For renovations, installations or projects lasting months, you need not wait until completion for payment, nor must customers pay everything at once. Agree a sequence: initial deposit, partial invoices for completed stages and a final invoice tying everything together. This guide covers the Code of Obligations (OR; CO), invoice contents, VAT timing and avoiding forgotten or duplicated deposits.
Three invoice types, one order
These are practical terms, not statutory contract types. The law on contracts for work (Art. 363 onwards CO) does not mention deposits; your contract governs. Common distinctions:
| Invoice type | Timing | Covers | Calculation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit invoice | Order start | Advance towards agreed remuneration | Percentage of order value |
| Partial invoice | After stage/partial delivery | Completed work | Delivered quantities × prices |
| Final invoice | Completion | Everything not yet invoiced | Remaining work less deposits |
Taken together, all invoices for the order must exactly equal its value. The final invoice is therefore the point at which you reconcile the entire order. It covers the services that have not yet been invoiced and deducts the deposits. Services already charged in a partial invoice are not billed a second time.
The Code of Obligations
A contract for work obliges the contractor to produce work and the customer to remunerate it (Art. 363). Art. 372 distinguishes:
- Payment on delivery of the work (para. 1).
- Where delivery and remuneration are divided into parts, payment on each part’s delivery (para. 2).
For earlier payments, agree a schedule: percentage deposit, stage invoices, balance on acceptance, preferably in the quotation. Without agreement, work-contract law provides no deposit. In bilateral contracts, a party demanding performance must have performed or offer performance, unless contractually due later (Art. 82). An agreed deposit expressly sets this sequence.
Remuneration also affects partial invoices. A fixed advance price cannot be increased merely because work exceeded expectations (Art. 373, para. 1). If no price or only an approximate price was agreed, work value and contractor expenditure determine it (Art. 374). Time-based partial invoices are interim accounts; fixed-price ones are shares of the agreed price.
Required invoice details
Deposit, partial and final invoices are VAT invoices. On request, VAT-registered businesses must issue compliant invoices (Art. 26, para. 1 of the VAT Act (MWSTG)), normally including (para. 2):
- supplier/customer names and locations; supplier VAT-register status and number;
- service date/period if different from invoice date;
- nature, subject and scope;
- consideration;
- applicable VAT rate and tax due.
State the deposit’s purpose (order, number, percentage). Partial invoices identify completed lines, quantities and service period. Final invoices list uninvoiced services, deduct deposits with invoice numbers/dates and, as practical advice, identify earlier partial invoices by number/date (Finance | base does not list them). Showing deductions is practical rather than statutory, but avoids disputes.
Do not silently alter faulty invoices. Within commercial-law limits, correction may use a document requiring receipt that references and revokes the original (Art. 27, para. 4 MWSTG).
When VAT arises
VAT normally uses invoice-based accounting (Art. 39, para. 1 MWSTG); the FTA permits cash-based accounting on request. It may require cash-based accounting where substantial receipts precede service or invoicing (Art. 39, para. 4(a)).
Invoice-based output tax arises (Art. 40, para. 1):
- on invoicing;
- on issuing partial invoices or receiving part payments for successive partial invoicing/payments;
- on receiving advances for services not exempt from tax.
Cash-based liability arises on receipt (Art. 40, para. 2). A deposit received before service therefore triggers VAT on receipt, not only at final invoicing. Credit that tax in the final invoice: show tax on uninvoiced services, deduct deposit including tax, leaving the balance payable. See Invoice-based or cash-based VAT. Ask your fiduciary or the FTA whether a particular receipt is an advance or part payment.
Practical example: Beispiel Schreinerei AG
Fictional Beispiel Schreinerei AG builds a reception area for fictional Muster Verwaltungs AG. Order confirmed Monday, 5 October 2026: 30 per cent deposit, partial invoice after first installation stage, balance on acceptance. The joinery submits quarterly invoice-based returns.
| Item | Description | Quantity | Price | Amount CHF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reception desk/furniture, workshop manufacture, fixed price | 1 | 18’000.00 | 18’000.00 |
| 2 | On-site installation | 60 h | 95.00 | 5’700.00 |
| 3 | Fittings and recessed lights | 1 | 1’300.00 | 1’300.00 |
| Order value excluding VAT (total) | 25’000.00 |
With 8.1 per cent VAT (standard rate, Art. 25, para. 1 MWSTG), CHF 2’025.00, total order value is CHF 27’025.00:
- Tuesday, 6 October 2026: deposit invoice 2026-101, 30 per cent: CHF 7’500.00 + CHF 607.50 VAT = CHF 8’107.50. Paid Tuesday, 20 October 2026.
