Audit requirements for limited companies
Last updated: 20 July 2026.
As a general rule, all limited companies are subject to audit and must have an autorised auditor registered.
Whether or not a company is subject to audit depends on the threshold values for the operating revenue, total assets and number of employees.
A company is required to have an auditor if it has:
- operating revenue of NOK 7 million or more, or
- a balance sheet total of NOK 27 million or more, or
- more than 10 full-time equivalent employees
- runs a pharmacy or a lawyer’s practice
- is approved as an assistant under the gaming scheme regulations
- is a parent company of a group, and the group as a whole has:
- operating revenue of NOK 7 million or more, or
- a balance sheet total of NOK 27 million or more, or
- more than 10 full-time equivalent employees
- is supervised by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway
- has been required by the tax or VAT authorities to undergo an audit
When a company is subject to audit, its annual accounts must be audited by an auditor before they are approved by the general meeting and submitted to the Register of Company Accounts.
Waiving audit
Once the annual accounts have been approved and show that the company is no longer subject to audit, the general meeting may decide to waive audit.
A limited company may become subject to audit again
If one of the conditions for waiving audit is no longer met, the limited company becomes subject to audit again.
The board must then immediately convene a general meeting, which must appoint an auditor. The company must then promptly report the change by submitting the form Coordinated register notification through altinn.no.
The auditor must be a state-authorised public accountant authorised by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway.
The notification must include:
- the minutes of the general meeting
- the auditor’s confirmation of acceptance of the assignment
When a company becomes subject to audit again, the auditor must audit the next set of annual accounts, cf. section 7-6, subsection 3 of the Limited Liability Companies Act.
Example:
If the company becomes subject to audit and registers an auditor in 2025, the annual accounts for the financial year 2025, which must be submitted in 2026, must be audited by the auditor.