ELM 5.0 Introduction

What is ELM 5.0 ?

The ELM wage standard is the uniform procedure for reporting wages and salaries. It enables the digitalisation of the processes for sending wage notifications to insurance companies, compensation funds, withholding tax offices or other recipients.  

However, not every payroll accounting software is authorised to offer this function. To be ELM 5.0 certified, it is important to complete the rigorous Swissdec certification process. For 21.AbaSalary, this started in 2021 and ended in the summer of 2022. This process ensures an encrypted and secure transfer of information that complies with VDSZ (Data Protection Act) standards.

In addition, ELM enables 21.AbaSalary to take a further step towards digitalisation. This makes 21.AbaSalary today a simple, automated, digital and secure programme. All this, of course, free of charge.

In order for the wage notifications to be correctly assigned, an ELM profile must be requested from the wage notification recipients (insurance companies). Without this link, the wage notifications sent from the AbaSalary cannot be assigned. If you have any questions about the ELM profile, please contact your insurance company directly. You can also find more detailed information on the website of your insurance company.

ELM 5.0 and 21.AbaSalary in 2022:

As of 2022, you will be able to submit your annual returns to the various institutions. However, this requires the following settings:

Company ELM Status Check ELM Settings.

Here you will find an overview of all the settings required for data transmission via ELM. If the data is not complete, ELM cannot be activated. Usually the settings are already filled in when you use 21.AbaSalary. Nevertheless, we recommend that you check them.

Company ID (UID):

Enter the identification number of the company here. If this is not known, the flag "Unknown" can be ticked.

Note: If you have registered a deputy on the "Deputy" tab of the company settings, it is mandatory to enter the company ID in order for the ELM message to be carried out correctly.

If the deputy's contact details have already been entered without this number, you simply have to click on the heading to edit the data, then select "Create address" and enter the deputy's contact details and ID number again:

In fact, the ELM guidelines describe the ID number of the deputy as a mandatory field. Consequently, we had to integrate it this way and validate it accordingly so that the transmissions would be correct.

QS Customer no.:

It is important that the customer number (SSL no.) relating to the withholding tax is registered in all cantons where it is levied. This number can be requested from the withholding tax authority of the canton concerned.

Contact details:

Contact details must be entered in case the recipients of the payslips need information or clarification.

FSO: Number of days of leave:

In principle, this category is already filled in. If necessary, it can be adjusted.

BUR number:

The ELM transfer process for the BFS can be activated if necessary. In this case, the BUR number would have to be registered.

Once you have provided this information, you can tick the 'ELM status' box to activate the process. However, before you send the wage notifications, check the settings of your insurances such as contract numbers, insurance numbers or even the rates under "Insurances". If the numbers do not match, the notifications cannot be sent to the recipients.

In addition, the master data of your employees must be verified, such as single parents, details of spouse and children. In addition, we ask you to pay special attention to the details of employees who aresubject to withholding tax. This will help to avoid errors in data transmission. Please resolve any error messages in your account and if you have any problems, contact Swiss21 support via: support@swiss21.org

Activation of ELM 5.0:

Once ELM is activated, two new tabs are displayed. On the tab "Wage notifications" you can view ELM notifications and complete their dispatch.

For employees, the tab "Entry / Mutation / Exit" will be visible from 2023. The ELM notifications are saved by AbaSalary during the definitive creation of the payrolls based on the master data stored in the personnel master. Here you can also edit individual messages before they are sent.


Payroll process with ELM:

To simplify processing, 21.AbaSalary has integrated the ELM process directly into the payroll process. The messages are sent in the same way as always, i.e. one after the other. You settle the employee, create the payments and set the definitive status for the month. After these steps, you can submit the annual notifications, and from 2023, the monthly notifications.

From this point on, it is possible to go to the tab Wage Declaration to complete its dispatch. You can now return to the payroll and post it in 21.AbaNinja.

Settlement process from January to November:

Settlement process in December :