Set up and export Norwegian SAF-T files

Starting in January, 2020, companies in Norway must report financial data and provide a set of Standard Audit Files - Tax (SAF-T) to the Norwegian authorities upon request. This extension makes it easy to set up, generate, and export Standard Audit Files - Tax in [!INCLUDE[prod_short](../../includes/prod_short.md)]. By default, the exported SAF-T files are automatically compressed as a ZIP file ready for you to upload on the website of Skatteetaten, the Norwegian tax authorities.

Hinweis

Starting with version 25.3, [!INCLUDE[prod_short](../../includes/prod_short.md)] in Norway supports SAF-T versions 1.20 and 1.30, as the newer version is required in 2025. Earlier versions only support the SAF-T 1.20 format.

What does this extension handle?

This extension provides the following capabilities:

  • Choosing SAF-T version for reporting.
  • Setup and mapping of chart of accounts to SAF-T standard accounts.
  • Mapping VAT setup to SAF-T VAT codes.
  • Control to which extent dimensions are exported in SAF-T files.
  • Export SAF-T files, either directly or by using parallel background jobs. Background processing lets you schedule the export to occur during quiet hours, which is useful for potentially large datasets.

Set up the Norwegian SAF-T extension

Set up the SAF-T extension through Assisted Setup, which provides a step-by-step guide to get started with SAF-T in [!INCLUDE[prod_short](../../includes/prod_short.md)]. If needed, you can run the guide several times until you finish the setup.

On the SAF-T Setup page, use Default Version to choose 1.20 or 1.30 for new exports. You can also change Version on each SAF-T Export. The assisted setup guide configures mappings, not the export version.

  1. [!INCLUDE [open-search](../../includes/open-search.md)], enter Assisted Setup, and then choose Assisted Setup.
  2. Choose Set up SAF-T.
  3. The first page in the setup guide explains what you are about to set up. Choose Next.
  4. In the Mapping Type field, choose Two Digit Standard Account, Four Digit Standard Account, or Income Statement, and then choose Next. If the source files aren't loaded, import them as described in Import mapping source files on-premises before choosing Next.
  5. To define the period for the first SAF-T reporting, choose Accounting Period to fill in the fiscal year's starting and ending dates, or enter Starting Date and Ending Date for a custom range. Confirm the dates, and then choose Next.
  6. To map your chart of accounts to the SAF-T accounts, choose Open the setup page to define G/L account mappings. Map every G/L account listed. For accounts without an applicable mapping, use NA. For version 1.30, both Category No. and No. must be filled in. When finished, close SAF-T Mapping Setup, and then choose Next in the setup guide.
  7. To map the VAT posting setup to standard sales and purchase SAF-T tax codes, choose Open the setup page to define a VAT Posting Setup mapping. Assign Sales VAT Reporting Code and Purchase VAT Reporting Code as relevant to each combination. When finished, close SAF-T VAT Posting Setup, and then choose Next in the setup guide.
  8. Choose Open the setup page to define which dimensions to export to SAF-T. On the Dimensions page, select Export to SAF-T for dimensions to include, and clear it for dimensions to exclude. Close the page, and then choose Next.
  9. To specify the employee who is the SAF-T contact in your company, choose the employee in the Employee No. field. This is useful when Norwegian authorities have questions about the SAF-T files. When finished, choose Next.
  10. The setup of SAF-T is now finished. Choose Finish.
Hinweis

Both dates must be filled in. Accounting Period lets you select the start of a fiscal year, which must have an ending date. Entering either date manually changes Range Type to Date Range.

Green G/L Account No. values identify accounts with a nonzero net change for the range. Include Incoming Balance also considers earlier postings for balance sheet accounts. This highlighting doesn't limit which accounts require mapping. For standard-account mapping, you can use Match chart of accounts to match existing account numbers. If your chart of accounts is empty, Create chart of accounts can create it from the selected standard accounts.

Norwegian authorities recommend that you export dimensions for financial transactions. However, you might want to exclude internal dimensions that don't provide value to auditors. Only dimensions with Export to SAF-T selected are included. Export checks still require a SAF-T Analysis Type for every dimension, including excluded dimensions. The employee selected as the contact must also be specified before export.

Hinweis

The mappings are tied to the date range you specified. You can create additional mappings for other periods without changing the mapping you already created. You can also copy mappings from previously made setups. This is to ensure that you can report SAF-T for different periods while managing changes in your chart of accounts.

Import mapping source files on-premises

For [!INCLUDE[prod_short](../../includes/prod_short.md)] on-premises, load the mapping sources before continuing from the Mapping Type step. Next is available only when both the selected account-mapping sources and the standard tax code source are loaded.

