The Brønnøysund Register Centre

Once you have chosen a legal form, the business has to be registered. In Norway, all registration is gathered at the Brønnøysund Register Centre, and almost everything is done digitally through Altinn. If you understand the difference between the various registers, the rest of the start-up becomes much easier.

Enhetsregisteret vs. Foretaksregisteret

Brønnøysund manages several registers, but two are central for the founder.

The Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities (Enhetsregisteret) is the base register. It holds basic information about every registered entity — name, address, organisational form and roles — and it is here that you are assigned an organisation number. Almost every business must or should be here.

The Register of Business Enterprises (Foretaksregisteret) is the register of commercial enterprises. Registration here gives the enterprise legal protection for its name and confirms that it is lawfully established. An AS, an ANS/DA and an NUF must be registered in Foretaksregisteret. An ENK must register here in certain cases — for example if you trade in goods (buying goods in for resale) or have more than five employees — but for many sole proprietorships, Enhetsregisteret is enough. Registration in Foretaksregisteret carries a fee; you will find the current rate at the Brønnøysund Register Centre.

The organisation number

When registration is approved, the business receives a nine-digit organisation number. This number is the business's identity in every public and commercial context. You need it to open a business bank account, to send invoices, to register for value added tax, to hire people and to report to the authorities. The number must also appear on your invoices. In short: without an organisation number, you cannot get going.

The coordinated register notification via Altinn

You do not have to send separate notifications to each register. The coordinated register notification (Samordnet registermelding) is a single form that registers the business in several registers at once — Enhetsregisteret, Foretaksregisteret, the VAT Register and NAV's employer and employee register where relevant.

In practice you complete the notification digitally via Altinn (the service "Register a new enterprise" / "Coordinated register notification"). You log in with an electronic ID, enter details of the form, name, address, roles and purpose, and those with signing authority confirm the notification electronically. For an AS you also attach the memorandum of association. Processing time varies, and you receive the answer digitally once the entity is registered.

An important practical point is roles and signing authority: already in the register notification you decide who can act on behalf of the business — who is general manager, board members, contact person and who holds power of procuration or signature. These roles also govern who gets access to the business's messages and services in Altinn later.

How the duty to register depends on the form

In short: an AS must always be registered in Foretaksregisteret, and the company is not regarded as lawfully established until that is done. An ENK can in many cases make do with Enhetsregisteret, but must enter Foretaksregisteret for goods trading, many employees or when you want name protection. An ANS/DA must be registered in Foretaksregisteret. If you are unsure what applies to your form, Brønnøysund and Altinn provide guidance as you go through the notification itself.

Name and beneficial owners

Two more things are worth knowing before you register. First, the name: a limited company must have "AS" or "aksjeselskap" as part of its business name, and the name must be sufficiently distinct from others. Use the name search at Brønnøysund to check that the name is available, and remember that registration in Foretaksregisteret gives the name a legal protection that mere registration in Enhetsregisteret does not. Second, most companies must register their beneficial owners — the natural persons who ultimately own or control the business. This is a separate requirement meant to make ownership open and traceable, and it too is done via Brønnøysund. Both take a few minutes, but are easy to forget in the rush.

Do this now

Establish which registers your chosen legal form requires. Log in to Altinn and find "Register a new enterprise". Gather what you need before you start filling in: the business name (check that it is available in the name search at Brønnøysund), the address, the purpose, and the national identity numbers and roles of everyone who will be listed. Then the registration itself goes quickly.