What do you do yourself, and what do you outsource?

You can do everything yourself, outsource everything, or split it. The split model is often the cheapest: you invoice, send records and approve payments, while the accountant handles checking, reconciliation, VAT, payroll and the year-end close. What matters is not how much is outsourced, but that no task falls between two stools – and that is settled by the engagement agreement.

The question is rarely what you are allowed to do

If you run the business yourself, you can keep the books, reconcile, run payroll, file the VAT return and handle the annual reporting yourself. You do not have to be a state-authorised accountant to keep the accounts of a business you own or work in. The approval requirement applies where someone takes on accounting for others as an external service. The useful question is therefore a different one: what is it worth spending your time on, and how much risk do you want to handle yourself? Whether you need outside help at all is covered in Do you need an accountant?

Keep what you know best

You know what was sold, why an expense was incurred, who is to be invoiced and what agreements the business has entered into. The accountant does not, until someone tells them. Some tasks are therefore both simple and efficient to keep. Invoicing. You know the customer, the delivery, the price and the timing. Use the same system as your accountant and the invoice is already in the accounts. Receipts and records. Photograph the purchase when it happens, or forward the invoice straight away. You do not have to decide the account and the VAT code – you have to deliver complete documentation and explain what the purchase was for. Approving payments. The accountant prepares, you approve. That gives efficiency and one more check before the money goes out.

Outsource what requires knowing the rules

The more a task requires knowledge of the rules, reconciliation or professional judgement, the greater the gain from outsourcing it. That the bank account shows NOK 100,000 does not mean the accounts do. The bank has to be reconciled against the bookkeeping, and customer and supplier items followed up. Regular reconciliations find payments without records, double entries, unpaid invoices, misposted items, old ledger balances and differences against the public filings. That is often a natural task for the accountant even where the client does much of the bookkeeping.

VAT is simple – until it is not

A business with ordinary Norwegian purchases and sales can have very simple VAT. The complexity rises quickly with purchases from abroad, sales abroad, several rates, the reverse charge, vehicle costs, entertaining, a combination of VAT-liable and out-of-scope activity, and the adjustment rules for larger investments. A receipt showing VAT is also not enough. The business actually has to have a right to deduct – see VAT deductions Many clients therefore handle the simple record flow themselves and let the accountant check the VAT treatment and file the return.

Payroll has become more time-sensitive

Payroll is more than transferring the net amount. The employer has to handle the tax card, the advance deduction, employer's contributions, holiday pay, any benefits in kind and the a-melding. From 1 January 2026 the tax withholding account was abolished. The advance deduction now goes directly to Skatteetaten by the first working day after the salary payment. The a-melding is still due on the 5th of the following month. For one person on a fixed salary that is manageable yourself. With several employees, hourly pay, bonuses, sickness absence, a company car or electronic communication it quickly becomes more demanding. What has to happen each month is in A monthly checklist for the payroll run

Responsibility does not follow the task

This is the most common misunderstanding, and it is worth saying plainly. Outsourcing the accounts moves the work – not the business's own obligations. For a limited company the board still has to keep itself informed about the financial position and ensure adequate control over the business, the accounts and the management of assets. Where there is a general manager, they have to make sure the accounts comply with the law. In a sole proprietorship the owner is responsible. The accountant is not without responsibility either. An approved firm has its own statutory duties under the Accountants Act and good accounting practice. Both parties have responsibility – each for their own part.

The accountant has to speak up about errors

An external accountant does not simply file the figures the client provides. The Accountants Act requires the accountant to assess the key internal routines that matter for the engagement. Where breaches of the bookkeeping, accounting, company, tax or duty rules are found through the work, they have to be raised with the client. Material breaches have to be raised in writing. Where the client makes it impossible to carry out the engagement properly, the accountant can be obliged to end it. That is a real part of the value of using an approved firm – and a reason why an accountant who never asks questions is not necessarily the best one.

Three models that are actually used

1. You do nearly everything yourself. Suits a small sole proprietorship with no employees and few transactions. You invoice, keep the books, reconcile and report, and perhaps buy a few hours of help with the year-end close. Low cost, but you have to keep up to date yourself. 2. You split the work. Often the most cost-effective. You invoice, send records, explain unusual transactions, approve payments and provide the payroll data. The accountant books or quality-checks, reconciles, follows up VAT, runs payroll where agreed, reports and carries out the year-end close. 3. You outsource nearly everything. Suits where your time is worth more on customers and operations. Costs more, requires less internally.

An unclear division is worse than either extreme

This is what makes the hybrid model risky when it is not written down. Where you keep the books and the accountant only checks and files the VAT return, both have to know who books what, when the bookkeeping has to be finished, who reconciles, what documentation is to be delivered, who corrects errors and who actually files the return. If one of those falls between two stools, the result is often a deadline nobody realised they owned. That is why section 5-2 of the Accountants Act requires a written engagement agreement, and why good accounting practice puts so much weight on the division of work. What the agreement should contain is in The engagement agreement with your accountant

Do not guess at these

A practical rule: automate the repeatable, do yourself what you know, and ask when the treatment requires a judgement you do not understand. Be particularly careful about guessing at VAT deductions, payroll and benefits in kind, tax, shareholder loans and private withdrawals, dividends, buying and selling larger assets, foreign transactions, reorganisations and the year-end close. That a «loan» from your own company can be taxed as a dividend is a typical example of a mistake that is cheap to avoid and expensive to correct – see Loans from your own company

The right amount of self-help is not the maximum

Doing more yourself only reduces the bill where the tasks are actually done correctly and on time. The most effective thing is rarely to do as much bookkeeping as possible yourself. It is to invoice continuously, deliver records immediately, use the same system as your accountant, keep private finances separate, explain unusual purchases, answer questions quickly and approve payments on time. That way the accountant does not spend billed time hunting for documentation and reconstructing what happened. Putting things right almost always costs more than keeping order. At Greenleaf the division of work is agreed at the start and described in the engagement agreement. What it costs is on Accounting prices

This is general guidance, not advice on your specific case. Deadlines, rates and amounts change – always check the current rules, or get in touch with us.

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