Swissdec ELM 5.0
ELM 5.0 or version 5.3 is the latest version of the Swissdec salary standard. The Swiss Wage Standard aims to standardise the declaration of wage reports and the transmission procedure. Monthly and/or annual salary declarations to tax offices, compensation funds and/or insurance companies can be made electronically directly from the SAP system using the standardised salary declaration procedure (ELM). New in ELM 5.0 are the domains cross-border commuter reporting and monthly reporting to the Federal Statistical Office.
Standardised salary reporting procedure with SAP
Automatically submit the monthly withholding tax report to all relevant withholding tax offices with just a few clicks? Send the necessary details, thereby enabling faster processing and fewer queries from the offices? And, in the case of cross-border commuters, also make the annual declaration digitally (cantons BE, BL, BS, GR, NE, TI, VS, JU, SO, VD)?
But that's not all! Salary statements can also be sent to cantons with a salary reporting obligation (cantons BE, BS, LU, NE, VS, FR, JU, SO, VD) at the touch of a button. The compensation fund is informed monthly about entries and exits and the salary totals are transmitted at the end of the year – the family compensation fund is also supplied with the data.
The insured salaries are reported to the accident and supplementary accident insurance as well as the daily sickness benefits insurance at the end of the year. And not to forget: the statistics for the Federal Statistical Office – wage structure survey LSE, employment statistics BESTA, Swiss wage index SLI and profiling – are completed with a monthly report. SAP ELM 5.0 makes it all possible!
What is ELM 5.0?
ELM 5.0 or version 5.3 is the latest version of the Swiss salary standard. The Swiss Wage Standard aims to standardise the declaration of wage declarations (formats, required and optional data, etc.) and the transmission procedure (specification of data exchange and protocol through process- integrated procedures such as web services or export/import procedures such as file upload).
The Swissdec association has worked out the necessary guidelines with data recipients such as insurance companies, compensation funds, tax offices and the Federal Statistical Office over the course of several years. SAP implemented the guidelines as the software manufacturer and was certified by Swissdec in autumn 2023.
Monthly and/or annual salary notifications to tax offices, compensation offices and/or insurance companies can be made electronically directly from the SAP system using the standardised salary notification procedure (ELM).
The benefits
- Manual processes are replaced by digital processes
- Reduction in manual checking and collation of data
- Time savings thanks to simultaneous reporting to multiple recipients
- Standardised procedure ensures correct transmission data
- The reports meet the highest data protection requirements
- The data is transmitted in encrypted form as an XML file
What's new in ELM 5.0?
The biggest changes in ELM 5.0 compared to ELM 4.0 are the cross-border commuter report and the monthly report to the Federal Statistical Office. The other reports are based on ELM 4.0.
The minor releases are also new. With the new minor releases, Swissdec has a procedure at its disposal to be able to react more quickly to new (legal) framework conditions. Technically, the minor releases are extensions that run in the background on the basis of ELM 5.0.
For example, minor 5.3, which relates to the supplementary agreement on double taxation between Switzerland and France, is expected to be delivered by SAP at the turn of the year 2024/2025 in the form of the corresponding support package.
When can ELM 5.0 be introduced in SAP?
What are the transition periods?
SAP recommends switching the withholding tax report to 1 January of a calendar year. The first report for cross-border commuters must be submitted in January 2025 for the calendar year 2024. The necessary master data must already be maintained today.
Reporting to the Federal Statistical Office can begin at any time, but at least the months of October up to and including December must be submitted. The annual reports for all other domains can be converted at any time.
The last withholding tax declarations for December 2025 will be supported until 31 December 2025. The annual returns can still be reported with ELM 4.0 until 30 June 2026.
Take care of your planning in good time! The lead time from planning to technical implementation, testing and initial productive use varies depending on the initial situation and the availability of the necessary master data.
Your SAP ELM 5.0 implementation with Entago
Whether you are already successfully using ELM 4.0, some messages are not yet running smoothly or you are starting from scratch with ELM 5.0: We plan the implementation together with you based on your initial situation and make the necessary settings in your SAP system.
Whether you are already successfully using ELM 4.0, some messages are not yet running smoothly or you are starting from scratch with ELM 5.0: We plan the implementation together with you based on your initial situation and make the necessary settings in your SAP system. Thanks to our experience, we can also provide you with the necessary tips during testing so that you can be successful from data collection and data maintenance through to reporting. You are also welcome to read the information on ELM 5.0 in the following PDF flyer:
Your added value at a glance
Manual processes are replaced by digital processes
Reduction in manual checking and collation of data
Time savings thanks to simultaneous reporting to multiple recipients
Standardised procedure ensures correct transmission data
The reports meet the highest data protection requirements
The data is transmitted in encrypted form as an XML file
Do you need assistance in any of these areas?
Find a suitable solution together with our experts.
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