Business Consulting (Unternehmensberatung)

Qualification: how to prove it

Unternehmensberatung is a regulated trade under §94 Z.74 of the Austrian Trade Act (GewO 1994). The standard route is the qualification exam (befähigungsprüfung).

• Examined by: Meisterprüfungsstelle der Wirtschaftskammer
• Exam fee: €0 — exam fees are covered by the federal government

If you cannot sit the exam, these routes are open to you:

• Facheinschlägiges Universitäts-/FH-Studium (BWL, VWL, Wirtschaftsinformatik etc.) + Berufspraxis
• MBA-Abschluss + einschlägige Berufspraxis
• Individuelle Befähigung (§19 GewO) bei nachgewiesenen Kenntnissen
• Appointing a qualified managing director

Registering the trade

• Cost: Free — registration itself carries no fee
• Where: District administrative authority — Bezirkshauptmannschaft or Magistrat
• Decision within: max. 3 months
• Typically takes: 1-5 Werktage (bei vollständigen Unterlagen)
• Start trading: immediately on registration — you do not have to wait for the decision

You can register in these ways:

• Online via GISA (the trade register)
• Online via USP (the business service portal)
• In person at the authority
• By post

Who may register

• Minimum age: 18
• Citizenship or residence: Austria, EU, EEA or Switzerland — third-country nationals with a residence permit are also eligible
• Clean record: no disqualifying convictions (checked by the authority)

Documents to bring

• Valid photo ID
• Befähigungsnachweis (Prüfungszeugnis ODER Studienabschluss + Praxisnachweis)
• Bei individueller Befähigung: Detaillierter Lebenslauf + Dienstzeugnisse + Projektliste
• Strafregisterbescheinigung (bei <5 Jahren Aufenthalt in AT)

Terms shown in German are the ones printed on the Austrian forms — you will meet them exactly like this at the authority.

Where to go, by province

Sole trader, GmbH, or partnership?

Trade law does not prescribe a legal form — but it does draw one line. Under § 9 (1) GewO, legal entities and registered partnerships (GmbH, OG, KG) may hold a trade licence, but they „must have appointed a managing director (§ 39)“ — a named person who carries the qualification and the legal responsibility for the trade. As a sole trader you are that person yourself.

Whether a GmbH pays off financially depends on profit, drawings, SVS contributions and allowances. There is no general profit threshold, and that question belongs to a tax adviser, not to this page.

Running this trade alongside a job

Nothing in Austrian law forbids running a trade as a side business. Two things about social insurance are regularly misremembered, and both cost money.

• The obligation follows Chamber membership, not profit. Under § 2 (1) 1 GSVG compulsory SVS insurance attaches to membership of the Economic Chamber, which you acquire with the trade licence itself. It therefore applies in a year in which you make no profit at all.
• There is an exemption — but only on application. § 4 (1) 7 GSVG lets very small businesses be exempted while turnover and income stay under the limits it refers to. Nothing happens automatically: without the application, the obligation stands.

If you are employed, check your employment contract separately for a secondary-activity clause — that is a matter between you and your employer, not trade law.

Legal basis: GewO 1994 §94 Z.74 + Unternehmensberatungs-Verordnung . Last reviewed April 2026. This is not legal advice.