How to check the counterparty and yourself - 11 ways, free services and documents used

Hello! Today we will tell how to check the reliability of the counterparty: with whom to work and what kind of cooperation is better to refuse. We will also provide a list of useful services, including the tax website (IFTS) and tell you what documents are needed to check the counterparty and yourself.

Why check the counterparty for reliability

The question of checking counterparties is no longer new, large companies usually even have some kind of internal procedure for checking prospective business partners for these purposes, many have special departments dealing with such issues. Is this really what small businesses need? Yes need. But, unfortunately, many understand this even when working with an unscrupulous counterparty led to bad consequences.

Yes, individual entrepreneurs and small firms usually work with “their” counterparties: you have known each other for a long time and have been working for a long time - this is a normal situation. But any entrepreneur is trying to expand his business and get as much profit as possible, otherwise the whole point of this action is simply lost. Expanding your business automatically means looking for new suppliers - those from whom you can buy cheaper and faster, and buyers - those who are willing to buy additional volumes of your products or the results of a new product line that has just been launched. And here it is necessary not to miscalculate, because with unfamiliar counterparties you can “get into a puddle”. One-day firms and just those who do business in bad faith are full.

Working with such counterparties threatens you with the following risks:

• Tax risks - the most serious and most common, threaten tax consequences.

Very often, tax authorities during an audit make claims that the taxpayer has problem counterparties - those who just belong to one-day or do not pay taxes to the budget. If the tax authority proves that you did not show due diligence when choosing a counterparty (in this case, we recommend reading Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation No. 53 dated 12.10. VAT.

At risk - individual entrepreneurs and legal entities on the general regime and on the simplified tax system with the base Income minus expenses.

• Financial risks - are also quite common, usually in such cases the counterparty either disappears after receiving an advance payment, or does not pay after receiving the products.

And here, even a won lawsuit in court will not bring anything: the company may be absent at the address of registration, there is no money in its account, and the founders, and even more so the director for the obligations of the legal entity, are not responsible. What does it threaten? A cash gap in payments as a minimum, a deterioration in financial condition as a maximum. Even if the amounts are small, you will agree that the situation is still unpleasant.

At risk are all individual entrepreneurs and legal entities, especially those whose financial situation is unstable, and solvency depends on the timely receipt of payment from buyers.

• Reputational risks – working with an unscrupulous counterparty may well have a negative impact on your reputation in the eyes of other partners.

The supplier received an advance payment and disappeared, and who will supply you with materials now? While you are looking for a new supplier and looking for reserves to catch up with the production schedule, the client may already refuse to work with you or not contact you again in the future - this is just one example of loss of reputation.

At risk are all individual entrepreneurs and legal entities, especially those who have recently started working and have not managed to earn a serious reputation among partners.

How to check a counterparty

Only checking the counterparty will help to avoid negative consequences. If you don’t want to go through the courts later, trying to get your money back from an unreliable supplier or proving your innocence to the tax authorities, then you should check the potential partner from a tax and financial point of view. Many simply ask the counterparty (or USRIP, if we are talking about individual entrepreneurs) and calm down on this. Yes, the extract will allow you to get basic information: the date of registration in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, basic details, legal address, founders, etc. But this is not enough. What documents should be requested from a partner and how can you check it yourself?

In addition to the methods below, you can watch a video that fully describes the entire process of checking counterparties and explains why this is needed:

So, here are the main ways to check a potential counterparty:

Request a package of necessary documents from the counterparty for verification

What should be included in the requested list? Of course, documents that will allow you to get maximum official information about a possible partner. An example list might look like this:

• Copies of constituent documents (decision of the sole participant or minutes of the meeting of founders, current charter);
• Certificate of OGRN / TIN;
• Extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (or EGRIP - for individual entrepreneurs) (the fresher, the better - preferably not older than a month on the current date);
• Decision / order on the appointment of the general director;
• Powers of attorney for persons having the right to sign, and documents confirming the authority of persons who can act on behalf of a legal entity without a power of attorney (if necessary);
• Card with sample signatures of the general director and chief accountant (to verify signatures);
• Annual financial statements (preferably for the last two years to analyze the dynamics of the financial condition), for individual entrepreneurs - a copy of the declaration on the tax payment regime used;
• Information about the number of employees;
• A fresh certificate from the Federal Tax Service confirming the absence of debts to the budget for the payment of taxes / fees / penalties / fines;
• Additional documents if necessary (a license - if it is required for work, information about fixed assets - if their presence is a prerequisite for the implementation of a future contract, reviews and letters of recommendation from partners - if they are necessary for you to make a positive decision on cooperation, etc. .).

