ebInterface vs Peppol BIS: Which Format Should You Use in Austria?
Compare Austria's two accepted e-invoicing formats — ebInterface and Peppol BIS 3.0 — to decide which one fits your business when invoicing Austrian government agencies.
ebInterface vs Peppol BIS: Which Format Should You Use in Austria?
Austria's B2G e-invoicing mandate accepts two structured formats — ebInterface and Peppol BIS 3.0. Both satisfy the legal requirement under §5 of the IKT-Konsolidierungsgesetz. Neither is "better" in absolute terms; which one makes sense depends on who else you invoice.
Quick Comparison
| ebInterface | Peppol BIS 3.0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maintained by | Wirtschaftskammer Österreich (WKO) | OpenPeppol (international) |
| Scope | Austria-specific | Pan-European network |
| EN 16931 compliant | Yes (since v5/6) | Yes |
| Accepted for Austrian B2G since | 2014 | 2018 |
| Best for | Austria-only suppliers | Suppliers also trading cross-border |
| Submission route | Direct upload to e-rechnung.gv.at, or via accounting software | Peppol access point → BRZ as receiving Peppol authority |
| Austrian accounting software support | Native in BMD, RZL | Via access point/plugin in most tools |
ebInterface: The Austria-Specific Standard
ebInterface is a purely Austrian XML schema, developed and maintained by the WKO (Austria's Federal Economic Chamber). The current version, ebInterface 6.0, supports Austrian-specific VAT scenarios — including construction-sector reverse charge (Bauleistungen) and Austrian discount/payment term conventions (Skontovereinbarungen, Zahlungsbedingungen) — that generic European formats don't model as precisely.
If your business invoices almost exclusively within Austria, ebInterface is usually the simpler route: documentation and support are in German, and it's natively supported by the accounting platforms most Austrian SMEs and tax consultants already use (see our Austria software comparison).
Peppol BIS 3.0: The Cross-Border Choice
Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 is the pan-European invoice format used across the Peppol network — the same network behind Germany's B2G mandate, Belgium's mandatory B2B system, and the Netherlands' upcoming B2B mandate. Austria's federal government has accepted Peppol BIS 3.0 for B2G contracts since 2018, with the Bundesrechenzentrum (BRZ) acting as the receiving Peppol authority.
If you already maintain a Peppol connection for other EU markets, extending it to cover Austrian B2G invoices is usually more efficient than maintaining a second, Austria-only integration. It also positions you well if Austria eventually introduces a domestic B2B mandate, since the EU's ViDA package — mandatory for cross-border B2B reporting from 1 July 2030 — is built around the same EN 16931 data model that Peppol BIS already uses.
How to Decide
- Austria-only supplier, no cross-border invoicing → ebInterface is simpler to set up and supported natively by most Austrian accounting software
- Already invoicing Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, or other Peppol markets → reuse your existing Peppol access point for Austria too
- Working with a tax consultant (Steuerberater) using BMD or RZL → ask which format their existing export setup supports natively before choosing
Both formats satisfy Austria's legal requirement — there's no compliance risk either way. The decision is purely about which fits your existing invoicing infrastructure.
Last updated: June 2026.