Importing Data from Companies House
Firmcheck allows you to import company data from Companies House either manually or through a bulk import. The key difference between the two is that manual importing lets you review related parties at the time of import, while bulk importing requires a company number and is a quicker way to add multiple companies at once.
How to Import:
Bulk Import: Requires a company number for each company.
Manual Import: Search using a company number or company name.
What We Don’t Import:
Dissolved companies
Overseas companies (those with "OE" at the start of the company number)
Other exclusions may apply as we refine the integration
What Information Gets Imported?
When you import a company, Firmcheck automatically pulls in the following details:
Company Details:
Company name
Company type (e.g., Ltd, LLP)
Company number
Registered address
Related Parties:
Firmcheck imports all Active PSCs (Persons with Significant Control) and Active Officers (Directors, Shareholders, Secretaries) with:
First name, middle name, and last name
Month and year of birth (Companies House does not provide the day of birth)
Role(s) within the company
Duplicate Handling:
If a duplicate PSC or Officer is detected (same name and birth month/year), Firmcheck will merge them if they were also imported from Companies House.
Manually created records will not be merged.
Firmcheck also attempts to merge with existing people in your database to avoid duplicate entries (e.g., if a director appears in multiple companies).
Some common duplicate issues arise when secretaries do not have a birth month/year or if names are slightly different (e.g., "Matt" vs. "Matthew").
Company Records:
If a related party is a company, Firmcheck will import its name, number, registered address, and type.
At this stage, Firmcheck does not import PSCs and Officers of those companies. However, if you later convert the company to a client, their PSCs and Officers will be imported at that point.
Managing Imported Data
Editing Imported Companies
Once a company is imported, its name, type, number, and registered address cannot be edited directly in Firmcheck.
To update these details, first update them in Companies House, then use the “Pull Latest” button on the client profile page in Firmcheck to sync the latest information.
Managing Related Parties
You can edit the related parties, including:
Name corrections
Date of birth (if required)
Residential address additions
Role updates
You can also:
Convert related parties into clients if you work with them personally.
Add or remove related parties as needed.
Automatic Updates
At this time, related parties do not automatically update from Companies House.
We plan to introduce this feature in a future update.
Additional Notes
If a company appears in the import as a PSC or Officer, it will not automatically include its PSCs and Officers.
However, when converting that company to a client, these details will be imported.
Firmcheck’s Know Your Business (KYB) platform updates its data from Companies House overnight, ensuring you always have access to the latest information.
If you have any further questions about Companies House integration, feel free to reach out to our support team!