How good are foreign companies good at paying?

Before you start doing business with a new customer, it is important to check this company for creditworthiness. This can prevent you from having to deal with unpaid invoices at a later stage. Even when you conduct business abroad, it is important to check whether you are dealing with a reliable company that is financially sound. Sounds obvious right? But where do you begin? Our international collection specialists are happy to give you a number of tips on how to find out if a foreign company is good at paying, reliable and creditworthy:   

Request an extract from the national trade register

Every country has a trade register where companies are registered. Check whether your potential customer is registered in this register and request an extract. The fact that a company is in the trade register does not mean that this company is actually reliable, but you can see here whether a company is also registered for the law. You can also check which persons are authorized to act on behalf of the company.  

European companies can consult the European e-Justice Portal. Here you can retrieve and view data from national trade registers. Almost all EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are members of this portal.

Check membership in a trade association

Is your potential customer affiliated with a sector organisation? In most cases this is a signal that you are dealing with a reliable company. Industry associations often apply certain quality standards that affiliated companies must meet. Membership in a trade association is therefore usually a positive sign. Do research via the internet. To be able to judge whether you are dealing with a reliable company, it is also wise to Google the company. Check reviews on review websites such as Kiyoh and Trustpilot to see how others rate the company. This often gives a good indication of how the company deals with its customers. In addition, you can also check the company’s social media channels to find out how the company profiles itself on the internet and how others respond to it.

Visit the company’s website

In addition to conducting research on external web pages, it is also important that you check the company’s website yourself. Are the staff on the website, or have only the so-called stock photos been used? Also view the contact details: where is the company located? Are there options for contacting them? A company that only has a PO box address and uses a mobile number is a lot less reliable. This also applies to the e-mail address: a business e-mail address is more professional than a Hotmail or Yahoo e-mail address. In addition, check the location of the company via google maps to see if there are any irregularities. For example, it would be strange for a production company to be located in a residential area.  

Perform a credit check to see if a foreign company is good at paying

To find out if the company is in good financial shape, it is also wise to do a credit check. At companies such as Dun & Bradstreet you can request a report that provides more insight into the financial situation of a company.  

More information

Would you like more information about how good foreign companies are at paying? Or do you have an international collection case that you would like advice about? Then contact us today. We always give you honest and clear advice about your options.