Setting up a tax advisory firm in Austria: from trainee years to your own practice

The route to your own firm in five stages

In the statute, the profession is called „Wirtschaftstreuhandberuf Steuerberater“. The WTBG 2017 regulates it together with the profession of auditors (Wirtschaftsprüfer:innen), and the KSW is the only competent chamber for the whole of Austria, with nine regional offices. Unlike many trades, there is no simple registration that lets you start straight away: the authorisation only comes into being through an act of appointment by the chamber. The route there is clearly structured.

Realistically, the journey from starting university to your own firm takes six to eight years. If you want to think through setting up in general, independently of the profession, the post Setting up a firm in Austria covers the tax and organisational basics.

Making deliberate use of the trainee years

You become a trainee if you hold the Matura (school-leaving exam) or a university entrance qualification and work professionally for an authorised practitioner for at least half of the standard working hours under the collective agreement (§ 40 WTBG 2017). You register with the chamber in writing and are recognised by formal decision (Bescheid). These years count twice over: they are a precondition for the exam and appointment, and they shape the profile with which you later go independent.

• Gain breadth: bookkeeping, payroll, annual accounts, tax returns and at least a few tax audits. The two years of full-time tax advisory work in Austria must be provable.
• Find your focus: which clients suit you? Doctors, rental property, agriculture, e-commerce or founders are typical fields in which a young firm can make a name for itself.
• Get to know the software: BMD and RZL are widespread in Austria, alongside DATEV. If you already know what you want to work with later, you avoid a switch.
• Plan for part-time: part-time practice is only credited proportionately (§ 13 para. 3 WTBG 2017). Working reduced hours also extends the time until the exam.

The professional exam for tax advisers

The professional exam consists of four written papers: business administration, financial reporting and corporate reporting, law, and substantive tax law and fiscal criminal law including procedural and professional law. Those who pass the written parts go on to the oral part, which focuses on tax law, fiscal criminal law and financial reporting (§§ 21 to 23 WTBG 2017). Details on dates, registration and fees are set out in the examination regulations, which the KSW publishes on its website.

Many candidates underestimate not so much the material as the organisation: study phases alongside full-time work in the firm, peak season for annual accounts and filing deadlines. Talk to your employer early about study time and blocks of leave. That is easier to plan for both sides than a cancellation shortly before the exam date.

Public appointment by the KSW

Appointment is the moment from which you may practise independently. The chamber checks not only your exam and practice but also personal and financial requirements, which § 8 para. 1 WTBG 2017 lists expressly.

The minimum sum insured is €72,673 per claim (§ 11 WTBG 2017), and the insurance must remain in place for as long as you hold the authorisation. You take out this basic insurance yourself with an insurer. On top of it sits an excess contract (Exzedentenvertrag) that the KSW has concluded for all members. Whether you need further cover of your own depends on your engagements: if you advise large companies or restructurings, you should be insured for considerably more. You may not accept engagements that exceed your cover.

You submit the application to the chamber in writing (§ 43 WTBG 2017). You receive the certificate of appointment only after making the pledge (Gelöbnis) (§ 47 Abs. 2 WTBG 2017; only auditors take an oath). Under § 48 WTBG 2017 this can also be done in writing. You are then entered in the KSW's public member directory, where anyone can search by name, location and authorisation.

Sole practice or tax advisory company?

Most start as a sole practice. But you can also practise in a Wirtschaftstreuhandgesellschaft: all partnerships and companies under Austrian corporate law that can be entered in the commercial register are allowed (§ 54 WTBG 2017). The company needs its own recognition by the KSW.

Only certain persons may be partners or shareholders, above all authorised professionals, their spouses, registered partners and children, and other Wirtschaftstreuhandgesellschaften (§ 56 WTBG 2017). The firm name must include the designation of the profession practised, such as „Huber Steuerberatung GmbH“. Interdisciplinary companies, for example with management consultants or accountants, are possible under the conditions of §§ 59 to 64 WTBG 2017.

Duties from your first day in practice

• CPD: 120 hours in three years, at least 30 per calendar year, reported by 31 March of the following year (§ 71 para. 3 WTBG 2017). Record seminars from the start.
• Professional secrecy: it covers everything clients entrust to you (§ 80 WTBG 2017) and includes your team.
• Anti-money laundering: identifying new clients under §§ 87 et seq. WTBG 2017 and the KSW-GWPRL 2017 guideline, with documentation.
• Ban on commissions: accepting or paying commissions is prohibited, as is passing on engagements subject to a commission (§ 84 WTBG 2017).
• Terms of engagement: many firms agree the general terms of engagement for the Wirtschaftstreuhand professions provided by the KSW (AAB 2018). They only apply if expressly incorporated into the engagement.
• Branch offices: you must notify the chamber of additional locations (§ 74 WTBG 2017).

Winning your first clients

If you go independent from an existing firm, individual clients sometimes follow you. That is a delicate matter: check your employment contract for non-compete clauses and talk openly with your former employer. A focus area of your own, with which you approach new clients, is more sustainable.

• Support founders: tax advisers can carry out electronic business registration on behalf of clients via the Unternehmensserviceportal (USP, Austria's business service portal). Those who are there from the start often stay for years.
• Networks with other professions: lawyers, notaries, banks and management consultants are happy to refer. Keep the ban on commissions in mind: referrals are allowed, rewards for them are not.
• Show your expertise: talks at founders' meet-ups, an annual tax calendar for your target group or short articles on changes have more impact than general advertising.
• Availability: a call back on the same day and a quick, understandable quote are a real selling point, especially at the beginning.

Which forms of advertising the professional rules allow, and where the limits lie for reviews and social media, is described in the post Advertising for tax advisers in Austria.

Website and online presence of the new firm

Today, clients usually look for a tax adviser online first, often with a location and a concern: „Steuerberater Linz Gründung“ or „English-speaking tax adviser Vienna rental income“. Without a website with clear focus areas, you will hardly show up in these searches. A good firm website does not have to be large: a home page with your focus areas, one page per service area, team, contact with directions and a complete imprint are enough to start with.

For tax advisers the imprint is somewhat more extensive than for traders: chamber, professional title, the state that conferred it and the WTBG 2017 all belong in it. Exactly which details are compulsory is set out in the post Imprint for tax advisers in Austria. Alongside that, a Google Business Profile is worthwhile so you appear in map searches. Which content on a firm website actually gets read is shown in the post Website content for firms.

What to budget for in the first year

The cost of setting up a firm depends heavily on whether you start alone in a small office or with staff right away. Plan at least for the following items and get a specific quote for each:

For the website, the range runs from a website builder at around €15 – €45 a month with plenty of DIY work to a custom agency website at around €3,000 – €20,000 (as of November 2026). At Meine-Kanzlei-Website, a finished firm website costs €1,800 one-off, or €3,600 with a content management system, plus hosting at around €30 a month. All prices are net: as a VAT-registered firm you usually reclaim the VAT as input tax. A detailed comparison is in the post What does a firm website cost?.

Also check whether, as a new business, you can benefit from the Neugründungs-Förderungsgesetz (NeuFöG, New Business Promotion Act). The NeuFö 1 form needs confirmation from your statutory professional body; ask the KSW how this confirmation works for tax advisers.