The Austrian Company Register: What It Shows and How to Search It

Austria's commercial register is called the Firmenbuch. It is a court-maintained public register, not a directory, and what it records carries legal weight. If you are about to sign with an Austrian company, it is the first place to look and it costs nothing to start.

What the register records

Every entity registered in Austria has a file with a permanent number, the Firmenbuchnummer, written as digits followed by a check letter, for example 123456 d. The entry shows:

• the exact legal name of the company
• the legal form
• the registered seat and the address decisive for service of documents
• the share capital
• who is authorised to represent the company, and how
• the shareholders, for a GmbH
• annual accounts, once filed

Two of these deserve attention before a contract.

Who may sign. The register states whether a managing director represents the company alone or only jointly with another. A contract signed by someone with joint representation acting alone is a problem you want to find before, not after.

The address for service. This is the address at which official documents can legally be delivered. It is a formal entry, not a marketing address, which is why the register does not accept a P.O. box.

The three free routes

You do not need to pay to answer most questions.

Company search. The free search on JustizOnline finds a company by name and returns the register number, legal form and seat. Enough to confirm you have the right entity.

Detailed company information. A free overview that goes beyond the bare search result, including representation.

Current partial extract as a PDF. JustizOnline provides a partial extract with the core current data at no charge. For most commercial checks this is sufficient.

What costs money is the full current extract and, above all, the historical extract, which shows changes over time: former names, past managing directors, previous addresses. That history is what you want in a genuine due diligence, and it is worth paying for.

Reading an entry without misreading it

A few conventions catch people out.

Deleted entries stay visible. Struck-through lines in an extract are not errors. They are superseded entries, and they are the record of change.

The register name is exact. "Muster GmbH" and "Muster Handels-GmbH" are different companies. Contracts should use the register name character for character.

The date of entry is not the date of formation. The company comes into existence with its registration, but the underlying deed is older. Both dates appear.

Annual accounts can be missing. Filing is a legal duty, and a gap in the accounts is information in itself.

Checking the VAT number is a separate step

The register tells you who may sign for a company. It does not tell you whether the company's VAT identification number is valid, because that lives in a different system entirely.

If you are about to invoice across an EU border, verify the number separately with our free VAT number checker, which queries the EU VIES database. The interface is in German, the number format is not. The background is in our guide to the EU VAT number in Austria.

What this means when you register your own company

Everything above is public about your company too, including the address you enter. That address has to be one where official mail can actually be served, and it will be visible to anyone who looks you up.

Founders working from home often do not want their private address in a public register. Postservice.at provides a business address in Vienna that the register accepts, which keeps your home address out of the public record. What the register needs is in our guide to forming a GmbH in Austria.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Austrian company register public?

Yes. Anyone can search it, without registration and without stating a reason.

What does an official extract cost?

The free partial extract covers current core data. Full current extracts and historical extracts carry fees, charged per document.

How do I find a company if I only know part of the name?

The free search handles partial names. If several results come back, the seat and legal form usually identify the right one.

Does the register show the owners of a GmbH?

It shows the shareholders of a GmbH. For other legal forms, and for beneficial ownership behind corporate shareholders, the separate register of beneficial owners applies.

Can I rely on what the register says?

The register enjoys public faith: what is entered may generally be relied upon by third parties acting in good faith. That is precisely why the representation entry matters before signing.

Sources

• Austrian Commercial Register Act (Firmenbuchgesetz)
• Austrian Commercial Code (UGB), § 11 on the register name
• JustizOnline, the official public access to the Firmenbuch

Status: August 2026. General information, not legal advice.