If you are self-employed in Austria, one method of determining profit and four duties will carry you as long as the business stays small. The method is usually the cash-basis income and expenditure account: section 4 (3) of the Austrian Income Tax Act (EStG 1988) allows you to treat the surplus of business income over business expenses as your profit if no statutory bookkeeping obligation applies and you keep no books voluntarily. Double-entry bookkeeping is normally triggered only by section 189 of the Austrian Commercial Code (UGB), above 700,000 euros in revenue per single business per financial year; paragraph 4 expressly exempts members of the liberal professions as well as farmers and foresters. For VAT, the small-business limit decides: section 6 (1) no. 27 of the VAT Act (UStG 1994), names 55,000 euros, in force since 1 January 2025, measured against the previous year and the current one, with a tolerance of 10 percent. As a general rule you must issue a receipt for every cash payment regardless of the size of your business (section 132a of the Federal Fiscal Code, BAO); the Cash Transactions Ordinance 2015 sets out exceptions. A cash register, by contrast, is needed only from 15,000 euros annual turnover per business, provided that business takes more than 7,500 euros a year in cash (section 131b (1) no. 2 BAO). Records are kept for seven years as a general rule, counted from the end of the calendar year (section 132 BAO), longer for some documents. And the VAT return is due on the 15th day of the second month following the period, quarterly as long as the previous year's turnover did not exceed 100,000 euros (section 21 UStG 1994).
I am not based in Austria myself, which is exactly why no statement about Austrian law in this post rests on a German provision. German law appears only in the comparison further down, and there as a contrast. What does carry over is the division of labour, not the law. In my own business the preparatory work runs automatically, sign-off stays with me and the tax return stays with my tax advisor. How that setup works is on Hiring AI employees, and what is worth it for a one-person business is in AI for Freelancers: What Pays Off.
Cash-basis accounting or double-entry bookkeeping
Section 189 (2) UGB rewards a close reading: a single strong year does not trigger the duty, and undershooting twice in a row ends it again. It arrives faster only where the threshold is exceeded by at least 300,000 euros or where a business is taken over.
This is the law as it stands in the provisions named here, and it is not tax advice for your case. For the classification of your own business and certainly for the annual return, ask someone who is accountable for the answer.
The small-business limit: 55,000 euros and 10 percent
A small-business taxpayer under section 6 (1) no. 27 UStG 1994 is an entrepreneur who runs the business in Austria or in another member state and whose turnover under section 1 (1) nos. 1 and 2 does not exceed 55,000 euros in the previous calendar year and does not yet exceed it in the current one. Two things in that differ from what German guides say:
- Two years, one figure. There is no second, higher limit for the current year, it is the same 55,000 euros both times.
- The 10 percent tolerance. Where the limit is exceeded by no more than 10 percent, the exemption still runs until the end of the calendar year. Above that it stops applying from the moment the limit is exceeded.
What is measured is turnover under section 1 (1) nos. 1 and 2 UStG 1994, that is, supplies and other services within the country plus own consumption, not everything that lands in your account. One point about the year: the 55,000 euros have applied since 1 January 2025, before that the figure was 35,000 euros. The version of section 6 (1) no. 27 currently available has been in force since 1 January 2026, last amended by Federal Law Gazette I no. 98/2025, but that is not when the limit first took effect (as of September 2026).
Receipts and cash registers: two duties, two thresholds
These two most often end up in the same pot, and the difference is where it gets expensive.
The duty to issue a receipt has no turnover threshold. Section 132a (1) BAO obliges entrepreneurs to issue the buyer a receipt on cash payment, including an electronic receipt available for access immediately after payment. Card payments and comparable forms count as cash payment here. Under paragraph 3 the receipt carries a unique identifier of the entrepreneur, a sequential number, the date of issue, the quantity and customary description of what was supplied, and the amount. Paragraph 6 requires the duplicate to be kept for seven years.
That is the general rule, and it has exceptions. The Cash Transactions Ordinance 2015 (BarUV 2015) permits a simplified way of determining takings in certain cases and thereby exempts those transactions from both the cash-register and the receipt duty: transactions in the open air and in huts, wine taverns and canteens (section 2), the commercial operations of tax-privileged bodies (section 3), vending and service machines up to 20 euros per single transaction (section 4) and ticket machines (section 5). Under section 1 the precondition is that no individual records are kept that would allow takings to be determined. Whether your case falls under this belongs with your tax adviser, not in a blog post.
The cash-register obligation hangs on two thresholds at once. Section 131b (1) no. 2 BAO ties it to an annual turnover of 15,000 euros per business, provided that business exceeds 7,500 euros in cash turnover per year. Both values have to be met; one figure alone triggers nothing. The reliefs in the Cash Transactions Ordinance apply here too. What counts as cash turnover is defined broadly in no. 3: besides notes and coins, also payments by debit or credit card, other electronic payment forms, cashier's cheques, and vouchers and similar instruments issued by the entrepreneur. Taking payment cashlessly does not automatically keep you out.
Under section 131b (3) BAO the obligation begins with the fourth month following the end of the filing period in which the thresholds were first exceeded. You get a run-up, but not an unlimited one; it falls away again if the thresholds are not exceeded in a subsequent year and that looks set to continue. Technically, paragraph 2 requires a cryptographic signature on every single cash transaction.
