What is swissdec and what does ELM mean?

swissdec is a non-profit association backed by Suva, the Swiss Tax Conference, the Federal Statistical Office, eAHV/IV and the Swiss Insurance Association. It defines the Salary Standard CH, known as ELM, the unified electronic salary declaration procedure. Certified payroll software records salary data once and transmits it encrypted to every authorised recipient, among them the compensation office that collects AHV contributions (AHV is the Swiss state old-age and survivors' insurance), accident and daily sickness benefits insurers, the tax administration and the statistical office.

What does the ELM 4.0 shutdown mean for my company?

Since 1 July 2026 recipients no longer accept salary declarations under ELM 4.0, and for withholding tax the cut-off came earlier, on 31 March 2026. Payroll software certified only under ELM 4.0 can therefore no longer file electronic declarations. Affected companies need to update their software, move to another product, or type declarations by hand into the authorities' portals for the time being.

How do I tell whether my payroll software is swissdec-certified?

swissdec keeps an official list of all certified payroll software on swissdec.ch, currently more than 110 products, filterable by standard and version. There you can see whether your product is listed and under which ELM version. It is also worth asking your vendor whether an update to ELM 6.0 is planned.

Which ELM version does my business need?

ELM 5.0 or higher has been the minimum since 2026. Certain situations call for newer versions: running payroll for AHV pensioners without the pensioner exempt amount goes through ELM 5.1, cross-border commuters resident in France require ELM 5.3, which becomes mandatory for affected businesses from 2027, and companies that hire out staff need ELM 5.4 or 5.5.

What does electronic salary declaration give me in practice?

You record the salary data once in the software and transmit it encrypted to every recipient with a few clicks, with no need to type each declaration into separate forms or portals. A single transmission reaches around 200 possible recipients. Suva documents the example of a business with 130 employees that saves at least two working days a year, and electronic transmission cuts down on typing errors.

swissdec ELM 2026: check your payroll software

At midnight on 30 June 2026, a piece of Swiss payroll infrastructure went dark. Since that moment, the compensation offices that collect AHV contributions (AHV is the Swiss state old-age and survivors' insurance), the insurers and the Federal Statistical Office no longer accept a single salary declaration filed under the old ELM 4.0 standard. At the same time, ELM 6.0 has arrived as the next generation. For most companies with a Swiss entity, this changeover runs quietly in the background. For a few, it has just become an urgent problem. This article explains what swissdec is, why the standard takes a great deal of routine work off employers' hands, and how to check in five minutes whether your business is in the clear.

What swissdec actually is

swissdec is a non-profit association based in Lucerne, backed by the five institutions that shape Swiss payroll practice: Suva, the national accident insurance fund; the Swiss Tax Conference, the body that coordinates the cantonal tax administrations; the Federal Statistical Office; the eAHV/IV association, which runs the digital channel to the state pension and disability insurance; and the Swiss Insurance Association. Together they define the Salary Standard CH, known to everyone who works with it as ELM, the unified electronic salary declaration procedure. The association also certifies the payroll software that implements the standard correctly.

The idea behind it is elegantly simple. Without a common standard, an employer reports the same salary figures over and over: to the compensation office for AHV contributions; to the accident insurer; to the daily sickness benefits insurer; to the tax administration for salary certificates and for withholding tax, the tax deducted at source from employees without a permanent residence permit; and to the statistical office. Each recipient comes with its own form or portal. With ELM you record the figures once in certified payroll software, which transmits them encrypted and digitally signed through a central hub to all the recipients you select.

What that means in numbers

A single transmission from certified payroll software reaches around 200 possible recipients. Suva documents the case of a cardboard packaging business with 130 employees that saves at least two working days a year on its salary declarations. The less obvious benefit counts for just as much. Once machines exchange structured data, the typing errors that come with re-keying disappear, and cleaner declarations mean fewer queries from the authorities.

One bonus many employers overlook concerns withholding tax. Employers keep a collection commission to cover the administrative work it creates, and several cantons pay the full rate of 2 per cent only when the return is filed electronically. Our article on withholding tax as an employer explains how the mechanism works in detail.

2026: two generations changing at once

What makes this year unusual is that two things happen at the same time.

ELM 4.0 is history. For withholding tax, transmission under the old standard ended on 31 March 2026, and for salaries from January 2026 onwards ELM 5.0 or higher was mandatory from day one. For every other area, meaning AHV and family allowances, accident and daily sickness benefits insurance, and statistics, 30 June 2026 was the final date. Payroll software carrying only the 4.0 certificate has been unable to file a single electronic salary declaration since 1 July 2026. Affected businesses go back to typing declarations into forms and portals by hand, which is exactly the duplicated work the standard was built to remove.

ELM 6.0 has arrived. swissdec published the next generation of the salary standard on 6 March 2026, and payroll systems have been certified against it since April 2026. The association follows a clear version policy: a new major version every four years, each one valid for eight years, and never more than two versions in live use at the same time. That policy is precisely why ELM 4.0 had to make way now.

In practice this means ELM 5.0 stays valid for the time being, so there is no reason to rush if your software holds a current certificate. The direction of travel is clear all the same, and anyone choosing new payroll software today should ask about the upgrade path to 6.0 in the same conversation.

Which version your business really needs

For many companies the newest version is optional. Specific situations call for specific release levels:

Pensioners on the payroll: running payroll without the pensioner exempt amount, the monthly sum an AHV pensioner can earn free of contributions, goes through ELM 5.1.
Cross-border commuters resident in France: ELM 5.3 covers the new treaty rules and records how many days each person works from home. It becomes mandatory for affected businesses from 2027.
Companies that hire out staff (Personalverleih): the new Suva tariff structure calls for ELM 5.4 or 5.5.

Checking whether your software is certified is straightforward. swissdec keeps an official list of all certified payroll software on its website, currently more than 110 products, filterable by standard and version. The list shows which release level your product holds.

Your five-minute check

Look up your version: check in your payroll software or with your vendor which ELM version it is certified against, then compare that entry with the official swissdec list.
If it says ELM 4.0, act now: no recipient has accepted declarations under that standard since 1 July 2026. Ask your vendor whether an update is ready, or plan the move to another product.
Ask about the upgrade path: does your vendor have an ELM 6.0 update coming? An evasive answer tells you something about how long the product will stay viable.
Check the special cases: pensioners, cross-border commuters resident in France, companies that hire out staff. See above.
Make the software do the filing: a certified system does little for you while declarations are still typed into portals by hand. Switch electronic transmission on.

When the check raises questions

There are two straightforward ways through this changeover. The first: bring your own payroll software up to a current release, or move to a product with a published upgrade path. That is what our payroll software and HR tools service exists for. We analyse what your business needs, compare suitable solutions, check the specific product version against the current official Swissdec list, and support the rollout, the data migration and the training, with a written fixed-fee offer up front.

The second: hand the whole job over. With our payroll service we check the specific product version against the official Swissdec list and use ELM for electronic filing when that version is currently certified there. Year-end work is included in the published fee of CHF 250 per month plus CHF 25 to 40 per employee. Our guide on outsourcing HR as an SME shows when handing the work over pays off, and the figures are on our pricing page.

If your Swiss entity is young and the payroll and social insurance setup around it is still taking shape, our overview of hiring in Switzerland covers the employer obligations that come with it.

Unsure where your payroll software stands? Let us talk it through in 30 minutes, with no obligation. Book an intro call.