Why the Cash Register Security Ordinance is so important

With efsta, you can effortlessly meet all the legal requirements of the Registrierkassen Sicherheitsverordnung (Cash Register Security Regulation). efsta offers you compliance as a service - legal conformity - always up to date with legislation and technology.

Fiscalization Austria

The RKSV at a glance

The Cash Register Security Ordinance – RKSV for short – is an Austrian regulation that was introduced in April 2017 to combat tax fraud. It regulates the use of electronic cash registers by companies and is intended to ensure that all cash transactions are recorded and documented in a tamper-proof manner.

It is also worth noting that, in addition to an obligation to issue receipts (paper or electronic digital), there is also a statutory obligation to use a cash register: Companies (businesses, freelancers and agriculture and forestry) are obliged to use an electronic recording system (cash register) for the individual recording of cash sales if the net annual turnover per company is EUR 15,000 AND the net cash turnover of this business exceeds EUR 7,500 per year.

Digital signature and security with efsta – RKSV-compliant and tamper-proof

Digital signature

Signature creation unit (security module): Every transaction recorded in the cash register must be digitally signed. A signature creation unit is used for this purpose, which ensures that each transaction receives a unique signature.

‍Chaining of receipts: Each receipt contains a signature that is linked to the previous transaction. This creates a chain (chain of signatures) that makes manipulations immediately recognisable. If a transaction were subsequently changed, this chain would be broken, making the manipulation visible.

You can find out more about digital signatures here.

Data Acquisition Protocol (DEP)

Immutability of data: All transactions are stored in a data acquisition protocol (DEP), which is immutable and tamper-proof. The DEP stores all signed data and enables a complete traceability of all business transactions.

Export interfaces: The DEP must be exportable in a standardised format so that it can be completely and correctly transferred during an audit by the tax authorities.

You can find out more about the data acquisition protocol here.

QR code on receipts

Every receipt issued to the customer contains a QR code. This code contains encrypted information about the transaction, including the digital signature. During an audit, the QR code can be read to ensure that the transaction is correct and has not been manipulated.

You can find out more about the QR code on receipts here.

Security certificates

Certificate-based security: The signature creation unit used for the digital signature is based on certified cryptographic methods. These security certificates ensure that the signatures are trustworthy and cannot be falsified.

You can find out more about security certificates here.

Regular audits and control mechanisms

Audits by the tax authorities:
The tax authorities can carry out audits at any time and analyse the exported data (e.g. the DEP) to ensure that no manipulations have been made.

These measures together ensure that all data recorded in the cash register is protected against manipulation and that every transaction is traceable. The strict security precautions of the RKSV ensure the integrity and authenticity of the business data.

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