Step-by-step guides for checking a UK company before you trade with it, lend to it, hire it or sell to it. Each guide answers the question first, then shows the detail with real Companies House filings.
Filleted accounts omit the profit and loss account; abridged accounts condense the figures with every member's consent. How to spot each, and the 2028 changes.
Accounts overdue means the filing deadline has passed. Deadlines, penalties from £150 to £1,500, strike-off risk and how to read the flag on a supplier.
Stop invoice and bank detail change fraud: check the supplier on Companies House, use Confirmation of Payee and verify any new bank details by phone.
Late filing penalties run from £150 to £1,500 for private companies and £750 to £7,500 for plcs, doubled for two late years. Appeals, extensions, strike-off.
12 warning signs on the Companies House register: default address CF14 8LH, overdue accounts, strike-off notices, director churn and overseas PSC chains.
Line up several years of Companies House accounts: which balance sheet lines to track, prior year columns, restatements, year end changes and red flags.
When a confirmation statement is overdue, the offence and fines, strike-off risk and how to check another company's statement due date.
Options for creditors when a company is dissolved: court restoration within 6 years, bona vacantia, claims against directors and when to walk away.
Checklist for buying a UK limited company or its assets: Companies House checks, charges, PSCs, Gazette notices, HMRC and bank records, share vs asset sale.
Why Companies House publishes a first Gazette notice, the two-month timeline to dissolution, how creditors object and what happens to debts owed.
Check a UK company in 10 minutes: status, filing history, overdue accounts, net assets trend, charges and Gazette notices, from free sources.
What free Companies House data tells you about liquidity, net assets and filing behaviour, how it compares with a paid credit report, in six steps.
UK turnover is public only if a company files its profit and loss account. Which accounts show it, where to find it and what to do when it is hidden.
How a creditor objects to a UK company strike-off: when to object, evidence Companies House accepts, deadlines and what to do in the 6 months after.
Line by line guide to UK micro, small and full accounts: fixed assets, creditors, net current assets, net assets and what each figure tells you.
Active on Companies House does not prove trading. What each company status means, dissolved vs active, signs of dormancy and what filing history shows.
Negative net assets alone do not mean insolvency. The two tests in s.123 Insolvency Act 1986, director-funded companies and what to check next.