A reminder for retailers: create your end-of-year control transaction in Austria.

As the year 2023 comes to an end, retailers in Austria are required to create an end-of-year control transaction on their point of sale (POS) systems. This is a legal obligation that ensures the compliance and security of the electronic cash register systems and the security devices that are used to record and sign sales transactions.

The end-of-year control transaction, also known as the "Jahresbeleg," is a special type of receipt that summarizes the sales transactions of the entire year. It has to be created before the first fiscal transaction in the next year, which means that it should be done on December 31, 2023, or January 1, 2024, depending on the business hours of the retailer.

The end-of-year control transaction has the following characteristics:

• The sequence number is the next available number after the last regular transaction of the year.
• The amount is zero, as it does not represent a real sale.
• The previous signature is the signature of the previous transaction, which can be either a regular transaction or a start-of-day transaction.
• The item name is "Jahresbeleg," which indicates that it is an end-of-year control transaction.
• The receipt has to be printed and saved for 7 years, as it is part of the accounting records of the retailer.
• The receipt has to be verified on the FON (FinanzOnline) portal by February 15th of the following year, as it is proof of the proper functioning of the POS system and the security element.

The end-of-year control transaction is a simple but important step that retailers have to take to comply with the Austrian tax law and avoid any penalties or fines. It is also a way to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the sales data and to prevent any fraud or manipulation. Therefore, retailers should not forget to create their end-of-year control transactions on their POS systems and verify them on the FON portal.