Kompanies

How the Company Score works

Every UK limited company with filed accounts gets a Kompanies Company Score from 0 to 100 and a grade from A to E. It is worked out only from public records, so anyone can check a company before doing business with it.

The grades

The grades describe risk seen in the public record. They say nothing about the honesty of the people involved.

The four parts

The score adds up four parts, each marked from 0 to 100: filing behaviour counts for 25%, financial strength 30%, risk events 25% and governance 20%.

Rounding: Numbers are rounded to the nearest whole point (or the decimals shown); halves round up, so 76.5 shows as 77.

Filing behaviour (25%)

Starts at 100. Accounts overdue: −20 if under a week, −35 if over a week, −50 if over 30 days. Confirmation statement overdue: −15. Last accounts were full accounts: +10; abridged or filleted: −5; dormant: −25; micro-entity accounts: no change. Accounts filed within the last 6 months: +5. Last accounts made up to a date more than 18 months ago: −10.

Financial strength (30%)

Starts at 50, using the latest filed accounts. Liquidity (current assets divided by creditors due within a year): 1.5 or more +15, 1.2 or more +5, under 1.0 −10, under 0.8 −20. Net assets: over £1 million +15, over £100,000 +10, negative −15, below −£50,000 −25. Liabilities against equity (all creditors divided by net assets): 0.5 or less +5, up to 2 −5, over 2 or with no positive net assets −15. Working capital compared with the year before: up more than 10% +10, down more than 10% −15. Without filed accounts this part can't be worked out.

Risk events (25%)

Starts at 100. Any insolvency history −50; none +10. In liquidation −60; in administration −45. Charges (secured loans): more than two created in the last 12 months −25, one or two −10; more than three outstanding −8, any outstanding −3, none outstanding +5.

Governance (20%)

Starts at 50. Company age: 10 years or more +30, 5 or more +20, 3 or more +10, 2 or more +5, under 2 −15. Current directors: three or more +10, two +5, one −5. A director serving 5 years or more +10. Three or more directors appointed in the last 6 months −5. Directors linked to other companies dissolved in the last 5 years: one or two −10, three or more −25.

Limits on the grade

Each part stays between 0 and 100. A company with negative net assets is graded C at best; any insolvency history means D at best; a company in liquidation is graded E. A dissolved company has no score and is shown as "No longer trading".

Data completeness

Next to every score we show how complete the data is: the share of the six inputs we hold for that company (latest accounts, the year before, charges, insolvency, directors and directors' other companies). If a company is too young to have filed its first accounts, we show "Too new to score" instead of a grade. If an older company's records are not all in yet and we hold less than half of the inputs, we show "Not enough data yet".

Where the data comes from

Accounts figures come from the accounts each company files with the registrar, read from the registrar's free accounts data; about three in four companies file their accounts in this form. Status, deadlines, directors, charges and insolvency notices come from the official register. Each score shows the date it was last worked out.

Recommended credit limit

Shown as an indication only: the smaller of 10% of net assets and 5% of current assets from the latest accounts, multiplied by a grade factor (A 1, B 0.75, C 0.5, D 0.25, E 0) and rounded down to the nearest £100. We suggest no limit when net assets are negative or not known.

The Company Score is not financial advice or a lending decision. It is a summary of what the public record shows.

Think a score is wrong?

Email hello@kompanies.co.uk with the company number. We check the public record and correct any error within 5 working days.