Of course, the list can be expanded. But do not forget that some documents may be a trade secret, and the counterparty will refuse to provide them to you - and this is also normal! You also have trade secrets. Everyone can provide a standard set, including an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, OGRN / TIN certificates, accounting and charter.

Personal meeting with the counterparty (visiting his office)

Documents are one thing, but personal communication is quite another. Negotiations or just a meeting with a counterparty is a standard step in establishing new relationships. At the same time, you can see the office where the counterparty is located, assess the availability of employees and the general atmosphere in the office, and finally make a personal impression of the future partner.

Evaluation of the activities of a potential partner based on the feedback of others

This method includes studying reviews about a potential counterparty from his other clients, available information about him on the Internet, and studying his website. For example, a normal company always has a website with up-to-date contact information, which is also easy to check - you just need to dial the specified phone number, and searching for reviews is usually not difficult.

Paid electronic services

To check counterparties, you can use paid services, for example "Contour Focus".

There are also specialized verification programs for these purposes, however, for small businesses their use will not be economically justified - the costs are high, and only a few legal entities need to be checked.

Requests to various government agencies

In the tax office, you can request an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (EGRIP) and a certificate of the absence of tax debts, in the territorial bodies of Rosstat - annual financial statements, in self-regulatory organizations - information on the availability of a license / permit / admission to perform certain types of work (if the counterparty must have such a license and be a member of the SRO). This method of obtaining information about the counterparty is also paid, in order to obtain the necessary information, you will have to make a request and pay a certain amount.

Checking the counterparty on the tax website

You can find most of the information on the website of the Federal Tax Service of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation - here you can see all the basic data about the counterparty. Here are some services from this site:

• Information on state registration of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, peasant farms - you will need a TIN or PSRN or the name of the legal entity (full name or region of residence of the individual entrepreneur). Service website.

As a result, the service, upon request, will give you all the basic information about the legal entity or individual entrepreneur.

• Information about legal entities and individual entrepreneurs in respect of which documents for state registration have been submitted (this also includes cases when documents are submitted for reorganization, liquidation, or simply making standard changes to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities). Service page.

Too frequent changes should alert you, especially: frequent change of address, frequent change of director, constant changes in the composition of the founders.

• Information about disqualified persons – when a person, by a court decision, cannot engage in certain activities or hold the post of general director, etc. Here are the services to help you:
  • Information about persons for whom the court has established the fact of the impossibility of participating in the organization. Service page.
  • Availability of information in the register of disqualified persons. Service page.
  • Information about legal entities, there are disqualified persons in the executive bodies. Service page.

At a minimum, you should check against the lists of disqualified persons of the CEO. If it is present in such lists, then the reliability of the counterparty should be seriously considered.

• Checking the legal address of the company for "mass character"

Simply put, mass addresses at which a huge number of firms are registered are one of the main features of one-day businesses. The exception is the addresses of business centers, it is logical that many companies are registered there. Service page.

• Information about individuals who are heads / founders of several legal entities at once In other words, mass directors. Service page.

Mass directors are also one of the signs of ephemera.

• Information about legal entities that have tax debts or systematically do not submit tax returns

If a legal entity or individual entrepreneur does not submit reports or has tax debts, this characterizes him as an unreliable supplier that evades taxes. Service page.

More services to check the counterparty

• Federal bailiff service – on the service, you can check whether enforcement proceedings are open against a partner.

• Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation - on the service you can check whether the passport data of the general director of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur are valid or you were given incorrect information.

• SAC RF - here you can find information on court cases in which the counterparty is involved.

• Register of dishonest suppliers - using the register, you can see if the counterparty is among the unscrupulous suppliers under state / municipal contracts.

• Unified federal register of information on the facts of the activities of legal entities - you can find out information about OKVED, net assets, authorized capital and the absence of a bankruptcy procedure for a counterparty.

Conclusion

We have listed the main ways to check your potential counterparties, which ones to use is up to you. The best option would be to use free services at the same time as requesting documents from a partner, as well as a personal meeting at the supplier / client's office.

You can also check yourself (your business) if necessary.