Practical knowledge for Swiss SMEs
Purchasing, bank & payments
Guides for “Purchasing, bank & payments” in : step by step, with the place in the menu, the steps and the limits.
Purchasing, bank & payments
Purchasing & expenses
Incoming invoices
Finance | base › Incoming invoices
Receives invoices by e-mail, upload or scan, reads the QR code and text and proposes supplier, account, VAT code, cost centre, due date and payment reference – per line item if there are several. The primary action posts the suggestion and changes after editing booking fields. “Post and save a rule” also saves a rule for the selected scope. Without automation, future invoices remain subject to review; automation requires an amount limit.
Step by step
- Send the invoice to the invoice address (shown in the settings) or upload it as PDF/photo.
- Open the document and check the original next to the proposal.
- Change account, cost centre or split if needed. For a split, add further lines (up to 20); the amount not yet allocated is shown.
- Choose “Post and save a rule” and set what the rule applies to (e.g. a contract number or all invoices from the supplier); “automatic” only with an amount limit.
- During upload the button shows the reading progress; the previous upload’s message and link disappear during the next upload. Text PDFs are read directly and scanned PDFs use text recognition. If automatic reading fails, open the original and complete the invoice details manually in the proposal.
Accounts and VAT on incoming invoices
Finance | base › Incoming invoices › Posting proposal
Search accounts by number or name; recently used supplier accounts appear first. VAT codes show descriptions and rates. Recognised rates take priority over old defaults without VAT. Legacy rules use the current number in place of documented old invoice numbers.
Step by step
- Choose an account in the search field, for each split line if needed.
- Check the recognised VAT rate and posting text.
- Review and post, or choose the permanent posting rule.
Purchase orders and expenses
Finance | base › Purchasing and bank › Purchase orders
Record purchase orders to suppliers and convert them into a supplier invoice, generate recurring expenses and post approved expense claims.
Step by step
- Under “Purchase orders”, enter the supplier and items; optionally select a stock-managed article of the company for each item. With an article, goods receipt posts stock at the order price; without an article, the item has no stock link.
- When the invoice arrives, “Convert to supplier invoice” with amount and number.
- Under “Recurring”, set up rent or subscriptions and “Generate due items”.
- Under “Expenses”, post approved claims.
Company card
Finance | base › Purchasing and bank › Company card
Import the company card statement, attach receipts and post each transaction or mark it as private.
Step by step
- Under “Import card statement” choose the bank’s CSV file and click “Import card statement”.
- For each transaction choose the receipt under “Receipt” and click “Attach”.
- Check expense account and VAT % and click “Post” – or choose “Private”.
Expenses
Finance | base › Expenses
Record expenses with a receipt, submit them and follow their status. Line managers or accounting approve; your own claim is always approved by someone else.
Step by step
- Create a claim with a title: “New claim”.
- First take a photo or choose a receipt, then enter amount, purpose, category and date. Save the line in one action; expand currency/rate and VAT only when needed.
- New reports copy the valid payout IBAN from your own personnel record. Check it and change it in the report if needed; the personnel record remains unchanged.
- Choose “Submit”; approvers find the claim under “To approve”.
- In a draft or after a rejection, correct a line directly (amount, date, text or receipt); the receipt stays unless you choose a new one.
- The list and detail name approvers and their responsibility before submission. After a decision they show the name, current base role and date; missing approvers are stated explicitly.
- After selecting a file, choose “Read receipt”. Existing QR/text/OCR recognition suggests the amount, date, merchant, currency and a single VAT rate. Check the details; the file remains selected for saving.
- For foreign currency, choose “Suggest monthly rate”, check the month and rate, then confirm. Rate fields are hidden for CHF. Enter a rate manually if none is available.
- Pending expense reports appear in the HR inbox for authorised approvers. Tasks open the report directly under “To approve”. The detail page also offers approval and rejection with a required reason, subject to your permissions. You cannot approve your own reports; tenant, team and company restrictions still apply. Applicants receive each decision and comment in the bell and, depending on preferences, via push and email.
Bank & payment runs
Payables and payment run
Finance | base › Purchasing and bank › Approve and pay
Approve or block open supplier invoices and output due, approved invoices in a payment run as a payment file (pain.001).
Step by step
- Check the open invoice and choose “Approve”. You open the invoice with date, amount, reference, account assignment and original directly in the list.
- Under “Payment run”, set the due date and execution date, then choose “Proposal”.
- Select the items and choose “Create run”.
- Download the pain.001 file directly from the run. If the bank definitely rejected it, take back the run with a reason: all items and approvals are reset together.
Check the bank account before a payment run
Finance | base › Purchasing and expenses › Purchasing and bank › Payment run
A valid company IBAN is required when creating a payment run. The notice links to the existing bank account settings.
Step by step
- If a bank notice appears, follow the link to Sales › Settings › Bank accounts.
- Save a valid regular IBAN, without a QR-IBAN.
- Return to the payment run and choose the items.
Execute a payment run safely
Finance | base
Approval checks, archive reference, payment order, payable items and run completion are saved together. Concurrent execution and changes to the checked data cannot create a second payment file.
Step by step
- Select due items, create the run and execute it with the required approval. Download the completed file directly from the run.
Bank reconciliation
Finance | base › Purchasing and bank › Bank
Import bank statements (camt.053) and credit advices (camt.054) and match each transaction, with a suggestion, to open invoices or to a rule.
Step by step
- Choose the bank account and import the camt file.
- For each open transaction, confirm the suitable suggestion.
- Without a suggestion, post a contra account manually or ignore the transaction. When booking manually, choose the offset account via search and the VAT code (required if VAT-registered).
- For recurring transactions (e.g. bank charges), create a rule.
- Edit every rule field, including minimum/maximum amount, VAT code and active status. For manual entries, required selection and VAT codes follow the direction and date of the bank transaction.
Terms: QR-IBAN and RF reference
Finance | base › Sales settings › Bank accounts
A QR-IBAN is a special IBAN that your bank issues for QR bills with a QR reference. You only need one if you have been given one; otherwise leave the field empty. For the QR bill your normal Swiss IBAN is enough; the payment part then carries an RF reference (Creditor Reference), which is used to match incoming payments to invoices.
Step by step
- Enter your normal Swiss IBAN.
- Enter a QR-IBAN only if your bank has issued one to you.
Bank: bank statements and payment files
Settings › Company settings › Data exchange › Bank
Reads bank statements (camt.053/054/052) and matches incoming payments to invoices, connects accounts directly via EBICS or bLink and transmits approved payment files (pain.001).
Step by step
- Select the bank statement, click “Check” and then “Import”.
- For automatic retrieval, create a bank connection, give consent and, with EBICS, send the keys and mail the letter to the bank.
- Once the bank has enabled the connection, click “Fetch bank keys” and then “Retrieve bank statements”.
- Upload the payment file; a second person approves and transmits it.
The next step starts with a conversation.