How do I collect an unpaid invoice in Switzerland?

Demand before enforcement

Skip the string of polite reminders. After one ordinary reminder, send a formal demand: invoice reference, amount, a clear deadline, and notice that you will start debt enforcement without further warning if it passes. Many debtors treat invoices as a free credit line exactly as long as the creditor's letters stay soft; a demand that names the next step changes the calculation.

Use the pause to check your own file. The strength of everything that follows depends on what you can show: the contract or order, proof of delivery or performance, the invoice, and any correspondence in which the debtor acknowledged the debt or promised payment. If the debtor has raised objections to the work itself, address them now — a genuine dispute about performance is a different problem from mere unwillingness to pay.

The Betreibung — Switzerland's distinctive first move

Switzerland's debt-enforcement system has a feature that surprises foreign creditors: you can start official enforcement without any court judgment. A request to the debt-enforcement office triggers a payment summons served on the debtor — the opening act of the Betreibung (poursuite). It is cheap to start, it lands as an official document, and it appears in the debtor's enforcement record, which banks and business partners consult. For solvent debtors who were simply stalling, this step alone often produces payment.

Objection, and the road through court

The debtor can block the enforcement with a simple objection — the Rechtsvorschlag (opposition) — without giving any reason. Then the roles turn: you must have the objection set aside. With clear written evidence, in particular a signed acknowledgement of the debt, a summary court procedure can clear the objection efficiently. Without such a document, you are in an ordinary lawsuit to establish the claim first — with the costs and timelines that entails. This is why how you papered the deal matters more to collection than anything you do after the invoice goes unpaid.

When it is worth pursuing

Before escalating, answer three questions honestly. Can the debtor pay — enforcement against an empty shell wins you costs, not cash? Is the claim documented well enough to survive an objection? And does the amount justify the effort, alone or as part of a message you need to send to other customers about payment discipline?

Sometimes the commercial answer is a structured instalment agreement with an acknowledgement of debt — which also hands you the very document that makes future enforcement fast. If meaningful amounts are outstanding, it is worth discussing the specific file with a lawyer before choosing the route.