What Do I Need for an Audit? Praxis Desk Kasse

During an inspection (Nachschau), the financial police or tax auditors examine your cash register system. This article shows which documents you should have ready and where to find them in offisy.

Which documents does an audit require?

Typically these are the data collection protocol (DEP), a null receipt, the annual receipt and the record of the start receipt verification. Sources are the RKSV and the WKO pages on annual receipt verification and the cash register obligation.

How do I export the DEP?

The DEP contains all cash sales of your register. You can export it at any time.

1. Open Kasse > RKSV.
2. In the Registrierkassen section, click the arrow button on the right of the register's row and select Protokoll exportieren.
3. In the window Datenerfassungsprotokoll exportieren, select the Zeitraum from–to. The current month is preselected.
4. Click Exportieren. offisy downloads a JSON file.

Fig. 1Export of the data collection protocol for a period.

If there are no entries in the selected period, offisy shows an error message. Select a different period then.

How long do I keep documents?

Seven years (§ 132 BAO). This also applies to the closing receipt of a decommissioned register.

Do I have to back up the DEP myself?

You must back up the DEP at least quarterly, unalterably, on an external medium.

Required license

Automatic DEP backup is only available with RKSV Premium or RKSV Unlimitiert, see RKSV Tiers. With RKSV Basic, you back up the DEP yourself, for example on a non-rewritable medium.

What is a null receipt?

A null receipt is a receipt without any sales. The authorities can request it during an audit.

In offisy, create it in the section Sammel-, Status- & Monatsbelege with the button Statusbeleg. There you download it from the table with Download als PDF.

What applies to the annual receipt?

Verify the annual receipt by February 15 of the following year and keep it. You can print it or store it electronically, as long as you can retrieve it at any time (see WKO). How to download it is explained in Download Annual Receipts. What it is is explained in What Is an Annual Receipt?.

With the webservice, offisy submits the annual receipt for verification automatically. You see the result as the badge Erfolgreich überprüft or Überprüfung fehlerhaft.

How do I record the start receipt verification?

You must verify the start receipt immediately after registration. You record the result and keep it.

With webservice access, offisy verifies the start receipt itself. You don't need the BMF receipt check app then. Keep the verification result in offisy or the email "Belegsüberprüfung".

Without the webservice, you verify the start receipt with the BMF receipt check app and an authentication code from FinanzOnline. How that works is explained in Verify the Start Receipt. You request the code in FinanzOnline via Verwaltung von Authentifizierungscodes für App zur Prüfung der Kassenbelege with Code anfordern.

Fig. 2FinanzOnline: request an authentication code for the receipt check app (image source: offisy cash register guide).

Note: The FinanzOnline menu names come from the BMF cash register handbook (as of 05/17/2019). They may differ in the current FinanzOnline.