When a law firm relocates, much of the focus is on how the premises feel to clients. We have written about that in Offices for law firms in Oslo. For accounting and audit firms, the picture is almost the opposite. Clients visit less often, and the work is screen-heavy and driven by deadlines. Regnskap Norge, the Norwegian accounting industry association, has found that profitability in the accounting industry is determined almost entirely by how well a firm manages its salary costs. That makes it all the more important to keep other fixed costs down, and rent is one of them.
We regularly see accounting firms that contact us asking for three things: a quiet place to work, secure handling of client information and rent that is predictable over several years. The industry is large. At the end of 2024 there were 12,807 state-authorised accountants and 2,469 accounting firms in Norway, according to Regnskap Norge. The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (Finanstilsynet) also counts 435 audit firms. The ten largest accounting providers account for around 38 percent of revenue, but most firms are small or medium-sized. This guide is written for them.
Calm and concentration rather than representation
Much of the work in an accounting firm requires concentration: reconciliations, year-end closing, reviewing vouchers and audit procedures. Regnskap Norge points out that automation in the industry has not led to fewer employees. In other words, the need for space does not shrink on its own just because the systems get smarter.
A firm therefore needs, above all, good workstations with little noise. Some choose private offices, but many do well with an open-plan layout that has clearly defined quiet zones and a couple of enclosed rooms for phone calls and client conversations. There is little need for a representative reception, and the same goes for large meeting rooms. Two or three smaller meeting rooms are often enough. If the premises are in a building with shared meeting rooms and a canteen, the firm can save on its own floor space. The money a law firm spends on marble and views gives an accounting firm a better return when it goes into good chairs, screens and acoustics.
Confidentiality and protecting client data
Section 4-2 of the Norwegian Accountants Act (regnskapsførerloven) requires an accounting firm to prevent unauthorised persons from gaining access to or knowledge of information the firm receives in the course of its business. Section 10-1 of the Auditors Act (revisorloven) sets out a corresponding duty for audit firms. Accounting firms must also follow the industry standard for good accounting practice (GRFS). It requires accounting data and records to be adequately protected against unauthorised access, and access to be limited to those who need it to carry out the engagement. Everyone with access to clients' accounting records must have signed a confidentiality agreement.
The law says nothing about what the premises should look like. It requires an outcome, and the premises must make that outcome easy to achieve in practice. During a viewing, it pays to look for access control with cards or fobs, lockable storage and good sound insulation between rooms. Also check whether screens can be seen from the corridor or from street level. A shared office or coworking can work well for a smaller firm, provided it has its own lockable rooms and clear routines for what happens in the shared areas.
Archive needs are shrinking, but not disappearing
Under the Norwegian Bookkeeping Act (bokføringsloven), primary documentation must as a general rule be kept for five years after the end of the financial year. Secondary documentation must be kept for three years and six months. The retention period for primary documentation was reduced from ten to five years in 2015. The party subject to bookkeeping requirements can choose whether to store records on paper or electronically.
The law therefore allows the archive to be entirely digital. Before an archive room ends up on the list of requirements, it pays to work out what it costs. An archive room of 15 square metres at NOK 3,000 per square metre costs NOK 45,000 a year in rent, before service charges. Map out how much paper the firm actually needs to keep on hand, and consider whether a couple of lockable cabinets could do the same job.
Seasonal peaks and how much space you need
The accounting year has a clear rhythm. The shareholder register statement must be filed by 31 January, and the tax return for businesses by 31 May. The general meeting must approve the annual accounts by 30 June, and the annual accounts must be submitted to the Register of Company Accounts by 31 July. Pressure builds from the new year and stays high well into early summer, while the rest of the year is more even.
It is tempting to size the premises for the busiest weeks, but then the firm pays for empty desks for much of the year. We recommend sizing for normal operations and planning for the peaks instead. A few extra flex desks, an agreement for meeting rooms or coworking in the same building and an option on additional space in the lease give flexibility without a fixed cost.