Retention: seven years as a rule, counted from year end
Section 132 (1) BAO sets a general period of seven years for books, records, receipts, business papers and other documents. There is no staggering by type of document of the kind other jurisdictions use. For individual documents and situations, though, longer periods run: the Austrian Business Service Portal names twelve, and in certain cases 22 years, for documents relating to real property (retrieved 20 September 2026).
What matters is when the clock starts, and it does not start on the date of the receipt. It runs from the end of the calendar year for which the entries were made or to which the documents relate. A receipt from March 2026 therefore starts on 31 December 2026 and may go no earlier than after 31 December 2033.
Two additions. First, the extension: documents must be kept as long as they matter for pending tax proceedings in which you are a party. Nothing gets thrown out during an audit. Second, digitisation: section 132 (2) BAO permits data carriers if complete, orderly, identical and faithful reproduction is guaranteed at all times until the period ends. That is where a freely overwritable spreadsheet becomes a risk. What decides it is not the file format but whether your procedure, with versioning, logs and backups, can show that the reproduction stays faithful for seven years. With a spreadsheet and no log you generally cannot.
VAT returns: rhythm, deadline, exception
The deadline is in section 21 (1) UStG 1994: no later than the 15th day, which is also the due date, of the second calendar month following the filing period. Which period applies to you is decided by the previous year's turnover.
The third row saves small-business taxpayers the most work, but it carries a condition that is easy to miss: it depends on no advance payment actually being left outstanding. Turnover exempt under section 6 (1) nos. 7 to 28 UStG 1994 is left out of the 55,000 euro calculation. You still have to keep records; the relief concerns filing, not bookkeeping.
What differs from Germany
If you have read a German guide, this is the most important table here. The values on the right appear with their sources in Bookkeeping Basics for the Self-Employed.
That last row is the biggest difference. In Austria a turnover threshold pushes you into an electronic recording system; in Germany there is no such compulsion, but electronic cash systems carry their own technical requirements and a notification duty. That is covered in Cash Book Apps Compared, and it is German law. The same goes for tool selection: the comparison in Accounting Software for Small Businesses looks at the German market. Its criteria carry over to Austria; its prices and tax coverage do not.
The grind that follows: assigning receipts
Once the duties are settled, the work that returns every month is still there: every receipt has to be found, assigned to the right document type and checked against the statement. That is not thinking, that is matching, and that is what gets left undone.
In my own business that step is handled by Peter, my AI employee for receipts and bookkeeping. He works in my bookkeeping interface in the browser, screens the newly arrived receipts, sets the document type, matches the statement against them line by line and reports whatever does not add up. He follows a written process description, and what is not in it, he does not do. He does not post entries either. Amounts, dates and document numbers always come from the screen, never from memory; if something does not match exactly, he reports it as open. Sign-off stays with me, and the tax advisor stays the tax advisor.
One sentence for readers in Austria: my setup is a German case, with German document types and a German interface. What transfers is the way of working, not the configuration. You write the process description for your own jurisdiction: which document types your software knows, which deadline applies, what should happen when something deviates. That is manageable work, but it is work, and you do not have to do it alone: the community has people from both jurisdictions, and showing your setup in a post or a call gets the gaps in it pointed out faster than tinkering by yourself. How inbox, receipts and drafts fit together is in AI Agent for Bookkeeping and Inbox.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a cash register in Austria?
Only if both thresholds are met: 15,000 euros annual turnover per business and more than 7,500 euros in cash turnover per year (section 131b (1) no. 2 BAO). Card payments count as cash turnover here. As a general rule you must issue a receipt on cash payment even below these thresholds (section 132a BAO); for transactions in the open air, machines up to 20 euros and a few other cases the Cash Transactions Ordinance 2015 provides relief.
How long do I have to keep receipts in Austria?
Seven years as a rule, for books, records, receipts and business papers (section 132 (1) BAO). The clock runs from the end of the calendar year to which they relate, not from the date on the receipt. Longer applies as long as the documents matter for pending tax proceedings in which you are a party, and for individual situations such as real property, where the Business Service Portal names twelve to 22 years.
When do I stop being a small-business taxpayer?
As soon as your turnover under section 1 (1) nos. 1 and 2 UStG 1994 exceeds the 55,000 euros. Up to 10 percent above it the exemption runs until the end of the calendar year, beyond that it stops from the moment the limit is exceeded (section 6 (1) no. 27 UStG 1994).
Do I have to file VAT returns as a small-business taxpayer?
Usually not. The regulation on waiving the obligation to file VAT returns exempts entrepreneurs with previous-year turnover up to 55,000 euros, provided the advance payment is paid in full by the due date or no advance payment arises at all. If a payment is left outstanding, the exception does not apply.
Do the German limits apply in Austria too?
No, and that is the most common mistake people make when searching. The small-business limit, the bookkeeping threshold, the retention period and the cash-register rules are all regulated differently. The comparison above shows the five points where a German guide leads to the wrong answer in Austria.
How to take it further
Take an hour and settle four things in this order: whether you stay below the section 189 UGB threshold and therefore with cash-basis accounting, whether you are under 55,000 euros in turnover, whether your cash turnover breaks the 15,000 and 7,500 euro marks, and where your receipts sit, in a way that keeps them faithfully readable seven years from now. Only then is software worth a look, and only after that, automation.
Once that is settled and the monthly assigning starts to grate, that is the moment for an AI employee. How I built my own receipt workflow, with a process description, a learning mode and control counts, is something I show in my community Claude Practitioners. You bring the jurisdiction; the setup transfers.
