fewer than 2% of receivables reach this stage.
Supplier batch payments
The passive cycle requires equal attention: paying suppliers punctually (but not unnecessarily early) optimises cash flow and secures the best commercial terms. Here is the optimal workflow:
Invoice collection and validation
Supplier invoices are captured automatically via OCR (paper and PDF), email parsing or supplier portal. The system verifies the match with the purchase order and delivery note (three-way matching). Discrepancies are flagged for manual approval. Average validation time: from 15 minutes (manual) to 30 seconds (automatic).
Approval and workflow
Validated invoices enter the configurable approval workflow: up to CHF 1,000 automatic approval, CHF 1,001–10,000 department head approval, above CHF 10,000 dual signature (CFO + Management). Push notifications to speed up approvals. Average approval time: from 3 days to 4 hours.
Optimal payment scheduling
The system calculates the optimal payment date for each invoice: if the supplier offers a 2% cash discount within 10 days, early payment equates to an annualised return of 36%. Otherwise, payment is scheduled at the due date to maximise the cash float. Estimated saving: CHF 8,000–25,000/year.
Batch execution via pain.001
On the scheduled date, the system generates a pain.001 file (ISO 20022) containing all payments for the day and transmits it to the bank via API or secure upload. A single file can contain hundreds of payments to different suppliers. Batch execution reduces bank fees and operational time from 2–3 hours to 5 minutes per payment cycle.
Reconciliation and closure
The bank statement (CAMT.054) confirms execution of each payment. The system automatically matches transactions to invoices, closes open items and updates the supplier balance in real time. Partial payments and credit notes are handled automatically. The passive cycle is closed without manual intervention.
Automatic reconciliation
Reconciliation is the process of matching every bank transaction to the corresponding invoice or accounting entry. With AccountEX, 90–95% of reconciliations happen automatically:
CAMT.053/054 import
Bank transactions are imported automatically from the business account via banking API or CAMT.053 (account statement) and CAMT.054 (credit notification) files. Frequency can be intraday for maximum timeliness.
Intelligent matching
The AI algorithm matches transactions to open invoices using multiple criteria: QR reference number, exact amount, approximate amount (configurable tolerance), payer name, payment communication. The automatic matching rate exceeds 92% with QR-invoices.
Partial payment management
When a customer pays only part of an invoice, the system records the partial collection, updates the outstanding balance and keeps the invoice in the scheduler for the remaining amount. The next reminder automatically refers to the residual amount only.
Foreign exchange difference management
For invoices in foreign currency (EUR, USD), the system automatically calculates the exchange rate difference between the invoicing date and the collection date, recording the gain or loss in the appropriate account per the KMU chart of accounts.
VAT reconciliation
Every reconciled transaction automatically updates the VAT register: input VAT (prior-period tax) and output VAT are calculated and the quarterly returns for the FTA are always up to date in real time.
Reconciliation report
Dashboard showing reconciliation status in real time: matched transactions, pending transactions, discrepancies to resolve. Exportable report for the auditor with the detail of every match and full traceability (audit trail).
With Swiss QR-invoices and automatic bank import, the monthly reconciliation time for an SME with 300 transactions drops from 8–12 hours (manual) to 30–45 minutes (reviewing exceptional cases only). The annual saving in labour hours equates to CHF 6,000–12,000.
Practical tips for receivable/payable management
- Issue invoices within 24 hours of delivery or service completion: every day of delay in invoicing is an extra day of DSO. With AccountEX's automatic QR-invoices, issuance is instantaneous
- Offer customers multiple payment channels (QR-invoice, eBill, direct debit LSV/DD, credit card): the easier it is to pay, the faster you collect. Companies offering eBill see a DSO reduction of 8–12 days
- Negotiate differentiated payment terms for strategic customers, but set a maximum credit limit for each customer in the system — AccountEX automatically blocks new orders when the limit is reached
- Take advantage of supplier cash discounts when the opportunity cost is favourable: a 2% discount at 10 days on a 30-day invoice equates to an annualised return of 36% — far higher than any short-term investment
- Run an aging analysis weekly, not monthly: receivables that exceed 60 days without action have a recovery probability that drops below 70%. Timeliness in reminders makes all the difference
- Schedule supplier batch payments on 2 weekly cycles (e.g. Tuesday and Friday): this optimises cash float, reduces bank fees and enables more precise treasury planning
- Use AccountEX to centralise the entire receivable/payable cycle: from automatic invoicing to bank reconciliation, from aging analysis to integrated reminders — with a documented average DSO reduction of 45–55% within the first 6 months
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