- Monday, 23 November 2026: first-stage partial invoice: 40 of 60 installation hours × CHF 95.00 = CHF 3’800.00 + CHF 307.80 VAT = CHF 4’107.80.
- Tuesday, 12 January 2027: final invoice after acceptance:
| Line | Amount CHF |
|---|---|
| Item 1: reception desk/furniture | 18’000.00 |
| Item 2: remaining 20 installation hours | 1’900.00 |
| Item 3: fittings/recessed lights | 1’300.00 |
| Services excluding VAT (subtotal) | 21’200.00 |
| 8.1% VAT | 1’717.20 |
| Services including VAT (subtotal) | 22’917.20 |
| Less deposit 2026-101 of 6 October 2026 (7’500.00 + 607.50 VAT) | −8’107.50 |
| Payable | 14’809.70 |
18’000.00 + 1’900.00 + 1’300.00 = 21’200.00; 8.1 per cent = 1’717.20. Deduct CHF 8’107.50 deposit. Three invoices total 8’107.50 + 4’107.80 + 14’809.70 = CHF 27’025.00, exactly order value. Here the deposit is deducted only at final invoicing; the contract could instead spread deductions across partial invoices.
VAT in Q4 2026: CHF 607.50 (deposit received 20 October) + CHF 307.80 (partial invoice 23 November) = CHF 915.30. Q1 2027: CHF 1’109.70 final-invoice VAT. Total CHF 2’025.00, or 8.1 per cent of CHF 25’000.00.
Common errors
- No deposit agreement: absent contractual/quotation agreement, payment follows delivery (Art. 372 CO).
- Forgotten deduction: customer overpays or complains; correct the invoice.
- Over-invoicing: combined partial quantities must not exceed ordered quantities.
- VAT only at final invoicing: advances trigger tax on receipt.
- Multiple final invoices: final invoicing closes the order; further services need a new order.
- Unlinked invoices: final invoices need deposit numbers/dates.
Checklist
- Quotation/contract agrees deposit percentage, stages and balance on acceptance
- Order value/lines recorded
- Deposit invoice identifies order and percentage
- Partial invoices show completed lines, quantities and service period
- VAT declared at Art. 40 MWSTG timing
- Final invoice shows uninvoiced services and all deposits with numbers/dates
- All invoices total order value
- Payments allocated; open items checked
How KMU | base helps
KMU | base is also available in French, Italian and English.
Finance | base invoices orders by quantity, percentage deposit or final invoice deducting deposits. Quantities cannot exceed those ordered.
1. Order. Convert accepted quotations into orders without retyping, along the document chain. Sales › Orders in the sidebar tracks open/invoiced quantities per line.
2. Type. Within the order, choose Partial invoice, Deposit invoice or Create final invoice. Enter partial quantities against displayed remaining quantities, or deposit Share in %. Each action creates a draft.
3. Review/issue. Check PDF previews before finalising. A final-invoice notice says deposits are deducted on issue. Invoices are PDF/A with Swiss QR payment sections.
4. Overview. Each document shows origin and successors with statuses, linking order deposits, partial and final invoices.
5. Payments. Manually record amount, date and note against the invoice; part payments leave a balance. See Bank reconciliation with camt files for file allocation and Payment reminders for unpaid invoices. Cancel erroneous unpaid invoices with cancellation credit notes.
Important: start from an order, not a quotation. Deposits are deducted only in final invoices, not partial invoices. Enter percentages; convert fixed deposits yourself. Two limits matter. Finance | base posts deposit invoices as revenue (3400), not received-deposit liabilities; discuss suitability with your fiduciary. It checks quantities, not combined deposit/partial-invoice totals. If partial invoices exhaust quantities, no final invoice can be created, the deposit is never deducted and the customer pays above order value. Leave remaining quantities for final invoicing and keep deposits plus partial invoices below order value. VAT timing depends on your accounting method; agree treatment with your fiduciary.
See the Finance | base guide. Try the Demo or open a test account. Questions? See the Contact page.
Sources
- Code of Obligations (OR, SR 220), Art. 82, 363; Art. 372, paras. 1–2; Art. 373, para. 1; Art. 374, as at 1 October 2026: Fedlex (German original), accessed 26.10.2026.
- VAT Act (MWSTG, SR 641.20), Art. 25, para. 1; Art. 26, paras. 1–2; Art. 27, para. 4; Art. 39, paras. 1, 2 and 4; Art. 40, paras. 1–2, as at 31 March 2025: Fedlex (German original), accessed 26.10.2026.
This guide does not replace legal or tax advice. Information as at 26 October 2026.