Check a supplier before the money leaves
The cheapest quote on Facebook Marketplace and the slick new supplier both want a deposit. Before you pay a business you have never used, we check what the registers actually say about them and send you a one page report within one business day. R290.
What the report covers
- CIPC registration and status: does the company exist, and is it In Business or in deregistration
- Directors: who they are and whether any appear on the disqualified directors register
- Age of the business: registered last month or trading for a decade
- Beneficial ownership: filed and current, or dodged
- Consistency: do the address, phone and names they gave you match the public record
- Web footprint: site age, reviews, and searches across scam report platforms
- An overall reading: no red flags, caution, or resolve the flagged items before paying. The report states what public registers and open sources showed on the date searched. It is our reading of those records, not a finding about the business or its people, and it must not be forwarded to the supplier or published.
The one thing no report can check
Nobody outside a bank can verify who owns an account number, which is exactly how deposit scams work: real company name, real looking invoice, criminal's account. So every report ends with the rule that actually protects you: before the first payment, phone the business on a number you found independently, not the one on the invoice, and confirm the banking details by voice. Thirty seconds, and it defeats the most common scam in the country.
What we check, and what it tells you
You are usually asking one of two questions: is this business real, and is it safe to rely on. These are the records that answer them.
- Does the company exist, and is it still active? The status is the whole answer. In Business is fine. AR Deregistration means CIPC is removing it for unfiled annual returns and it may cease to exist mid-contract. Final Deregistered means it legally does not exist and cannot hold a contract at all.
- Who actually runs it. Current directors or members with their appointment and resignation dates. This catches the common case where the person quoting you resigned two years ago and has no authority to bind anything.
- When it was registered. A company incorporated three weeks before a large tender is worth a second look.
- Its annual return position. Years outstanding is the cheapest available signal of whether anyone is minding the business.
- The registered address, against what you were told.
- Beneficial ownership where it has been filed, which shows the people behind the company rather than the front.
What we cannot tell you is whether they do good work. This checks the record, not the reputation. It is very good at catching what makes a supplier collapse mid-job, and useless at predicting whether the tiling will be straight.
What we need from you
- The registration number if you have it. It is the only unambiguous identifier.
- Or the exact company name as it appears on their quote or invoice. Similar names are extremely common, and checking the wrong one is worse than not checking.
- Anything they have told you that you want tested: who the director is, how long they have traded, what address they gave.
Frequently asked questions
What does the supplier check cover?
CIPC status, directors and disqualifications, business age, beneficial ownership, consistency between what they told you and the public record, and web footprint including scam searches. A documents and registers check, not a credit report.
Can you verify their banking details?
No service can reliably do that from outside a bank, which is how deposit scams work. The report includes the phone confirmation rule that actually protects you.
How fast is the report?
Within one business day of your order form being completed. Closing a deal today? Order in the morning and say so; deadline notes are read first.
Is a clean report a guarantee?
No. It proves the business is real, registered and consistent on the day checked. It removes the most expensive risk: paying a business that does not exist.
Check them before you pay
Order online, tell us who to check in the portal form, and the report is in your portal within one business day. R290.
Order a supplier checkNot sure this is the right one for you? Ask us first and you get a written answer within one business day.
More questions people ask
Is a clean report a guarantee the supplier will deliver?
No. It tells you the business is real, registered and consistent on the day checked, and whether any register level red flags exist. A real business can still deliver late or badly; the report removes the most expensive risk, which is paying a business that does not exist.
The report reflects public registers and sources on the date checked, is deleted from our systems after 90 days, and is not a credit report, a guarantee of delivery or conduct, or financial advice.