Invoicing without a subscription

Many freelancers, clubs and small firms pay every month for business software and mainly use it for one thing: writing invoices. If that sounds like you, it can be done for free. Here is when a subscription makes sense and when it doesn’t.

Updated October 2026

What business software is for

A complete package with accounting, payroll, bank connection and several users pays off if you have staff, must keep double-entry books or want your accountant to work in it directly. That typically costs a few hundred francs a year, and for that work it is money well spent.

When you don’t need a subscription

• You write a few invoices a month, for example as a freelancer, tradesperson, landlord or club.
• Your bookkeeping is simple, or an accountant does it from your receipts.
• You have no staff, or you run payroll elsewhere.
• You don’t want to open an account or put your customers’ data in a cloud.

What Scanbill does for free

• Invoices with logo, line items and VAT, with a QR payment slip to the Swiss standard.
• Just the QR payment slip, or the payment part added to your own Word or PDF invoice.
• Many slips at once from an Excel list, for example for membership fees or rent.
• A list of your invoices with due dates, a payment reminder in one click and matching with your bank file.
• Invoices in English, German, French, Italian or Romansh.

What Scanbill doesn’t do

Scanbill is not accounting software: no balance sheet, no profit and loss, no payroll and no automatic bank connection. Your data stays only in your browser. That protects your privacy, but it also means: back up your invoice list now and then, and always work in the same browser. If your business grows, moving to accounting software is the right step.

How it works

1. Open the generator, no sign-up.
2. Enter your details and IBAN and save them in the browser.
3. Add the customer, the items and, if needed, VAT.
4. Download the invoice as PDF and send it.
5. Mark paid invoices, or send a payment reminder when one is overdue.

Common questions