Is E-invoicing Possible in Austria?

The short answer is yes. There are a number of political and economic processes in Europe that also influence Austrian invoicing. Let us take a look at some of them.

B2B E-invoicing Mandate in Germany

B2B e-invoicing will be mandatory in Germany from 2025. The government has drawn up transitional regulations for companies. According to these regulations, it is important that e-invoices can be received from 2025. Of course, there will always be companies that are in no hurry to introduce a corresponding solution. For German companies, however, the switch to e-invoicing is crucial and many want to invest in a long-term solution.

Austrian companies with German business partners should start thinking now about how they can enable legally compliant invoice exchange for Germany and Austria from 2025.

VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA)

ViDA is a legislative package proposed by the European Commission to modernize the VAT system for the digital age. It addresses the key challenge of VAT fraud by enabling e-invoicing, digital reporting and real-time visibility of transactions. According to ViDA, all EU member states must introduce mandatory e-invoicing from 2030.

Digital Reporting Requirement (DRR)

DRR is any obligation for VAT taxable persons to regularly or continuously submit data on all (or most) of their transactions in digital form to the tax authorities, including mandatory e-invoicing. DRR can be divided into periodic transaction controls (e.g. SAF-T) or continuous transaction controls (e.g. real-time reporting or mandatory e-invoicing).

The European Union is driving forward the harmonization of e-invoicing with the Digital Reporting Requirement (DRR). DRR has the following objectives:

• Right now, different VAT rules in each EU country can be a headache for businesses. The EU wants to create one set of rules so things are easier to understand and follow.
• To fight VAT fraud, the summary report (recapitulative statement) will be replaced by a new system (GDR). This new system will require businesses and their representatives to send transaction details directly to the tax authorities within 2 days of invoicing.
• To save businesses money and encourage digital processes, electronic invoices will become mandatory for GDRs following EU standards.

Current Status of Electronic Invoicing in Austria

In Austria, e-invoicing is already widespread in the public sector (B2G). From 2020, public clients must receive and process invoices electronically.

In the B2B sector, however, the use of e-invoicing is still voluntary. Currently, PDF-based invoices with the transmission channel email are the most widespread. Businesses can reap the benefits of e-invoicing through agreements with their business partners. According to Section 11 (2) UStG, “an electronic invoice is also deemed to be an invoice if the recipient has agreed to this type of invoicing”. This is the reason why e-invoices are currently used less in Austria.

In the B2C sector, on the other hand, there is currently no obligation to issue invoices electronically.

What Is the Future of E-invoicing in Austria?

Due to the political situation, the topic of electronic invoicing has been much discussed in Austria. It is clear that Austrian companies will have to comply with the ViDA rules in the future. In the EU, two models for e-invoicing with reporting obligations are particularly relevant:

Italian model: In Italy, all e-invoices must be transmitted to a central CTC platform (V model).

French model: In France, as in Germany, there is a decentralized exchange with validation and reporting via certified service providers.

It has not yet been finally decided which model will be used in Austria. However, the potential for the French model in Austria is greater.

Get Your Business Ready for Electronic Invoicing

Mandatory electronic invoicing in Austria is approaching. Are you and your company ready for the digital future? Don’t miss the boat and equip yourself with the right e-invoicing solution now!

SPS Commerce is an active member of important industry associations such as GENA/EESPA (European Association of E-Invoicing Service Providers), VeR (Electronic Invoicing Association), Peppol and other organizations that are committed to a secure and compliant e-invoicing process. Our solutions are compliant with all European, German and Austrian compliance regulations. With our help, you can easily create and convert your invoices in XRechnung, ZUGFeRD, ebInterface and many other formats.

You may have heard of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing), but what is an UBL invoice? UBL stands for Universal Business Language. It is an international standard in XML format developed specifically for electronic documents, such as invoices, but also, for example, purchase orders and packing slips.

UBL is managed by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). This nonprofit is one of the most respected standardization bodies in the world. The UBL standard is free to use and on June 15, 2021, the latest version, UBL 2.3, was published.

The standard is especially widely used in Scandinavian countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Norway. But it is also a common standard in the Netherlands.

UBL-OHNL and the Central Government

UBL is widely used in the business-to-government (B2G) sector. The European commission has even officially stated that the standard is eligible for reference in public service tenders.

Since April 2019, the Dutch government has made e-invoicing mandatory for all suppliers. The central government has adopted an international UBL-based standard format, UBL-OHNL. This standard is intended for the procurement of all products and services, with the exception of hiring personnel. In addition to invoices, other message types have been digitized: Commitment (internal government message), Application Response (internal government message), Order (purchase orders) and OrderResponse (e-return messages).

What Does a UBL e-Invoice Consist Of?

An e-invoice is generally built in an XML structure. This is a programming language that ensures that structured data can be represented in plain text. This is both machine-readable and human-readable. You can recognize an XML file by the fact that it ends in “.xml”.

UBL is the language used in the XML file to exchange the data of, for example, an invoice from one accounting package with another accounting package. Because the information can be exchanged and processed by different types of systems, this brings many advantages.

One advantage is that human actions are no longer required to scan, check, email or print the invoice, which makes for a much faster invoice processing process. This then saves a lot of money and time, as well as mitigates human error.

How Can I Create a UBL Invoice?

It is not very easy to create a UBL file yourself; you need an EDI or e-invoicing solution for this. However, if you use one of SPS Commerce’s solutions, such as the FLOW Partner Automation platform, the UBL documents are automatically generated and sent to the correct recipient.

How Do I Send a UBL e-Invoice?

At SPS Commerce, you can send e-invoices with three different options:

• By manual entry: With a FLOW e-invoicing account, you can get a low-threshold start with electronic invoicing.
• From a PDF file to any format: Within the FLOW platform, we can easily convert your PDF invoice to an e-invoice.
• Direct link with your ERP and/or accounting package: We offer standardized links via APIs or have standardized ERP or other software links to connect systems quickly.

PEPPOL Business Interoperability Specifications (BIS) are based on a UBL format and you can send e-invoices through the PEPPOL network, but you will need access to a PEPPOL Access Point.

Sending Invoices Internationally Through the PEPPOL Network

Sending an invoice abroad without access to a PEPPOL Access Point can be complex, not to mention the multiple standard formats used worldwide. In addition to UBL, you have: Invoice-X, Finvoice, EHF and at least 20 more different types of e-invoicing formats. It could well be that you send your invoices in UBL, but the recipient wants to receive it in a different format.

Fortunately, SPS Commerce has the solution to this challenge. For over 33 years, we have supported local EDI and e-invoicing standards in various countries and industries worldwide, including UBL support. With our fully automated and integrated B2B integration system, UBL invoices can be automatically converted into the recipient’s desired e-invoice format. In addition, we are a PEPPOL Access Point, which means you can easily send and receive invoices internationally through our platform.