About the Register of Company Accounts
Last updated: 31 July 2024.
The Register of Company Accounts is the most important data source for anyone who wants to gain insight into the financial state in Norwegian business and industry.
The main task
We register annual accounts from enterprises with reporting obligation and announce their approval. If the annual accounts are not being approved, we announce notification of compulsory dissolution within six months after the submission deadline. In addition, The Register of Company Accounts registers and announces approved interim balance sheets. The purpose of the scheme is to ensure financial security and efficiency. The accounting information is publicly available.
What information is registered?
Every year, all enterprises with accounting obligation must submit complete annual accounts within one month after it has been approved by the general meeting or an equivalent body. The submitted documents from the enterprises will be registered.
In order to avoid a late filing penalty, the due date for submission of the annual accounts is 31 July. A late filing penalty fee, collected from the National Collection Agency, will accrue from 1 August.
For enterprises with a closing date before no later than 30 June, the submission deadline is 31 January, and the late filing penalty accrues from 1 February.
What is the information used for and who are the users?
There are many who use information from the annual accounts. The annual accounts are an important tool for financial institutions and others who want to get to know a potential contractual partner. The register provides an essential source material for business policy analysis for researchers and students. Often this is the only way an external stakeholder acquires information about the enterprise. This also emphasizes the importance of presenting updated and correct figures. The bank is, for example, always requesting annual accounts upon raising loans and assessment of credit limit for enterprises. In such cases, it is important to put forth figures that make the enterprise’s real value creation and underlying values visible in a reliable way. The same applies to customers and suppliers.
The history behind the establishment
The Register of Company Accounts was established on 1 January 1981. The purpose of the register was to provide the business sector, as well as the public sector, a new and better access to the annual accounts in a simple way.