🇬🇧 English · 5 min read · April 8, 2026

How to invoice with Swish as a freelancer in Sweden

Stripe is built for SaaS companies. Klarna is built for e-commerce. As a solo freelancer in Sweden, the payment method that actually fits your life is Swish — and most freelancers either don't realise it works for client invoicing or are using it wrong.

This is the practical guide. What Swish account you need, how to put it on an invoice, what the tax implications are, and what to watch out for.

Swish Personal vs Swish Business — pick the right one

This is the most common mistake. There are two types of Swish accounts:

• Swish Privat — your normal personal Swish, tied to your personnummer. Limit ~150,000 SEK/year for incoming payments before Skatteverket starts asking questions about whether you're running undeclared business income.
• Swish Företag — business Swish, tied to your enskild firma's org number. No annual cap, integrates cleanly with bookkeeping, and the receipts are properly categorised as business income.

If you're invoicing clients regularly, you need Swish Företag. Apply through your bank (Handelsbanken, SEB, Nordea, Swedbank, etc. all support it). Setup is free. There's a small per-transaction fee (~2 SEK + 0.5%) which is way cheaper than Stripe's 1.5% + 1.80 SEK.

How to put Swish on a Swedish invoice

Three things on the invoice itself:

1. Your Swish-nummer (the long number, format: 1231231234, not your phone number with the leading 0)
2. The exact amount including VAT if you're VAT-registered
3. A reference / message so the payment is matched to the right invoice (recommended: the invoice number, e.g. INV-0042)

That's it. The client opens their Swish app, taps the QR code or types your number, enters the amount, types the reference, sends. Money lands in your business account in 1–3 seconds.

The QR code shortcut

Manually typing your Swish number and the amount is friction. Swish supports a deep-link format that pre-fills both:

swish://payment?data={"version":1,"payee":{"value":"1231231234"},"amount":{"value":3500},"message":{"value":"INV-0042"}}

You can also generate a Swish QR code with the same data baked in. The client scans the code with their phone, the Swish app opens with everything pre-filled, and they just hit "Pay". Three taps total instead of typing four fields.

This is exactly what Kontra does on every invoice — when you save your Swish number once, every public invoice link gets a "Pay with Swish" button that opens the app pre-filled with the right amount and the invoice number as reference. Zero typing for your client.

The tax bit (don't skip this)

If you're using Swish Företag tied to your enskild firma's org number, every payment is automatically business income. Track it in your bookkeeping the same way you'd track a bank transfer.

If you're still using Swish Privat (you really shouldn't be for client work), Skatteverket will eventually want to know what those payments were. They'll usually accept "freelance income I declared as näringsverksamhet" — but only if you actually declared it.

The safe path:

1. Register enskild firma + F-skatt at verksamt.se — free, takes ~2-4 weeks
2. Apply for Swish Företag through your bank — also free
3. All client invoices use Swish Företag from day one
4. Record every transaction in your bookkeeping software (or in Kontra, which keeps a searchable audit log of every invoice)

Skipping step 1 is how creators end up with a 30,000 SEK tax bill plus interest two years later because Skatteverket cross-referenced their Swish account with bank statements.

What about the 80,000 SEK VAT threshold?

If your total annual turnover is under 80,000 SEK, you can apply for the small business VAT exemption (befrielse från moms). Tick the box during your enskild firma registration. You don't charge VAT, you don't reclaim VAT, your invoices are simpler.

Above 80,000 SEK/year you have to register for moms (VAT). Standard Swedish VAT for B2B services is 25%. You add it to your invoices, you collect it from clients, you pay it to Skatteverket quarterly.

This is the same regardless of whether you take payment via Swish, bank transfer, PayPal, or Stripe. Swish doesn't change your VAT liability one way or the other.

Why I prefer Swish over Stripe for solo work

• Instant settlement: Swish lands in your account in seconds. Stripe pays out 7 days later.
• No platform fees on Kontra: I built the app to never touch the money. The Swish payment goes directly client → you. Kontra is just generating the link.
• Familiar to Swedish clients: every adult in Sweden has Swish. They don't have to enter card details, they don't have to remember a password.
• Fees are lower: 2 SEK + 0.5% per transaction beats Stripe's 1.5% + 1.80 SEK on every Swedish invoice over ~500 SEK.
• No chargebacks: Swish payments are final. Stripe payments can be reversed up to 120 days later.

The trade-off: Swish is Sweden-only. If you have international clients, you need PayPal, Wise, or a bank transfer for them. Kontra supports all of these on the same invoice — your client picks their preferred method.

The TL;DR

• Use Swish Företag, not Swish Privat, for client work
• Put your Swish-nummer + invoice number reference on every invoice
• Use a QR code or deep-link to skip the typing
• Register F-skatt before you start invoicing — you need it for taxes
• Stay under 80k SEK/year if you want to skip VAT setup initially

Swish is the most underrated freelance payment method in Sweden. It's faster, cheaper, and more familiar than the international alternatives. Every solo creator should be using it.

Want to send invoices with built-in Swish payment buttons? Try Kontra free. Add your Swish number once, every invoice gets a one-tap pay button.