Company details

Create an Invoice from a Companies House Number

Enter a company number, fill company details automatically, add invoice items and download the finished PDF.

When invoicing a UK limited company, enter its company registration number in the customer block to look up the registered name and office, verify the result, and continue with the actual invoice.

Copying company details from an email footer is unreliable. The trading style may differ from the registered name, an old address may still appear in a signature, and companies with similar names are easy to confuse. A company number provides a more precise starting point.

The lookup is built into invoice creation. It is not a replacement for the Companies House service and it does not perform credit, ownership or legal due diligence. Its purpose is narrower: reduce typing and help you put the intended customer’s public company details into a PDF invoice.

Create an invoice by company number

From Companies House number to invoice PDF

Have the customer’s company registration number and purchase instructions to hand. The number identifies the public record; the order tells you which entity should actually be billed.

  1. 1

    Enter the company number

    Select the United Kingdom for the customer and enter the CRN supplied by the client. Run the lookup from the company details block.

  2. 2

    Check the returned company

    Compare the registered name, number and office address with the purchase order or contract. Correct or complete invoice contact details where needed.

  3. 3

    Add work, terms and download

    Itemise the goods or services, choose dates and payment terms, then preview and download the PDF. Save the customer if you expect repeat work.

Example: avoiding the wrong company in a group

A consultant is hired by a brand that belongs to a group of three similarly named limited companies. The project email uses the brand name, but the purchase order gives an eight-character company number. Searching that CRN returns the precise legal name and registered office.

The consultant compares the result with the “bill to” section of the purchase order before accepting it. They then add two invoice lines for discovery workshops and the final report, enter the agreed purchase-order reference in a note and download the PDF. The company is saved as a customer for the next phase, while the trading contact’s email is added separately.

  • CRN: the specific company registration number supplied for billing.
  • Registered company name and office: checked against the order.
  • Commercial details: items, PO reference, dates and payment terms added manually.

What the company lookup fills — and what it cannot

A Companies House record can provide the legal company name, registered office and company number used in the invoice’s customer block. It does not know your buyer’s accounts-payable email, internal department, purchase-order number, agreed rate or preferred delivery route for invoices.

Treat public registry data and commercial instructions as two separate inputs. Use the lookup to avoid transcription errors, then add the information from your contract or order. If they conflict, ask the customer which legal entity commissioned the work instead of guessing.

  • Verify the CRN, not only a similar company name.
  • Check whether the registered office is the requested billing address.
  • Add the customer contact and PO reference from your own documents.
  • Review the complete supplier and customer blocks in the PDF.

Saving the customer for later invoices

Once the first invoice is correct, saving the customer removes repeated lookup and typing. The next invoice can reuse the legal details while you change the work, dates, number and amount. Recently used contacts are also easier to find in the form.

Saved details are not continuously synchronised with Companies House. If the company tells you its registered office has changed, check the current public record and update the contact before issuing the next document.

No result, changed address or non-company customer

Check leading zeros, letters and spaces if the lookup fails. Very recent filings or service availability can affect the result, and a sole trader or overseas entity may not have a UK company number at all. You can still enter the customer manually when a lookup is not appropriate.

Simple Invoicing does not certify that a company is solvent, authorised to contract or the correct debtor. For those questions, use Companies House directly and carry out whatever commercial checks your work requires.

Related guides and tools

Sole trader invoice checklist Copy an invoice for a repeat customer Create a new invoice

Frequently asked questions

It is the unique number assigned to a UK registered company. Customers may call it a company number, Companies House number or CRN.

A Companies House number is not a VAT number. Add VAT information only from an appropriate, verified source and where it is relevant to the invoice.

The invoice form’s UK lookup is designed around the company registration number because it identifies a record more precisely than a common or similar name.

Not necessarily. Compare the public address with the customer’s purchase instructions. If they request another billing contact or delivery address, confirm how it should appear.

Use the company number, then check the invoice

Look up the customer, add the commercial details the registry cannot know, and review the final PDF.

Create an invoice