Swissdec ELM
Swissdec is the Swiss standard for electronic payroll data exchange: certified payroll software reports the salary data in a single operation to compensation funds, accident and sickness daily allowance insurers, tax offices and the Federal Statistical Office.
Definition
The standard is carried by an association in which the recipients themselves sit — Suva, compensation funds, tax administrations, the Federal Statistical Office and software vendors. The standard is called Lohnstandard-CH, and the procedure for transmitting a filing is called ELM, the unified salary reporting procedure.
What is tested and certified is a product version against a version of the standard, not a vendor. «Swissdec-certified» without stating the standard version and the recipients covered is therefore incomplete information — and the reason this survey records the version for each product.
The numbers
- 116
- certified payroll programs swissdec.ch
- 140,000
- businesses reporting their payroll data this way swissdec.ch
- 45 million
- person records transmitted per year swissdec.ch
- 139
- registered data recipients swissdec.ch
Where to read it
What the software must be able to do
The question is not «is it certified» but: for which version of the payroll standard, and for which recipients. A certification does not automatically cover everything — salary reporting, withholding tax and the filings to accident and sickness daily allowance insurers are separate checks. Without certification the filing stays manual work, even if the software «does payroll».
Checked Aug 2026
More terms under Payroll, staff and expenses: Accident insurance (UVG) AHV contributions BVG and pension fund Collective agreement rules Construction agreement Coordination deduction Cross-border workers Employer’s payroll costs Expense flat rates Expense policy Extra-mandatory pension cover Family allowances Gross and net pay Holiday pay in cash Hospitality agreement Hospitality collective agreement IV and EO Maternity allowance Owner’s salary Payslip Pension (BVG) deductions Pillar 3a Private share Salary statement Secondary employment Sickness daily allowance (KTG) Staff meals Thirteenth month salary Unemployment insurance (ALV) Withholding tax Work permits Working-hours recording (ArG)