A common rule of thumb is 15 to 25 square metres of gross area per employee. We look at this in more detail in How many square metres of office space do you need per employee? Accounting firms often land in the middle of that range. Employees spend a lot of time in the office and share desks less often than in consulting and advisory firms, but they need little representational space. A firm with 20 employees will then typically end up with around 360 to 400 square metres.
Beyond the most expensive districts
This is where most firms stand to gain the most. Spacefinder's overview of office rents in the Oslo area for 2025 shows large differences between districts. For high-standard premises, rent is NOK 5,600 to 6,400 per square metre per year in Vika and Aker Brygge, and NOK 4,800 to 5,700 in Bjørvika. At Skøyen the level is NOK 3,500 to 4,250. Move a little further out and prices fall considerably: Helsfyr is at NOK 2,400 to 2,900 and Lysaker at NOK 2,200 to 2,700.
The difference becomes clear once you do the maths. A firm with 400 square metres pays around NOK 2.4 million a year in Vika at NOK 6,000 per square metre. At Helsfyr, at NOK 2,600 per square metre, it comes to around NOK 1 million. That is a difference of NOK 1.4 million a year in rent alone. You will find more figures in What does it cost to rent an office in Oslo.
The outer districts are also no longer a necessary compromise. UNION has described how many large tenants have moved from the city centre to Bryn, Helsfyr and Økern, because they could lease new buildings there at considerably lower rents. Nydalen and Storo form another established office district in the north of the city. Lysaker has good train and bus connections west of the city.
Public transport matters for another reason too. Regnskap Norge's salary survey from December 2025 shows that managers in the industry expect to hire around 2,000 new employees over the coming year. Regnskap Norge also points out that retirement cohorts are growing. An office that is easy to get to is an argument in recruitment.
The city centre or Skøyen can still be the right choice for firms that work closely with larger companies in the centre, or where advisory work makes up a large part of the business. In that case, the address should be a choice the firm makes because its client base requires it, not out of habit.
Where is the industry today?
The largest audit firms are still centrally located. In April 2025, KPMG moved from Majorstuen to Bjørvika with close to 1,300 employees from its Oslo office. At the same time, the firm went from 16 floors to 3¼, according to CEO Rune Skjelvan. PwC has signed an agreement to move from Bjørvika to Over Spektrum next to Oslo Central Station, where it will occupy 16 of 26 floors when the building is scheduled for completion in 2028 or 2029. Deloitte is also based in Bjørvika.
Even the largest players, then, are prioritising efficient space over a large number of square metres. We see the same thinking among smaller firms. Azets in Drammen moved from large but worn-out offices outside the city centre to a shared office centrally located in the city. There, the firm has 91 square metres of its own office space and shares meeting rooms and a canteen with the other tenants.
A few practical tips to finish
Start with the total cost, not the price per square metre. Service charges, fit-out, moving and furniture can change the calculation considerably, and we have written a separate guide on how to calculate the total cost of office space.
Size the premises for an ordinary week, not for May. Handle the peaks with flex desks, meeting room agreements or optional additional space.
Use the viewing to test security and acoustics in practice. Go through where client records will be stored, who has access to the floor, and what it sounds like in a meeting room when someone is talking in the room next door.
Finally, think through the length of the lease. Many firms prefer predictability and are happy to commit for three to five years. It is then important to know how CPI adjustment will affect the rent over the period, and the CPI calculator gives a quick estimate.
At Spacefinder, we help accounting and audit firms map out their needs and find the right options in the market, at no cost to the tenant. Feel free to get in touch for a no-obligation needs assessment.
Sources: Regnskap Norge (annual report 2024, industry fact page and salary survey 2025), Finanstilsynet (annual report 2024), Lovdata (Accountants Act, Auditors Act and Bookkeeping Act), Good Accounting Practice (GRFS, 2023), Norwegian Tax Administration (2015), UNION (2024), KPMG (2025), Aspelin Reitan Eiendom (2026), Kontorhuset (2025), Spacefinder (2025).
