It follows from section 5 of the Norwegian Bookkeeping Act that the statutory specifications (books) are as follows:

Specification of bookkeeping, i.e., all entered information per period, where all items shall be presented in a systematic sequence with documentation date and documentation reference, allocation code, and other relevant processing codes;
Specification of accounts, i.e., each account shall have an account code and account name, all items in an arranged succession, with documentation date and documentation reference, other relevant handling codes, and ingoing and outgoing balance;
Specification of customers, i.e., all transactions per customer per period, with the customer’s code and name, all items in a systematic succession with documentation date and with customer reference, and ingoing and outgoing balance;
Specification of suppliers, i.e., all transactions with suppliers per period, with the suppliers’ code, name, and organization number (entity number/business number), all items in a systematic succession with documentation date and document reference, and ingoing and outgoing reference;
Specification of self-supply to owners, participants, and own activity, at the actual value of the service/goods and with documentation date and reference;
Specification of sale to owners and participants (only for businesses with less than ten owners or participants);
Specification of sale and other contributions to employed management;
Specification of VAT. Output and input VAT and the basis for calculation of VAT specified per period according to the accounts in the accounting system. The specification shall also show VAT- exempted sales with credit and sale falling outside of the VAT scope. Output VAT shall be possible to specify per transaction; and
Specification of liable contributions in pay statements. Specified per period according to the accounts in the accounting system. Payroll tax shall also be possible to reproduce collectively, per tax rate and per municipal tax.

As regards books and records for the tax reporting, the tax reporting will be based on the consecutive financial reporting of the company and the requirements following from there. As regards financial reporting, the obligations will depend on whether the reporting is done according to IFRS, IFRS for small enterprises, or Norwegian GAAP.

It follows from section 13 of the Norwegian Bookkeeping Act Section that the annual accounts, mandatory financial reports, annual report, and auditor’s statement shall be kept in Norway for ten years from the end of the accounting year.

Further, it follows that agreements related to the business, with an exception for agreements of minor significance, correspondence that gives major additional information related to booked information, outgoing list of contents or equivalent documentation on paper that exists at the time of delivery, and price lists that are required, shall be kept in Norway for three years and six months from the end of the accounting year.

Booked information that is originally available electronically must remain available electronically for three years and six months after the end of the accounting year. An exemption from this is given in the Bookkeeping regulation (Section 7-3 subsection 2) for businesses with a turnover of less than NOK 5 million exclusive of VAT.

Accounting material that shall be archived must be kept in an orderly manner and be satisfactorily secured against damage, loss, and alterations. The accounting material must at any time be available for any public control authority during the entire archive period.

It is also required that the accounting material and data be available in a readable format with the possibility to make printouts during the archive/storage period. Further, electronic accounting material must have a safety duplicate stored separately from the original.

Even though the records with documentation shall be kept in Norway, it is possible to perform the bookkeeping and entering in the books outside of Norway. If the accounts are registered abroad, the business must return the account material to Norway within one month after the financial settlements are finalized and, at the latest, seven months after the accounting year has expired.

It is possible to apply for a dispensation from the requirements related to place of storage, storage period, and electronic availability. The Directorate of Taxes will usually give a dispensation to keep electronic records with material abroad if this takes place as part of an accounting solution for a group of companies. the local business has at least one terminal with access to the accounts and material kept electronically abroad with readability and the possibility to make printouts at any time, and Norway has a tax treaty with the country where the accounting server is located. If records with material are kept either in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, or Iceland, it is not required to apply for a dispensation. Instead, a notification to the Directorate of Taxes is sufficient.

The accounting material, specifications, and descriptions of the accounting system must be issued either in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, or English. It is possible to apply for a dispensation to use another language.

Further, bookkeeping shall be performed in NOK (Norwegian krone) as the currency. If the business has a “functional currency” that is not NOK, however, the bookkeeping can be performed in this currency. The definition of “functional currency” is the currency to which the economic activity in the business is mainly linked. Branches outside of Norway can use their own functional currency. However, even if the functional currency is not NOK, VAT shall be registered and expressed in NOK according to the applicable exchange rate for the invoice date. VAT shall also always be invoiced in NOK. Amounts in relation to salaries shall also be registered and fixed in NOK according to the exchange rate for the payment dates. Amounts related to possessions and debt where the Tax Act has separate estimation rules for currency shall be fixed in NOK according to the exchange rate on the transaction date.

In general, the conversion of amounts to NOK shall take place at least once a year by the use of average exchange rates. The conversion must be documented (method and rates). A business that will not issue a balance sheet to the tax authorities when performing liable reporting shall use the exchange rate at the time of transaction when performing the conversion into NOK. If the exchange rate during the period has not had any variation above 5% compared with the monthly average rates, the public monthly average rate can be used. Major single transactions shall still be converted according to the rate on the transaction day.

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