If you have a foreign education or professional qualification and wish to practice your profession in Norway, you generally need approval or authorisation. You will find information about documentation requirements, the application process and regulations here. The competent authority will assess whether you meet the requirements to practice the profession and use the professional title in Norway. If you intend to establish in Norway and work permanently in your chosen profession, the rules below apply to you. However, if you wish to work in Norway for shorter periods of time within your chosen profession, the rules for temporary provision of services apply.
If you do not already have a Norwegian national ID-number, you will need to register a user account for the Altinn services. Please access the registration procedure here.
Start serviceAbout this form
The form should only be used by applicants who do not have a Norwegian ID (birth number or D- number). The application must be sent by the person who has a professional qualification as an external accountant/bookkeeper/tax advisor from another EU/EEA country, Switzerland or Great Britain. You must have approval from the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway before you can undertake accounting services for others or be designated by an accounting firm as responsible for carrying out the accounting assignment. It is not necessary to be a state authorised accountant to work as an accountant/bookkeeper in a firm.
Please submit your application with attachments electronically in Altinn. If you have a Norwegian national ID-number, please use the Altinn form KRT-1019
Establishment:
If you wish to establish or work for an extended period in Norway within your profession, you must apply for approval/authorization from the responsible approval authority before practicing this profession in Norway.
Temporary/occasional provision of service:
You can work temporarily in this profession if you are already legally established in an EEA country or Switzerland and are allowed to practice the same profession in that country. To work temporarily in this profession in Norway, you must submit a prior notification to the approval authority.
Establishment:
Applicants with evidence of formal qualifications from another EU/EEA-state where the profession is regulated:
- Confirmation of permit from the home state (evidence of professional qualifications), preferably with a link to a public register where the approval is registered.
- Diploma, including a transcript of grades.
- If applicable, a transcript of grades for a passed aptitude test in Norway.
- If applicable, confirmation from the employer describing the content (performed tasks) and scope (period and position percentage) of the accounting/bookkeeping practice.
- Transcript of police records.
- Printout of the latest tax return in Norway or equivalent documentation from your home country.
Applicants with professional qualifications from an EU/EEA-country where the profession is not regulated:
- Documentation for practice from your home state, which shows whether you have practiced external accounting for at least one year in the last ten years.
- Diploma, including a transcript of grades.
- If applicable, confirmation from a Norwegian employer describing the content (performed tasks) and scope (period and position percentage) of the accounting/bookkeeping practice.
- If applicable, a transcript of grades for a passed aptitude test in Norway.
- Transcript of police records.
- Printout of the latest tax return in Norway or equivalent documentation from your home country.
Temporary provision of services:
If you intend to practice this profession temporarily in Norway, you must state which company is temporarily your employer in Norway.
Comments
Documents that are not in English, Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish must be translated into English or Norwegian.
Applicants who have the right to conduct accounting/bookkeeping activities in another EU/EEA state may, under certain conditions, be authorised as external accountant in Norway.
Terms for applicants with professional qualifications from an EU/EEA-country where external accounting/bookkeeping is regulated:
In order to apply the EU/EEA professional qualification rules, you must hold evidence of formal approval confirming that you are entitled to practice external accounting in the EU/EEA-country at the time of application. The evidence of formal approval must be issued by a public authority or a body equivalent to public authority. In addition, the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway will assess whether you must pass an aptitude test in Norway, based on obtained education and practice. Finanstilsynet must also assess whether you meet the requirements for good repute before you can obtain approval as a state-authorised accountant.
Terms for applicants with professional qualifications from an EU/EEA-country where external accounting/bookkeeping is not regulated:
In order to apply the EU/EEA professional qualification rules, you must have practiced external accounting for at least one year in the last ten years in your home country. Alternatively, professional qualifications can be acquired by having completed education which is particularly designed to prepare the candidate to practice external accounting. This does not refer to education that gives access to a wide range of professions. Academic competence alone is also not sufficient to establish a professional qualification. Finanstilsynet will also assess whether you must take an aptitude test in Norway, based on an overall assessment of your education and practice. Furthermore Finanstilsynet must assess whether you meet the requirements for good repute before you can obtain approval as a state-authorised accountant.
Aptitude test
Normally, the content of a foreign professional qualifications will differ significantly from the education required in Norway within Norwegian rules on financial accounting, tax law, company law and the accounting regulations. Applicants are therefore normally required to take an aptitude test. If an applicant has accounting experience from Norwegian enterprises, the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway will consider whether the applicant’s work experience can compensate partly or completely for the deficiencies in the foreign professional qualification. In this consideration, importance will be attached to the scope of the practice as well as to what extent it includes legal assessments pursuant to the Norwegian regulatory framework (typically tax and company law).
How to take the aptitude test
The aptitude test consists of passing the exams in the specialisation subjects financial accounting (15 credits), tax legislation (15 credits), company law (7.5 credits) and accounting (accountant regulations, accounting organisation and business understanding) (minimum 7.5 credits). Requirements concerning the academic content of these exams are described in the recommended curriculum for bachelor's degrees in business administration and economics,
specialisation accountant, adopted by the UHR-ØA (in Norwegian: Anbefalt plan Bachelor i økonomi og administrasjon - spesialisering regnskapsfører (BØA-RF)).). Applicants are advised to contact an educational institution that offers an accountant education for further information about how to take the mentioned individual exams. Some institutions are listed below. Students have to register for the exam and pay any exam fees themselves.
- Educational institutions that offer accountant education (the list is not exhaustive):
- BI Norwegian Business School
- The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
- Kristiania University College
- Molde University College
- Nord University
- University of South-Eastern Norway
Language requirements:
No. Note that accountants must in any case have the language skills required to be able to practise in Norway. The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway can demand documentation of sufficient language skills and may refuse to let applicants start practicing before they have documented their language skills.
Criteria/conditions for recognition:
The statutory qualification requirements related to the practice of the profession are stipulated in the Act on External Accountants and Regulations to the Act.
The statutory requirements for being entitled to recognition of professional qualification from abroad are stipulated in the Act on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications (Professional Qualifications Act) and the Regulation on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications (Professional Qualifications Regulation).
Case processing deadlines:
Establishment:
The competent authority must acknowledge receipt of your application within one month of receiving it and inform you of any missing or incomplete documentation.
Following the submission of a complete application, the competent authority should complete processing your application within three months.
Temporary provision of services:
The applicant must submit a prior declaration to the competent authority before practicing the profession.
Fees:
The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway does not charge a fee for processing applications for recognition.
The examination fee varies between the different educational institutions.
Right of appeal:
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the decision, you may appeal in writing, pursuant to Chapter VI of the Public Administration Act. If your application is processed in accordance with the Professional Qualifications Act, the right of appeal also applies if the competent authority has exceeded the case processing deadlines (see Case processing deadlines above).
Competent authority
The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway
P.O. Box 1187 Sentrum,
NO-0107 Oslo
E-mail: post@finanstilsynet.no
Phone: (+47) 22 93 98 00
Office address: Revierstredet 3, 0151 Oslo
