Check a supplier's financial health

Supplier failure is a supply-chain risk, not just a finance one

When a supplier goes under, the cost isn't only any money you've prepaid — it's the disruption: a halted line, a missed deadline, a scramble for a replacement at short notice.

Companies House holds every UK supplier's filed accounts, charges and filing history for free. The signs of a supplier in trouble are usually there months before delivery stops — but only if someone reads the accounts in trend and in context, not as a single snapshot.

Verif-AI reads the full filing package and lays out the stability signals procurement and operations teams weigh before they commit to a supplier or renew.

What to check on a supplier before you commit

Seven signals the filed record shows about whether a supplier can keep delivering — and where each comes from.

1. 01Is it a going concern?
   An auditor's going-concern note, or filings flagging material uncertainty, is the clearest signal a supplier may not see out the year. Small companies needn't audit, so its absence isn't a clean bill — but its presence matters.From: audit notes + accounts type
2. 02How long is the cash runway?
   Cash on the balance sheet against the rate it burns shows roughly how long the supplier can keep operating if revenue dips — the figure that decides whether they finish your contract.From: cash + operating trend
3. 03Is it leaning on one customer?
   A supplier whose revenue depends on one or two big customers is fragile — lose one and your supplier wobbles. Concentration sometimes shows in the notes and segment detail.From: accounts notes
4. 04Are profits and margins holding?
   Falling margins across several years signal a squeeze that often reaches capacity or quality before outright failure.From: up to 7 years of P&L
5. 05Is it filing on time?
   Overdue or late accounts from a supplier are a behavioural red flag — distressed companies often go quiet at the registry first.From: filing history + overdue flag
6. 06Who has security over its assets?
   Heavy secured borrowing means lenders rank ahead of the business in a failure — and debt service can starve the operation that serves you.From: the charges register
7. 07Does a parent stand behind it?
   A thinly-capitalised supplier may or may not be backed by a parent. The group structure shows whether there's a stronger entity behind your contract — or whether your supplier is the weak link in its own group.From: PSCs + group structure

What the accounts won't show

Filed accounts describe a period that closed months ago, not the supplier's order book today. Small suppliers disclose little. And nothing public reveals a key contract they've just lost or won.

Verif-AI reads everything filed and flags when a supplier's accounts are thin, abridged or overdue, so you know how much weight the figures carry. It is not a credit reference agency; it shows what's on the public record and leaves the call with you.

Build it into onboarding and renewal

The strongest supply chains check financial health at onboarding and re-check at each renewal, not once. The signals above are the ones a category manager weighs: runway, concentration, the direction of margins, and who ranks ahead in a failure.

Verif-AI turns each supplier's filings into a brief you can save to the vendor file and re-run when new accounts land — the same evidence behind every approval.