How to start a business in Austria from the UK

If you're thinking of setting up a business in Austria this guide is for you. For UK citizens and residents, doing business in Austria can open up many great opportunities, across sectors as diverse as food production and chemical engineering. This guide to starting a business in Austria as a foreigner covers the key points to consider, to help you get your business in Austria off the ground.

We’ll also briefly touch on how the Wise Business account can help when managing your money across currencies, with mid-market exchange rates, low fees¹, and innovative ways to hold, send, spend and exchange 40+ currencies including GBP and EUR.

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Doing business in Austria

Austria has a stable and productive economy², and is an important trading partner with the UK already³. If you’re considering starting a business in Austria you’ll find the process relatively easy to understand, with plenty of opportunities for local, regional and global growth. Major industries in Austria are pretty varied, which means that businesses in anything from food and luxury goods, through to chemical and automotive production are promoted as strong places to start looking for a niche⁴.

If you’re planning on building your business in Austria it’s also worth investing a little time into understanding questions of business etiquette⁵. This will help you hit the ground running. Austrian businesses tend to be focused on efficiency, punctuality and getting the job done. It’s worth understanding some basics of how to address individuals politely - German has both formal and informal terms of address - but the culture isn’t all work. Small talk by the water cooler or over coffees will be expected, just as you’d find at home.

Austria company register

If you’re planning on incorporating a company in Austria you’ll first need to pick an entity type - bearing in mind that the options and their obligations for tax, licensing and registration aren’t necessarily the same as in the UK.

Here’s a look at the most popular types of business entities one can choose to start a business in Austria:

• Joint Stock Company (AG)
• Private Limited Liability Company (GmbH)
• General Partnership (OG)
• Limited Partnership (KG)
• Silent Partnership (stGes)
• Sole Proprietorship

We’ll work through a little more detail about each next - and later there’s a deeper dive into the step by step process for starting a business in Austria, to help you get a feel for what’s required.

Joint Stock Company (AG)

A joint stock company is one of the most popular company entity types in Austria. This type of business is limited by shares, and requires one or more investors to invest at least 70,000 EUR in capital to get started. A supervisory board and annual financial reporting is mandatory, and there’s a minimum corporate tax of 3,500 EUR a year. To set up this business type you’ll need a pretty comprehensive suite of paperwork, but there are helpful checklists available on the Invest in Austria website which can guide you through this process⁶.

Private Limited Liability Company (GmbH)

A Private Limited Liability is another one of the most popular business entity types in Austria⁷. The attraction is often that there are fewer formalities with setting up a GbMH compared to choosing an AG, and the liability of shareholders is limited. As this is one of the most common types of businesses in Austria selected by UK business people looking to expand, we’ll work through the step by step process to open a GbMH a little later.

General Partnership (OG)

A general partnership can be arranged between 2 or more people, and registered electronically on GISA (Austrian Business Licence Information System). Although you can actually set up this type of business with an oral agreement, it’s recommended to agree details in writing for the protection of all parties. In an OG, both or all partners have total liability for the business, individually and jointly. There’s lots of help available online to guide you through the process and the considerations when forming an Austrian OG, from bodies like the Austrian Chamber of Commerce⁸.

Limited Partnership (KG)

A limited partnership works in a fairly similar way to a general partnership, but in this case, one partner only will act in the capacity of general partner and assume general liability for the business. Other partners can have their liability limited to the share capital they put up as investment.

Silent Partnership (stGes)

The final partnership arrangement - a silent partnership - works as a limited partnership, but the silent partners can not have management responsibilities. For all partnership arrangements the process of setting up the business entity and registering online is relatively similar, although the documents needed can vary based on the partnership type and the number and type of partners.

Sole Proprietorship

A sole proprietorship is one of the most straightforward ways to register to do business in Austria, much like in the UK. You can usually register yourself without any agency involvement, through GISA (Austrian Business Licence Information System). You may need to provide various extra documents if you won’t be living in Austria or if you’re new there, such as a criminal record check and a visa if you plan to move to Austria as a non EU citizen.

