Creditors
Owed money by a company? How to check where it stands
When a customer stops paying, the first question is whether you are dealing with a slow payer or a company that is failing. The public record usually answers that, and it is worth reading before you spend money chasing.
Updated 2026-07-13 · 7 min read
First, check the company's current status
Look the company up by its legal name or NZBN and read its status. Registered means it is still a live entity. In liquidation, in receivership, or in voluntary administration each mean an external party now controls some or all of what happens to its assets, and that changes what you should do next.
Also check whether the company has been removed from the register. Chasing a removed company is chasing an entity that no longer exists; there are formal paths for that situation, but normal invoicing is not one of them.
- Confirm you have the right legal entity, not just the trading name on the invoice.
- Read the current status and the date it changed.
- Look for a liquidator or receiver appointment in the record.
What liquidation means for you as a creditor
When a company goes into liquidation, a liquidator takes control of its assets and distributes what exists according to a statutory order. Unsecured trade creditors are paid after secured creditors and preferential claims, which is why recoveries for trade creditors are often partial.
The practical step is to file a proof of debt with the liquidator so your claim is on the table, and to read the liquidator's reports, which set out what assets exist and what distribution, if any, is likely. The liquidator's name and contact details are in the appointment notice.
This is general information, not legal advice. For a significant debt, a short conversation with your lawyer or accountant about your specific position is worth having early.
Where the notices live
Liquidator appointments, receiverships and winding up applications are published in the New Zealand Gazette, and insolvencies appear on the Insolvency Register. A winding up application against a customer is one of the strongest early signals a creditor can get, because it becomes public before the company's register status changes.
Our liquidations tracker publishes the monthly counts of these notices if you want the market wide picture.
Hear about it before the money is gone
Most creditors find out about a customer's liquidation from an unpaid invoice, months after the record changed. Monitoring flips that: you watch the customer's legal entity, and a status change or insolvency notice reaches you when it is published, while your options are still open.
That is the shape Checkbase is built around: check the customer when you open the account, monitor the entity while it owes you money.
Questions and answers
How do I find out if a company that owes me money is in liquidation?
Check its status on the public record by legal name or NZBN. Liquidation, receivership and administration all show on the Companies Register, the appointment notices are published in the NZ Gazette, and the Insolvency Register lists insolvencies. A Checkbase report brings these together for one company.
Can I still invoice or sue a company in liquidation?
Once a company is in liquidation, claims generally go through the liquidator rather than through normal invoicing or new court action. File a proof of debt with the liquidator, and take advice for anything significant. This is general information, not legal advice.
What is the earliest public warning sign that a customer is failing?
A winding up application in the NZ Gazette is often the earliest strong public signal, because it appears before the company's status changes. Monitoring the entity means notices like that reach you when they are published.
Check a company before you commit
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