Norway’s parliament — the Stortinget — has formally passed Prop. 44 L (2025–2026), amending the bokføringsloven (Bookkeeping Act) to make B2B electronic invoicing mandatory from 1 January 2027 (VATupdate, 16 June 2026). The legislation also introduces a second phase: mandatory receipt and digital bookkeeping from 1 January 2030.
Context: A Peppol-Native Country
Norway is far from a beginner in electronic invoicing. The country is one of the founding members of the Peppol network — the European interoperability standard for structured invoice exchange — and has mandated e-invoicing for public procurement (B2G) for several years (Sovos).
What Prop. 44 L changes is the extension into the private B2B space: all companies subject to accounting obligations (bokføringspliktige) will need to issue invoices in the structured EHF (Elektronisk Handelsformat) format over the Peppol network. The ELMA register — Norway’s Peppol participant directory — becomes the authoritative reference for identifying eligible recipients.
An exemption applies to businesses with annual turnover below NOK 50,000 (VATcalc). B2C transactions and cash settlements are also excluded from scope.
Impact for Norwegian Businesses
Phase 1 — 1 January 2027: Mandatory Issuance
From 1 January 2027, every company subject to the bookkeeping obligation must issue its B2B invoices in EHF 3.0 / Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 format (SEEBURGER). PDFs sent by email will no longer constitute valid invoices for business-to-business transactions.
In practice, an ERP or billing system must be able to:
- Generate structured invoices in UBL format compliant with Peppol BIS Billing 3.0
- Connect to the Peppol network via a certified Access Point (native module or third-party connector)
- Verify that the recipient is registered in ELMA before sending
For IT and finance leaders, the timeline is tight: the regulatory go-live is 1 January 2027, meaning connector selection, user acceptance testing and staff training must all be finalised before end of 2026.
Phase 2 — 1 January 2030: Receipt and Digital Bookkeeping
The second phase is more transformative. Companies will be required not only to receive electronic invoices but also to maintain their accounts in a certified digital system (Banqup). This is a paradigm shift for SMEs still operating hybrid setups with CSV exports and manual end-of-chain processing.
For ERP vendors active in the Norwegian market — Visma, Monitor ERP, Tripletex, 24SevenOffice — this represents a clear migration opportunity toward full-cloud offerings with a native Peppol Access Point.
What to Watch
Skatteetaten (the Norwegian Tax Administration) still needs to publish the implementing regulations covering archiving rules, error-correction deadlines and the detailed scope of threshold exemptions (Logiqconnect). Norwegian businesses also operating in EU member states will need to track progress on the ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age) regulation, which aims to extend real-time digital reporting across the entire EU.
Key dates:
- Q3 2026: Skatteetaten implementing regulations expected
- 31 December 2026: ERP/EDI compliance deadline for Phase 1
- 1 January 2027: B2B issuance mandate enters into force
- 1 January 2030: Mandatory receipt + digital bookkeeping
The pattern mirrors what Belgium put in place from 1 January 2026: issuance obligation first, receipt obligation to follow, with the Peppol network as the shared backbone.
To understand what this mandate means concretely inside an ERP, read our deep-dive on Belgium’s mandatory Peppol e-invoicing and our guide to Nordic ERP vendors (Visma, Fortnox, Exact) which covers the software players most directly affected by this new obligation.
