Quittly

The Problem

Swiss freelancers and micro-businesses face a maddening invoicing paradox:

- **Compliance is mandatory**: Every invoice needs QR-Bills (ISO 20022), MWST handling, and cantonal tax rules

- **Tools are bloated**: Bexio, Abacus, and others are subscription mills charging CHF 30–100/month for features you don't need

- **Manual workarounds are fragile**: Many still use Word templates, Excel spreadsheets, or email PDFs — creating compliance risk and zero audit trail

- **Freelancers are price-sensitive**: A solo consultant invoicing 10–20 clients per month shouldn't pay CHF 50/month just to send compliant invoices

I use Bexio only for invoicing. It's overkill and expensive. I'd switch to anything cheaper that handles QR-Bills properly. — r/selbststaendig

We're stuck in Excel for invoicing because every 'simple' tool either costs too much or doesn't handle Swiss requirements. — Hacker News

What We're Hearing

**Signal Cluster**: Across 10+ sources (Reddit r/selbststaendig, Hacker News, Swiss SME forums), freelancers and micro-businesses describe invoicing as a persistent pain point:

- Need **QR-Bill compliance** (ISO 20022) + MWST handling

- Refuse **subscription bloat** — want one tool that does invoicing *well*, not 50 things poorly

- Current solutions are either **too expensive** (Bexio CHF 50+/month) or **too manual** (Word/Excel)

- **E-invoicing** (ZUGFeRD, XRechnung) is emerging in EU/Germany — Swiss businesses want this future-proofed

Bexio is the default, but it's a hammer for a nail. Most freelancers just need invoices + QR-Bills. — Multiple sources

The Opportunity

**Build a laser-focused invoicing tool for Swiss freelancers and micro-businesses:**

1. **Core Feature**: Create compliant QR-Bill invoices in 60 seconds

- Auto-fill from templates (client name, MWST, payment terms)

- Generate ISO 20022 QR-Codes automatically

- MWST calculation (7.7%, 2.5%, 0% per canton rules)

- Export as PDF or send directly via email

2. **Freemium Model** (the killer advantage)

- **Free tier**: Up to 5 invoices/month (perfect for testing)

- **Pro tier**: CHF 9–15/month unlimited invoices (vs. Bexio's CHF 50+)

- **Premium tier**: CHF 25/month + e-invoicing (ZUGFeRD, XRechnung), API, bulk exports

3. **Why Now?**

- Swiss MWST simplification (2024) increases demand for compliant tools

- EU e-invoicing mandates (B2B by 2025) are pushing Swiss businesses to future-proof

- Bexio's recent price increases (perpetual → subscription) have created a "switch window"

- Freelancer economy is growing; solo consultants are desperate for affordable solutions

4. **Who Pays?**

- **Primary**: Freelancers, consultants, micro-businesses (1–5 employees) invoicing 20–100 clients/year

- **Secondary**: Tradespeople (Malerbetrieb, Sanitär) who currently use Bexio but only for invoicing

- **TAM**: ~150,000 Swiss freelancers + ~50,000 micro-businesses = potential for CHF 15–30M ARR at CHF 10–20/user

5. **Why This Beats Competitors?**

- **Bexio**: Full ERP bloat; 10x the price; poor UX for invoicing-only users

- **Abacus**: Accounting-first; not freelancer-friendly; expensive

- **Excel/Word**: Zero compliance audit trail; fragile; not shareable

- **Quittly**: Invoicing-first; Swiss-native; affordable; future-proofed for e-invoicing

Build Path

**MVP (4–6 weeks)**:

- Simple web form (name, MWST %, invoice items, client details)

- Auto-generate QR-Bill (ISO 20022) using open-source library

- Export PDF or email

- SQLite database + basic auth

- Landing page + Stripe payments

**Phase 2 (8–12 weeks)**:

- Recurring invoices (subscription businesses)

- Invoice templates + branding

- Basic reporting (invoices sent, revenue by month)

- API for integrations (Bexio, Wave, etc.)

**Phase 3 (6 months)**:

- E-invoicing (ZUGFeRD, XRechnung)

- Expense tracking (receipt upload)

- Multi-language (DE, FR, IT, EN)

- Mobile app (iOS/Android)