How to start a business in Austria - Step-by-step

Let’s work through how to start a business in Austria from the UK or as a British citizen. As the GmBH is one of the most popular entity types we’ll take this as our example. Bear in mind that the process may be slightly different for different entity types, so doing your own research, and getting advice where needed, is essential.

Your first stop will be to create a business plan and open a business account to manage your money. There’s more on how Wise Business can help with that coming up later. Then, the steps needed to start a business in Austria usually include:

1. Draft the articles of association or declaration of establishment with a legal advisor - you’ll need 10,000 EUR share capital, including 5,000 in cash, to register your business
2. Determine your company’s name, office, managing director and scope. Gather the documents needed, so your business can be registered at the Commercial Register Court
3. Apply for any license that’s needed based on the type of activity you’ll carry out
4. Register for tax, VAT, and social insurance if you’ll employ anyone else

The documents needed to form a GmBH in Austria are usually:

• Notarised articles of association
• Resolution on the appointment of the management
• Notarised sample declaration of signature of the management
• Proof of the payment of the share capital

Setting up a business in Austria - FAQs

Let’s walk through a few more important questions about starting a business in Austria.

How much does it cost to register a company in Austria?

The fees and costs to register a company in Austria can vary widely depending on the entity type you pick. For example, if you’re a sole proprietor you’ll pay several small fees, including:

• Filing fee: 19 EUR
• Registration of the company name: 9,40 EUR
• Registration of the registered office: 9,40 EUR
• Registration of the business address: 9,40 EUR
• Registration of the proprietor: 31 EUR

More complicated business entity types will require more paperwork - which means higher fees. Full details by entity type are available on the Austrian government website⁹. It’s worth also checking out business subsidies in Austria, which are promoted by Invest in Austria and which can be valuable support when starting a business in Austria¹⁰.

Is Austria a good country in which to start a business?

Setting up a business in Austria is relatively straightforward, with an established process that’s easy to understand. It’s also a stable economy which can be a great place to invest and get a business up and running. If you’re thinking of starting a business in Austria check out the funding options on Invest in Austria¹⁰ which can give you a leg up and help you get started more quickly or with lower costs.

Can a foreigner start a business in Austria?

Yes. Foreigners can open a business in Austria but you might find that there are a few extra requirements for you, such as a criminal record check from your home country, and a visa or residence permit if you’re planning on moving to Austria to run the business. The exact requirements do vary based on entity type - so do some research before you start the process to make sure you’re clear on what’s needed in your situation.

Manage your Austrian Company's finances with Wise Business

Use Wise Business to hit the ground running in Austria, and manage your business finances easily and with low fees¹.

With Wise you can hold and exchange 40+ currencies, get local account details in major currencies like GBP and EUR to receive payments from customers. Accounts also offer linked debit and expense cards, multi-user access, batch payments, cloud accounting integrations and more, with no ongoing fees and no minimum balance requirement.

To help businesses keep hold of more of their profits while trading internationally, Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate for currency conversion, with fair and transparent fees. That keeps costs down for business trading across borders - and lets you concentrate on growing your company no matter where in the world it is.

Check out how one business is making the most of Wise Business in this Open Collective case study.

Ready to learn more about how to open a Wise business account in the UK? Here’s a quick overview:

1. Download the Wise app or head to the Wise desktop site
2. Tap Register and follow the prompts to apply for a business account
3. Add your personal and contact information
4. Upload the documents needed which are detailed online and in this Wise Business account requirements guide
5. Pay the one time fee to register your account and get a linked payment card if you need one
6. Once your account is verified you can start transacting - your account will be live in the Wise app, your physical card will be posted to you, and you can get a digital card right away for mobile spending

Opening a business in Austria isn’t all that complicated, and the processes are easy to find online. You can also get personal advice and support from agencies like Invest in Austria, making this a great choice for UK entrepreneurs. Use this guide to kickstart your research, and check out Wise Business as a smart way to manage your money once your company is registered.

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Sources used for this article

Sources last checked Apr 8, 2024