  1. Download the SAF-T mapping files from Skatteetaten's repository on GitHub.
  2. In the guide, choose Import the source files for mapping to open SAF-T Mapping Source.
  3. Select each required source record, choose Update, and import the matching XML file. Include the Standard Tax Code source and the sources for your mapping type. For Income Statement, import files for all records with that Source Type.
  4. Close the page, and then choose Next in the guide.

Export SAF-T files

To export SAF-T files from [!INCLUDE[prod_short](../../includes/prod_short.md)], you must first create and set up a SAF-T Export to define the mapping range. For example, you can define a mapping and export the entire year of 2019, and another mapping for just the month of April 2019 if the authorities ask you to provide this data specifically.

Create an export of SAF-T files

  1. [!INCLUDE [open-search](../../includes/open-search.md)], enter SAF-T Exports, and then choose SAF-T Exports.
  2. On the SAF-T Exports page, choose New.
  3. On the SAF-T Export page, choose Version and Mapping Range Code. The mapping range fills in Starting Date and Ending Date. Adjust these dates if needed for the requested export.
  4. Choose how to process the export:
    • To export immediately in the current session, clear Parallel Processing.
    • To use background jobs, select Parallel Processing, specify Max No. Of Jobs, and set Earliest Start Date/Time.
  5. Choose Start.
  6. To check the status of the SAF-T file generation, look at the Lines section in the lower part of this page.
  7. When all files are generated, choose Download Files on the SAF-T Export card. On SAF-T Export Files, select each file and choose Download File to download the ZIP files for upload to Skatteetaten.
Hinweis

Parallel Processing is available only when the task scheduler can create tasks. It is selected by default when tasks are available. If you leave Earliest Start Date/Time blank, starting the export prompts you to use the current date and time.

For on-premises exports to a folder, retrieve the generated files from Folder Path instead.

SAF-T files and data quality

You can configure [!INCLUDE[prod_short](../../includes/prod_short.md)] with extra data quality validation controls that help make sure that your SAF-T files can be validated by Skatteetaten. For example, SAF-T files can only be validated when certain information exists on relevant records in [!INCLUDE[prod_short](../../includes/prod_short.md)]. To help ensure data quality for SAF-T, you can enable more proactive controls on the Data Quality FastTab on the SAF-T Setup page. Additionally, on the SAF-T Export card page, use the Data check action to check the data quality before you export the file.

Starting an export also checks G/L mappings, dimension analysis types, sales and purchase SAF-T tax codes, source-code mappings, and the company contact. On Source Codes, each source code needs a SAF-T Source Code. Resolve any errors shown before exporting.

Hinweis

By default, SAF-T exports generate one XML file with master data and separate XML files for months that contain G/L entries. Consider the number of transactions in the export period and adjust Max No. Of Jobs accordingly. As a general recommendation, start with three parallel jobs, which is the default, to leave resources for other [!INCLUDE[prod_short](../../includes/prod_short.md)] users.

For [!INCLUDE[prod_short](../../includes/prod_short.md)] online, XML data and generated ZIP files are stored in the database. Folder Path isn't available. On-premises, you can use the database or specify an empty folder accessible to the server, such as a network share, in Folder Path. When you specify a folder, the XML files and generated ZIP files are saved there.

Wichtig

Due to the nature of exporting transactions, exporting SAF-T files impacts performance of [!INCLUDE[prod_short](../../includes/prod_short.md)].

There are a couple of things you can do to improve performance:

  • Split By Date:

    This option groups general ledger entries by day instead of by month, which can improve performance. It clears Split By Month. Only days that contain G/L entries get an export line. If you clear both options, the entries are exported in one XML file for the full range, in addition to the master data file.

  • Disable Zip File Generation:

    For [!INCLUDE[prod_short](../../includes/prod_short.md)] on-premises, select this option to export raw XML without generating ZIP files. It requires Folder Path and clears Create Multiple Zip Files. You can compress the XML files manually, which saves server resources. SAF-T files can be large, and compression can affect server performance.

  • Create Multiple Zip Files:

    For both online and on-premises, this option distributes the XML files across up to 10 ZIP files. This can help when a single ZIP file is too large for the authorities' website. The split is based on the number of XML files, not their size. It doesn't split an individual XML file or guarantee a maximum ZIP file size. The option clears Disable Zip File Generation. On the SAF-T Export card, Download Files opens SAF-T Export Files, where you download files one by one. For folder exports on-premises, retrieve the ZIP files from Folder Path.

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