🇦🇹 Austria - Invoicing Specifications

Status: 🟢 B2G Mandatory (Since 2014) | ⚪ B2B Voluntary (Post-Audit) Authority: BMF (Federal Ministry of Finance) / BRZ (Federal Computing Center) Platform: e-Rechnung.gv.at / USP (Business Service Portal)

1. Context & Mandates

Austria is a pioneer in B2G e-invoicing. While B2B remains voluntary (standard Post-Audit rules), the close economic ties with Germany ("Shadow Mandate") drive the adoption of structured formats in the private sector.

Scope	Status	Format	Note
B2G (Federal)	Mandatory	`ebInterface` or `Peppol`	Centralized via `e-Rechnung.gv.at`.
B2G (States/Länder)	Mandatory	`Peppol` (Preferred)	Since April 2020.
B2B (Domestic)	Voluntary	PDF / EDI / Peppol	Buyer consent required (Post-Audit).

2. Technical Workflow (B2G)

The Federal Government ("Bund") uses a centralized hub. Foreign entities are strongly encouraged to use Peppol to avoid complex authentication on the local USP portal.

flowchart TD
    App[Invoicerr] -->|1. Extract Data| Data[Invoice Data]
    
    subgraph "Format Strategy"
    Data -->|Recommended| P["Peppol BIS 3.0 (UBL)"]
    Data -->|National Standard| E["ebInterface 6.1 (XML)"]
    end
    
    subgraph "Transmission Channel"
    P -->|AS4 Protocol| AP[Peppol Access Point]
    E -->|Manual/SOAP| USP[USP Portal / Webservice]
    end
    
    AP -->|Route via SMP| HUB[e-Rechnung.gv.at]
    USP -->|Direct Upload| HUB
    
    HUB -->|"Validation (Schematron)"| V{Valid?}
    V -- Yes --> SAP[Federal ERP]
    V -- No --> Rej["Reject (RE-xxx Code)"]

3. Data Standards & Formats

A. The National Standard: `ebInterface`

Description: A pure Austrian XML standard, flatter and simpler than UBL.
Versions: 4.3, 5.0, 6.0, 6.1 (Current).
Usage: Mostly used by local Austrian SMEs via the USP Portal upload.

B. The International Standard: `Peppol BIS 3.0`

Description: Standard UBL 2.1 with specific Austrian rules.
Constraint: Must adhere to CIUS-AT-GOV.
Peppol ID: ISO 6523 code 9915 (e.g., 9915:ATU12345678).

⚠️ Critical Data Mapping (The "Gatekeepers")

For B2G, if these fields are missing, the invoice is automatically rejected.

Business Term	German Term	Peppol (UBL) Path	ebInterface Path	Requirement
Order ID	Bestellnummer	`cbc:OrderReference/cbc:ID`	`InvoiceRecipient/OrderReference/OrderID`	Mandatory. Usually 10 digits provided by the public buyer.
Supplier ID	Lieferantennummer	`cac:PartyIdentification/cbc:ID`	`Biller/InvoiceRecipientsBillerID`	Mandatory. Internal SAP ID assigned by the Gov to the supplier.
VAT ID	UID-Nummer	`cac:PartyTaxScheme/cbc:CompanyID`	`Biller/VATIdentificationNumber`	Must start with `ATU`.

4. Implementation Checklist

Order ID Logic: Ensure the UI forces the user to input a "PO Number" (Bestellnummer) when the client is an Austrian Public Entity.
Peppol Connectivity: Ensure the Access Point can route to Austrian Government GLN (0088:9910000000003).
Validation: Implement pre-flight checks for CIUS-AT-GOV to avoid async rejections.
Archive: Store the generated XML (the legal original) for 7 years.

5. Resources

Official Portal: e-Rechnung.gv.at
Technical Specs (BRZ): USP / e-Rechnung Documentation
ebInterface Standard: ebinterface.at
Validator: Official XML Validator