# UK Companies House Compliance Monitor (`inhabitable_jingle_clk/companies-house-compliance-monitor`) Actor

Watch UK Companies House for overdue accounts, late confirmation statements, dissolution and liquidation. Scheduled change alerts. Free API key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/inhabitable_jingle_clk/companies-house-compliance-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [James Marshall](https://apify.com/inhabitable_jingle_clk) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Lead generation
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 60.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## UK Companies House Compliance Monitor

Watch a list of UK company numbers for overdue accounts, late confirmation statements, dissolution, liquidation and administration. Run it on a schedule and it reports only what has changed since the last run.

This is a **compliance watch list**, not a bulk Companies House search or director scraper. You already have the company numbers (clients, customers, suppliers). The Actor checks them and flags what needs attention.

Company-level data only: it does not fetch officer, director or PSC names.

### Two ways to run it

| | Demo mode (no key) | Full mode (your own free API key) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| How | Leave `apiKey` blank | Paste your Companies House REST API key into `apiKey` |
| Companies per run | Up to **3** (any extra are ignored) | Your whole list |
| Data source | Public Companies House web page for each company | Official Companies House REST API |
| `dataSource` column | `DEMO: public web page (no API key)` | `Companies House API` |
| Charges, insolvency, liquidation and office-in-dispute fields | `null` (not available) | Filled in |
| Pace | About 1 company every 1.5 s | About 1.8 requests/s, under the API limit of 600 requests per 5 minutes |

Demo mode is for trying the Actor. It reads the public web pages, so **it may break if Companies House changes its page layout**. For real monitoring, use full mode.

With no input at all, the Actor runs a demo check on company **00445790**.

#### Get a free API key (full mode)

1. Register at https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk
2. Create an application, then create a **REST** API key. It is free.
3. Paste the key into `apiKey`. Apify stores it as an encrypted secret.

### Who it is for

- Accountants and bookkeepers watching a client list for late accounts or confirmation statements.
- Credit control and B2B suppliers vetting customers for dissolution or insolvency.
- KYB and onboarding teams who need a scheduled refresh of company status, not a one-off scrape.

### Input

- `apiKey` (optional, secret): leave it blank for demo mode, or enter your key for full mode.
- `companyNumbers` (required): for example `00445790` or `SC123456`. Short numbers are left-padded to 8 digits, and duplicates are removed. Default: `["00445790"]`. England and Wales, Scottish (`SC…`) and Northern Ireland (`NI…`) numbers are all accepted.
- `dueWithinDays` (default 30): marks filings as due soon within this many days.
- `onlyChanges` (default false): after the first run, outputs only companies that changed.
- `monitorKey` (default `default`): the name of the watch list. Runs with the same key are compared. Demo and full mode snapshots are kept separately. Snapshots are kept in the named key-value store `companies-house-monitor-state-v2` in your own Apify account (created automatically on your first run; the Actor keeps Limited permissions).

#### Example: a short client list, weekly changes only

```json
{
  "companyNumbers": ["00445790", "SC123456", "NI036672"],
  "dueWithinDays": 30,
  "onlyChanges": true,
  "monitorKey": "client-watchlist"
}
```

### Output

One dataset row per company: number, name, status, type, SIC codes, postcode, the next accounts and confirmation statement due dates, overdue booleans, `flags`, `changeType` (`baseline`, `new`, `changed` or `unchanged`), `changes` and `dataSource`.

The `SUMMARY` record holds the mode (demo or api), counts, flag counts and errors.

Export to CSV, Excel or JSON, or connect the dataset to n8n, Make or Zapier.

### Pricing

Pay per result: **$3.00 per 1,000 companies checked** ($0.003 per company), plus Apify's minimum actor-start event ($0.00005). You are charged for each company row delivered, including unchanged rows unless you set `onlyChanges: true`.

A weekly run of 100 companies that returns 4 changes, with `onlyChanges` on, costs a little over 1 cent after the first (baseline) run.

### Limits

- Demo mode allows 3 companies, has no charges or insolvency data, and its parser depends on the layout of the public pages.
- Full mode uses your own free Companies House API key and is limited by Companies House (600 requests per 5 minutes per key).
- The data is only as current as Companies House.

### Related tools

- [UK Food Hygiene Rating Monitor (FSA)](https://apify.com/inhabitable_jingle_clk/fsa-hygiene-monitor)
- [UK House Price Index by Local Authority](https://apify.com/inhabitable_jingle_clk/uk-house-price-index)

### Data licence and attribution

Contains public sector information from Companies House licensed under the [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/).

This Actor is independent and is **not affiliated with or endorsed by Companies House**.

# Actor input Schema

## `apiKey` (type: `string`):

Optional. Your own free REST API key from https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk (create an application, then a REST key). Stored encrypted by Apify. Leave blank for DEMO MODE: up to 3 companies read from the public Companies House web page (for trying the Actor only). Limit: 600 requests per 5 minutes per key.

## `companyNumbers` (type: `array`):

UK company numbers to check, e.g. 00445790 or SC123456. Short numbers are left-padded to 8 digits.

## `dueWithinDays` (type: `integer`):

Mark accounts or confirmation statements as 'dueSoon' when the next due date is within this many days.

## `onlyChanges` (type: `boolean`):

After the first run, output only companies whose status, flags or due dates changed since the previous run with the same monitor key.

## `monitorKey` (type: `string`):

Name for this watch list. Runs with the same key are compared with each other for change detection.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "companyNumbers": [
    "00445790"
  ],
  "dueWithinDays": 30,
  "onlyChanges": false,
  "monitorKey": "default"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per company with status, due dates, flags and change type (default dataset)

## `summary` (type: `string`):

SUMMARY record: totals, flag counts, change counts and errors

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "companyNumbers": [
        "00445790"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("inhabitable_jingle_clk/companies-house-compliance-monitor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "companyNumbers": ["00445790"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("inhabitable_jingle_clk/companies-house-compliance-monitor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "companyNumbers": [
    "00445790"
  ]
}' |
apify call inhabitable_jingle_clk/companies-house-compliance-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,inhabitable_jingle_clk/companies-house-compliance-monitor"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/JFQ7nzuYqxaRlKp0N/builds/K1YXM4bPFe6CJIOHG/openapi.json