XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks Online
Country Restriction: the United Kingdom only
Risk Type: Cash Flow Risk
Business Function: Sales
Overview
The "Unpaid Income with a Cancelled Business" XBert alerts you when you have money still owed to you on an invoice raised to a customer whose company has been dissolved or struck off according to Companies House. A company that has ceased to exist may have no one left to chase, and no funds to settle the debt. Spotting this early gives you the best chance of recovering the income before it is written off for good.
What it does
XBert looks at the customers on your sales invoices and matches each one to the Companies House register using the company registration number (CRN) you hold for them. Where that registration shows the company as dissolved or otherwise closed, XBert checks whether you still have an outstanding balance owing on any invoice raised to that customer, and flags it so you can act.
How it works
This XBert fires when all of the following are true:
The customer's company registration number matches a record on Companies House that is no longer active (for example, dissolved, struck off, or in liquidation).
A sales invoice to that customer still has an amount owing — that is, the balance due is greater than zero. This includes draft, submitted, awaiting-payment and part-paid invoices, because in every case there is still money you have not collected.
The invoice was dated on or after the date the company ceased. Invoices raised while the company was still trading are deliberately ignored, so you only see income that became due after the customer was already gone.
XBert finds the registration number either from the number you have entered against the customer in your accounting software, or from the most recent number it has seen on that customer's past invoices. It only checks customers whose registration details have already been matched against Companies House, so it does not raise false alarms while that check is still running. Invoices that are fully paid, with nothing left owing, are not flagged.
Example / Use Case
Priya runs a small print shop in Leeds. In May she raised a £1,240 invoice to Hartwell Joinery Ltd for branded signage. The invoice sat unpaid for several weeks. XBert matched Hartwell Joinery's company registration number to Companies House and found the company had been dissolved in April — a month before her invoice was even raised. Because there was still £1,240 owing and the invoice was dated after the company closed, XBert flagged it.
Priya checked the public register, confirmed the dissolution, and discovered the work had actually been ordered by a new company the owners had set up, Hartwell Interiors Ltd. She re-issued the invoice to the correct, active company and was paid the following week. Without the alert, the £1,240 could have been lost to a business that no longer existed.
Accounting software
Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks Online
Which countries it supports
United Kingdom only
Processes
This XBert is part of your Sales (AR) process and helps you protect cash flow by catching income owed by customers that are no longer trading.
To resolve this alert:
Check the company on Companies House using the registration number you hold, and confirm whether it really is dissolved, struck off or in liquidation.
Confirm who you should be billing. The work may have moved to a new or successor company. Find out which active entity is now responsible for the debt.
Correct the customer record in your accounting software with the right, active company name and registration number.
Re-issue the invoice to the correct active company if the customer details have changed through a merger, restructure or new company.
Chase the outstanding payment. If the company is genuinely in liquidation, register your claim with the appointed liquidator or insolvency practitioner as soon as possible.
Write off the debt only if recovery is truly not possible, so your debtor list and accounts stay accurate.
Once the income has been corrected, recovered or written off, mark the XBert as resolved.
Keeping your customer details accurate and reviewing your debtor list regularly reduces the risk of unpaid income and protects your business from avoidable loss.