Norway’s tax authority, Skatteetaten, has confirmed that SAF-T Financial version 1.40 will be the only valid format for any fiscal year starting on or after 1 January 2027 (official Skatteetaten documentation). Versions 1.20 and 1.30 remain acceptable for fiscal years prior to 2027, but will no longer be accepted during a tax audit covering fiscal year 2027 or later. For businesses operating in Norway with an ERP system not yet updated, the migration window closes by end of December 2026.
Background: An Established Obligation, an Evolving Version
SAF-T Financial has been mandatory in Norway since 1 January 2020 for any business subject to accounting obligations that uses an electronic accounting system. The only exceptions are entities with annual turnover below NOK 5 million that meet the exemption criteria, or those using manual solutions (word processors, spreadsheets) with fewer than 600 accounting entries per year (Skatteetaten FAQ). For all others, the obligation is real and enforceable: the SAF-T file is not submitted periodically, but must be produced and handed over to Skatteetaten within the timeframe set by a tax auditor, on demand, during an audit.
Version 1.30 became mandatory on 1 January 2025, bringing significant restructuring: a revised presentation of accounts receivable and payable balances, reformatted VAT data, and a shift in the chart of accounts nomenclature towards næringsspesifikasjon. Version 1.40, available now for voluntary adoption, extends this evolution with full backward compatibility: a file produced under the v1.40 schema remains readable by systems processing earlier versions (Skatteetaten). The updated technical specifications and XSD schemas (last modified: 31 August 2026) are available on the official Skatteetaten GitHub repository.
Impact for Businesses
The Deadline Applies to the Fiscal Year, Not the Audit Date
A point frequently misunderstood by accounting teams: the obligation applies to the fiscal year covered by the audit, not the date the auditor arrives. An audit triggered in March 2028 covering fiscal year 2027 will require a SAF-T v1.40 file. If the company’s ERP is still generating v1.30 at that point, the file will be rejected — regardless of when the obligation came into effect.
The penalty for failing to provide data requested by Skatteetaten amounts to 10 court fee units, equivalent to NOK 13,450 (approximately EUR 1,150 at current exchange rates). In the case of a repeat offence within the following twelve months, the penalty doubles to NOK 26,900 (Skatteetaten — Non-Compliance Penalties). The direct financial exposure remains limited, but an inability to produce a compliant SAF-T file can extend the duration of a tax audit — and the scrutiny that comes with it.
What IT Teams Must Do Before 31 December 2026
Migrating to v1.40 is primarily a matter for ERP vendors and configuration work. Concrete actions for a CIO or IT manager:
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Identify which SAF-T version your ERP is currently producing. In most solutions (Visma Business, Visma.net Financials, Monitor G5, SAP S/4HANA, Microsoft Business Central), the SAF-T export is accessible from the accounting module. The version number is visible in the XML header of the generated file — look for the
AuditFileVersionattribute. -
Review your vendor’s release notes. The major ERP vendors active in the Norwegian market have planned v1.40 compliance updates. Verify whether your installed version already includes it or whether an upgrade is required.
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Validate a test file using the official tool. Skatteetaten provides an online validator. Generate a SAF-T v1.40 file for a test period (not the live fiscal year), submit it to the validator before end of November 2026 — this leaves you time to correct any errors before the deadline.
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Verify the Chart of Accounts / næringsspesifikasjon mapping. Version 1.40 retains the requirement to map to Norway’s fiscal classification system. If your chart of accounts was configured against pre-2025 standards, this mapping may require intervention from your implementation partner.
The Silent Non-Compliance Risk
The on-demand model of SAF-T creates a specific risk: a company can believe it is compliant until it receives a request from Skatteetaten and discovers its ERP is still generating v1.30. If no tax audit has taken place since 2025, this version check may never have been performed. This risk is particularly pronounced in organisations with cloud ERP instances not automatically updated, in-house customisations on the SAF-T module, or Norwegian subsidiaries of international groups managed from a head office that pays little attention to local compliance updates.
What to Watch Going Forward
The 2027 compliance calendar in Norway will be demanding: the same date of 1 January 2027 also sees the mandatory B2B e-invoicing requirement take effect (EHF 3.0 format via Peppol). IT teams at groups operating in Norway are therefore managing two distinct compliance projects in parallel. ERP vendors will need to demonstrate that their updates cover both requirements. On the SAF-T side specifically, Skatteetaten is expected to publish initial validation feedback from the second quarter of 2027, which will provide a real-world view of v1.40 adoption rates.
To frame Norway’s dual 2027 regulatory obligation, read our article on the Norway B2B e-invoicing mandate 2027 — Peppol/EHF mandatory and our analysis of Nordic ERP market consolidation to understand which vendors are best positioned to manage these transitions for their clients.
