Whenever a supplier or customer appears on your client's ledger, XBert works out who that business actually is: its registration number, whether it is still trading, and whether it is registered for GST or VAT.

This page explains how XBert does that, and lists the XBerts it raises when something does not line up.

How XBert identifies a business

XBert matches each supplier and customer to a record on the official business register. It tries two things, in this order:

The registration number on the contact. If the contact record in your ledger has an ABN, VAT or GST number recorded, XBert matches on that. This is a high-confidence match, and it is what the risk alerts are built on.
The business name. If there is no number on the contact, XBert falls back to matching on the name, working from strictest to loosest: an exact match on the registered entity name, then on trading or other registered names, then on the opening words of the name, then on the same words in any order. A name-only match is treated as lower confidence, so a different business with a similar name is not mistaken for your contact.

💡 Recording the ABN or VAT number against the contact is the best thing you can do for accuracy.

It skips the name matching entirely. Failing that, keep contact names complete. A name missing parts of the legal name, such as "Pty Ltd", spaces or punctuation, is more likely to match the wrong entity, trading name or business name.

When XBert stays quiet

XBert separates "we checked, and this business is not registered" from "we could not check". If a lookup fails, because a number is unreadable, unrecognised or the register is unavailable, no alert is raised. An XBert saying a supplier is not registered means the register was actually checked.

What XBert reads off bill attachments

Separately from identifying the contact, XBert reads registration numbers off the documents attached to bills and compares them against the supplier recorded on the bill. That comparison is what raises the attachment XBerts: an attachment whose number does not match the supplier, several different numbers across one bill's attachments, or a supplier whose bills carry different numbers over time.

The registers XBert uses

Country	What XBert checks	Register
Australia	ABN, GST registration status	Australian Business Register (ABR)
New Zealand	NZBN, GST number, insolvency status	NZBN register
United Kingdom	VAT registration, company status	HMRC and Companies House
South Africa	VAT number, company status	SARS and CIPC
Canada	GST/HST registration (CRA Business Number)	Canada Revenue Agency

What XBert checks

Is the business still trading?

Transactions with a business that has been cancelled, deregistered or removed from the register.

Check	AU	NZ	GB	ZA	CA
Bill raised with a cancelled supplier	AU	NZ	GB	ZA	CA
Payment to a cancelled supplier	AU	NZ	GB	ZA	CA
Expenses with a cancelled business	AU	NZ	GB	ZA	CA
Invoice raised with a cancelled customer	AU	NZ	GB	ZA	-
Unpaid income with a cancelled business	AU	NZ	GB	ZA	CA
Bill attachment with a cancelled number	AU	-	-	-	-

Is the registration number right?

The number on the contact compared against the register, and against the numbers XBert reads off attachments.

Check	AU	NZ	GB	ZA	CA
Incorrect registration number for business	AU	-	-	-	-
Matched registration number for business	AU	NZ	-	ZA	-
Attachment's number does not match the supplier	AU	NZ	GB	ZA	CA
Multiple numbers on one bill's attachments	AU	-	-	-	-
Supplier has bills with different numbers	AU	-	-	-	-
Tax claimed with no number on the attachment	-	-	-	ZA	CA

Is the GST or VAT treatment right?

The tax claimed or charged, checked against the other party's actual registration status.

Check	AU	NZ	GB	ZA	CA
Bill raised with supplier not registered	AU	-	GB	ZA	CA
Payment to supplier not registered	AU	-	GB	ZA	CA
Bank payment with GST to an unregistered supplier	AU	-	-	-	-
GST claimed on multiple bills while not registered	AU	-	-	-	-
GST on multiple bank transactions while not registered	AU	-	-	-	-
GST on invoice or credit note when not registered	AU	-	-	-	-
Registration required	AU	-	GB	ZA	-
Large activity for a contact with no number	AU	-	GB	ZA	-
Non-GST account has GST against it	AU	NZ	-	-	-
TPAR information missing	AU	-	-	-	-

Checking a business yourself

You can confirm any business's registration and tax status directly on the public register:

Need help?

If you have any questions, our support team is here to help!

Reach out via the chat widget on the bottom left of your XBert screen (Help), or email us at support@xbert.io

Which countries does XBert support?

Overview: Business Registration Number and GST/VAT XBerts