Is the company still active? Four looks at the register
The company register tells you whether a company still exists. Whether it still trades, it shows only indirectly: through deletion, liquidation, the latest annual accounts and entries in the insolvency register. You can check all four in two minutes.
The short answer
A company is legally active as long as it is registered and not deleted. No register says whether it actually does business. Good signs are annual accounts filed on time and recent entries.
Four things to check
- 1. Status: is the company registered or deleted? Every company page on our site shows the status at the top.
- 2. Liquidation: an addition such as "in Liquidation" or "in Liqu." in the name means the company is dissolved and being wound up. It still exists but is working towards its end.
- 3. Annual accounts: capital companies file them within nine months of the balance sheet date (section 277 UGB). If the latest set is well past that, it is worth asking.
- 4. Insolvency register: proceedings are published in the judiciary's Ediktsdatei. A company in insolvency proceedings stays registered.
Deleted, dissolved, insolvent: the difference
Dissolved means the company is ending but is still being wound up. Deleted means it has been removed from the register, often after winding up or for lack of assets. Insolvent means a court has opened proceedings; the company stays registered meanwhile.
For invoices and contracts the entry counts: a deleted company is no longer a contracting party. Whether claims still exist and what to do about them is a legal question for a lawyer.
How it works on firmenbuchdaten.at
Search the company by name or register number. The company page shows status, legal form, seat and every annual account filed; an overdue one gets a note. It is free and needs no account.
The customer check sums up all signals from the register as a traffic light, with a source for each point. It is an evaluation by firmenbuchdaten.at, not a credit report.
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Frequently asked questions
Where do I see whether a company was deleted?
In the company register. On firmenbuchdaten.at every company page shows the status, and deleted companies are marked.
Does an insolvent company stay in the register?
Yes, it stays registered during the proceedings. The proceedings themselves are in the judiciary's Ediktsdatei.
Does missing accounts mean the company stopped trading?
No. They may be late, or the legal form may not have to disclose, such as a partnership where a natural person is fully liable. It is a reason to ask, not proof.
Does checking cost anything?
No. Status, core data and the list of annual accounts are free on firmenbuchdaten.at, without an account.
Read on
Sources
Information only, not legal, tax or investment advice. The law in its current version prevails.
Source: Austrian company register (Firmenbuch), Republic of Austria, represented by the BMJ, open data under CC BY 4.0.