Company watch · free with Barbara
Companies House alerts for every customer and supplier.
Barbara matches the customers and suppliers in your Xero to Companies House and checks each one every day. If one is in trouble, your approvers hear about it with what it means for you: how much they owe you, or you owe them.
Company watch · Acme Plumbing Ltd
Northside Builders Ltd is now in liquidation
Customer · owes you £8,420.50
Harbour Lettings Ltd is late filing its accounts
Customer · owes you £2,100.00
Pipeworks Direct Ltd: new director
Supplier · you owe £640.00
What it watches
The changes that matter to your money
Insolvency
Liquidation, administration or a new insolvency case, so you can stop supplying or chase what you’re owed.
Strike-off
A notice that the company is being struck off the register.
Late filing
Accounts or confirmation statement overdue: often an early sign of trouble.
New directors
Director changes, worth knowing about before you pay a supplier.
Fake invoice warning
The approval card warns you if a bill’s supplier is dissolved, insolvent, being struck off or has just changed directors.
Any company, any time
Send “check company” and a name or number for a free quick check, even for a company you don’t trade with yet.
Compared with Companies House Follow
Two free services, doing different jobs
Companies House’s own free Follow service emails you each time a document is filed for a company you choose to follow, one company at a time. It’s useful, and you can use both.
Company watch starts from your Xero instead: it picks up every customer and supplier for you, keeps up as you add new ones, tells you only about the changes above, and shows the balance owed either way so you know what to do first.
Where it shows up
In the places you already look
- Emails to your Approvers and Directors when something changes
- “company watch” on WhatsApp for the current picture
- Dennis puts customers in trouble first on the chase list
- Barry adds them to his reports
- A full list in the Cleva app, with links to the public register
Questions about Company watch
Is Company watch really free?
Yes. It comes with every Barbara plan, from £19 a month.
What does it watch for?
Liquidation or administration, a strike-off notice, a new insolvency case, accounts or confirmation statement filed late, and changes of director.
How does it know which company is which?
Barbara uses the company number in Xero where there is one. Otherwise she searches Companies House by name and only counts a match with a Ltd, Limited, PLC or LLP name or a matching postcode. She asks you to confirm same-name matches for contacts with money owed either way, and you can fix any match.
Is it a credit check?
No. It’s an early warning from the public register. For a credit score and suggested credit limit, Victor runs a full Creditsafe check.
Does it cover sole traders?
No. Sole traders and most partnerships aren’t on the Companies House register.