norwegian-accounting-automation

---

name: norwegian-accounting-automation description: Automate Norwegian small business accounting using the Fiken API, Folio API, and Google Workspace CLI (gws). Covers processing invoices, matching bank transactions, booking expenses/sales, uploading attachments, and reconciling card charges. Use when the user wants to automate bookkeeping, process invoices, book expenses in Fiken, handle Folio card transactions, reconcile Vipps settlements, or integrate Gmail invoice search with accounting software. Also use when the user mentions Fiken, Folio, Norwegian accounting, regnskap, or MVA/VAT handling for Norwegian businesses.

Norwegian Accounting Automation

Automate bookkeeping for Norwegian small businesses (ENK/AS) using:

• Fiken — accounting software with REST API
• Folio — business card/banking with REST API
• Google Workspace CLI (gws) — search Gmail for invoices and download attachments

Prerequisites

1. Install Google Workspace CLI

npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli
gws auth setup
gws auth login -s gmail

See gws-setup.md for detailed setup instructions.

2. Fiken API Key

1. Log in to fiken.no
2. Go to Innstillinger → API and create an API token
3. Store as FIKEN_API_KEY in .env

Base URL: https://api.fiken.no/api/v2 Auth: Authorization: Bearer {FIKEN_API_KEY} Docs: https://api.fiken.no/api/v2/docs

3. Folio API Key

1. Log in to the Folio app
2. Go to Settings → Integrations → API and create a key
3. Store as FOLIO_API_KEY in .env

Base URL: https://api.folio.no/v2 Auth: Authorization: Bearer {FOLIO_API_KEY} Docs: https://dev.api.folio.no/v2/api

4. Find your Fiken company slug

curl -s "https://api.fiken.no/api/v2/companies" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FIKEN_API_KEY" | jq '.[].slug'

Use this slug in all Fiken API paths: /companies/{slug}/...

Core Concepts

Norwegian VAT Types in Fiken

vatType	When to use	netPrice	vat
HIGH	Norwegian 25% VAT	gross / 1.25	gross - net
HIGH_FOREIGN_SERVICE_DEDUCTIBLE	Foreign SaaS/services (USD/EUR/GBP). Triggers reverse charge.	Full NOK amount	0
NONE	Foreign physical goods (import VAT via customs)	Full NOK amount	0

All amounts in Fiken are in øre (1 NOK = 100). E.g. 438.00 NOK = 43800.

VAT types are account-specific. HIGH_FOREIGN_SERVICE_DEDUCTIBLE is NOT valid on all accounts. Check error messages for valid codes per account.

Common Fiken Expense Accounts

Account	Description	Typical use
6553	Programvare	SaaS subscriptions
7321	Reklamekostnad	Marketing/advertising
6100	Frakt/transport	Shipping costs
6800	Kontorrekvisita	Office/packaging supplies
1200	Inventar/eiendeler	Physical equipment
4300	Varekjøp	Goods for resale
3000	Salgsinntekt	Revenue

Payment Accounts

Code	Description
2062	Privatutlegg (personal card reimbursement)
1920:NNNNN	Business bank card (Folio-kort, DNB, etc.)
1960:NNNNN	Payment service accounts (Vipps, Stripe)

Find your payment account codes:

curl -s "https://api.fiken.no/api/v2/companies/{slug}/bankAccounts" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FIKEN_API_KEY" | jq '.[] | {name, accountCode}'

Workflows

A. Book an expense (purchase) in Fiken

curl -X POST "https://api.fiken.no/api/v2/companies/{slug}/purchases" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FIKEN_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "date": "2025-01-02",
    "kind": "cash_purchase",
    "currency": "NOK",
    "paid": true,
    "lines": [{
      "description": "Service name (2025-01-02)",
      "account": "6553",
      "netPrice": 36970,
      "vat": 0,
      "vatType": "HIGH_FOREIGN_SERVICE_DEDUCTIBLE"
    }],
    "paymentAccount": "1920:10003",
    "paymentDate": "2025-01-02"
  }'

For Norwegian vendors with 25% VAT:

{
  "lines": [{
    "account": "6553",
    "netPrice": 15920,
    "vat": 3980,
    "vatType": "HIGH"
  }]
}

B. Attach a PDF to a Fiken purchase

curl -X POST "https://api.fiken.no/api/v2/companies/{slug}/purchases/{purchaseId}/attachments" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FIKEN_API_KEY" \
  -F "filename=Invoice.pdf" \
  -F "attachToSale=true" \
  -F "file=@/path/to/Invoice.pdf;type=application/pdf"

C. Fetch and filter Folio card transactions

curl -s "https://api.folio.no/v2/events?startDate=2025-01-01&endDate=2025-06-30" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOLIO_API_KEY"

The v2 REST API does not provide a search parameter on /events. Fetch by date range and filter client-side.

Prefer structured event fields such as cardAuthorization.merchantName when available. Use transactions[].description as a fallback for parsing card suffix, currency, foreign amount, and exchange rate.

D. Upload attachment to a Folio event

Folio uses raw binary body — NOT multipart/form-data:

curl -X POST "https://api.folio.no/v2/events/{eventId}/attachments" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOLIO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/pdf" \
  -H 'Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Invoice.pdf"' \
  --data-binary @/path/to/Invoice.pdf

E. Mark a Folio event complete

curl -X POST "https://api.folio.no/v2/events/{eventId}/complete" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOLIO_API_KEY"

Returns HTTP 202 (Accepted).

F. Search Gmail for invoices

gws gmail users messages list --params '{"userId":"me","q":"vendor invoice 2025"}'
gws gmail users messages get --params '{"userId":"me","id":"MSG_ID","format":"full"}'
gws gmail users messages attachments get \
  --params '{"userId":"me","messageId":"MSG_ID","id":"ATTACHMENT_ID"}'

Gmail attachment data is URL-safe base64: replace - with +, _ with /, add = padding before decoding.

G. Create a sale in Fiken (e.g. Vipps settlements)

curl -X POST "https://api.fiken.no/api/v2/companies/{slug}/sales" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FIKEN_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "date": "2025-11-06",
    "kind": "external_invoice",
    "currency": "NOK",
    "lines": [{
      "description": "Vipps settlement 2005799",
      "netPrice": 159920,
      "vat": 39980,
      "account": "3000",
      "vatType": "HIGH"
    }],
    "customerId": 12345678,
    "paid": true,
    "totalPaid": 199900,
    "paymentAccount": "1960:10002",
    "paymentDate": "2025-11-06"
  }'

totalPaid is required when paid: true.

Automation Strategies

For detailed patterns on batch processing, dedup logic, and vendor classification, see automation-patterns.md.

For complete API reference and gotchas, see api-reference.md.

Batch booking card charges

The most powerful automation: classify all card charges by vendor keyword, determine the correct Fiken account and VAT type, and create purchases in bulk.

1. Fetch all Folio events for the period (split into H1/H2 for large sets)
2. Filter for card charges (outgoing, identified by card number prefix)
3. Classify each by vendor keyword → Fiken account + VAT type
4. Fetch existing Fiken purchases to avoid duplicates (match on date + amount)
5. Create cash_purchase for each unbooked charge with paymentAccount matching the bank card account
6. Handle duplicate amounts on same date by counting occurrences

Folio → Fiken Superføring

When you create a Fiken purchase/sale with the correct paymentAccount, it auto-matches the bank line in Fiken's "Superføring" (bank feed matching). This eliminates manual bank reconciliation.

Personal card expenses (Privatutlegg)

For business expenses paid with a personal card, book in Fiken with paymentAccount: "2062". This creates a liability that can be reimbursed.