BMD (Austria)
BMD (Austria) is a widely used Austrian accounting, payroll and ERP software from BMD Systemhaus in Steyr. Across the DACH region it is regarded as the Austrian counterpart to DATEV – the de facto standard for collaboration between companies and tax advisors.
BMD (Austria) is an Austrian software family for accounting, payroll and inventory management, developed by BMD Systemhaus based in Steyr (Upper Austria). In the Austrian tax-advisory and SME world, BMD plays a role similar to DATEV in Germany: a very large share of chartered accountants and tax advisors work with BMD, which is why the data exchange between a company’s ERP and the firm almost inevitably runs through a BMD format.
In the narrower sense, "BMD" today refers to the product BMD NTCS – an integrated business software that combines financial accounting, cost accounting, fixed-asset accounting, payroll, ERP/inventory management, CRM and time tracking in a single database. In day-to-day ERP work, however, most users encounter the term "BMD" primarily as an interface: as a BMD export, through which a shop, inventory management or ERP system hands its documents over to the tax firm ready for posting.
At a glance
- Austrian accounting and ERP software from Steyr (BMD Systemhaus)
- De facto standard among Austrian tax advisors – the DATEV counterpart
- Flagship BMD NTCS: accounting, payroll, assets, ERP and CRM on one platform
- BMD interface as the usual way to hand posting data to the tax firm
- Built for Austrian law: VAT return, FinanzOnline, RKSV, ebInterface
How BMD (Austria) is structured
BMD is built modularly: companies and tax firms license only the areas they need, while working on a shared data foundation. This ranges from pure financial accounting through cost accounting, fixed-asset accounting and Austrian payroll to full-fledged inventory management, invoicing, production and CRM. It is precisely this integration – accounting and ERP functions without a system break – that sets BMD apart from pure accounting packages.
BMD NTCS as an integrated platform
BMD NTCS is the central product line. In tax firms it covers the entire client process – from document capture through accounting and payroll to annual financial statements, balance sheet and tax return. In companies, NTCS can additionally be used as an ERP system, so that orders, warehouse and invoices are created directly in the same environment as financial accounting. Its strong multi-client capability is no coincidence but a core requirement of firms that support hundreds of clients in parallel.
Chart of accounts and data model
BMD ships with its own standard charts of accounts based on the Austrian standard chart of accounts (Einheitskontenrahmen, EKR) – not the German SKR-03/SKR-04 schemes. Postings are kept as classic double-entry records (debit/credit) on general-ledger accounts, supplemented by accounts receivable and payable as subsidiary ledgers. For handovers from third-party systems, BMD defines a fixed import/export format that carries accounts, tax codes, amounts, document data and posting texts in a structured file.
BMD in the ERP system: the BMD interface
For users of an ERP or shop system, BMD is usually not a separate piece of software but an output format. Because the supporting tax firm works with BMD, the ERP must provide its outgoing and incoming invoices as well as payments in a form that BMD can read. This data export is called the BMD interface or BMD export. In Austria it is the counterpart to the DATEV export in Germany and is available in many ERP systems as a ready-made function or add-on.
In practice, ready-to-use posting records are generated from the ERP: for each document the revenue or expense account, the personal account (customer/vendor), the matching tax code for VAT, document number, date and posting text. The tax firm imports this file into BMD without re-posting every document manually. The prerequisite is clean account and tax mapping: the ERP-side revenue accounts and tax keys must be mapped exactly to the client’s BMD general-ledger accounts and tax codes.
What a BMD export contains
A typical BMD export comprises the transaction data of a period – that is, the posting lines – and optionally master data such as new customers or vendors. If correct account assignments or tax codes are missing in the ERP, documents end up in the error log and have to be reworked manually. A well-configured field mapping between ERP and BMD is therefore decisive in ensuring the export runs through without rework.
Distinction: BMD vs. DATEV and accounting
BMD and DATEV solve the same fundamental problem – handing posting data to the tax advisor without a media break – but are separate ecosystems with their own formats and charts of accounts. DATEV is widespread in Germany and works with SKR-03/SKR-04, while BMD dominates in Austria and uses the EKR. A German company with a German tax firm generally needs a DATEV export, an Austrian one with an Austrian firm a BMD export. Anyone operating across borders may have to serve both formats.
It is also important to distinguish BMD from accounting itself: BMD is the software or the exchange format, not accounting as an activity. The BMD export does not replace proper bookkeeping; it only supplies the data for it. Whether accounts and tax codes are set correctly is the responsibility of the company together with the tax firm – the software merely transports what the ERP specifies.
Why BMD (Austria) matters for ERP projects
For ERP selection in Austria, BMD connectivity is a very concrete criterion. If the tax firm works with BMD – which statistically is often the case – the new ERP system should come with a reliable BMD export or be able to connect via an interface. Without this function, manual transfer, double entry and error sources in the monthly advance VAT return loom.
The benefit of clean BMD integration is therefore directly measurable: less manual posting effort, faster monthly closings, a lower error rate and smooth collaboration with the tax firm. Especially in retail and e-commerce, where many documents arise every day, automating this handover significantly determines the efficiency of financial processes. That is why BMD capability is often anchored as a must-have requirement in the requirements specification from the outset.
DACH specifics and Austrian law
BMD is consistently designed for Austrian law and covers requirements that German systems do not know. These include the advance VAT return (Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung, UVA) and its electronic submission via FinanzOnline, the requirements of the cash-register security regulation (RKSV) for cash receipts, and electronic invoicing to the federal government via ebInterface and Peppol. For companies subject to accounting obligations in Austria, this local orientation is a key reason for its wide adoption.
For internationally operating firms the consequence is clear: an ERP system that takes the DACH region seriously should support both the German DATEV and the Austrian BMD format and map the respective tax codes and charts of accounts. The concrete assessment of tax correctness, however, always remains the task of tax advice – BMD supplies the tools, not the tax responsibility.
Example
In practice: Viennese online retailer hands over to the BMD firm
An online retailer from Vienna sells through a web shop and a marketplace and processes its orders in an ERP system. Invoices are created there automatically. Because the supporting tax firm works with BMD NTCS, the company sets up a BMD export in the ERP: each revenue account and each tax rate is mapped once to the matching BMD general-ledger accounts and tax codes.
At month-end, the ERP generates a BMD export file with all outgoing invoices and incoming payments. The firm imports it without capturing every document individually and uses it to create the advance VAT return for FinanzOnline. Instead of days of re-entry, the handover takes only minutes – provided the mapping is correct and no new, unassigned accounts have been added.
Frequently asked questions
Matching ERP systems
Related services
Sources
Questions about BMD (Austria) in your ERP project?
We advise vendor-neutrally – and implement it ourselves on request.