Download Data for Multiple Companies from Companies House
Use a Microsoft Excel worksheet that holds the registration numbers of the companies to download data for multiple companies from Companies House at the same time.
You can download the following data from Companies House:
- Company details
- Appointments including the option to import past appointments
- Officer details with the option to include current officers' other directorships
- Mortgages & charges including the option to import satisfied records
- Filing history with the option to include capital documents and to later download and attach available documents to the company
Before you start
Make sure the application is set up for data download from Companies House. Refer to Enable Data Download from Companies House.
Tip
To help users easily identify companies, individuals or other entities that are created during data download imports, it is recommended that you create a batch in which the application automatically includes newly created entities. To create a data download batch, go to System Tools > List Manager and select Quick Reference Batches. Create a batch with DATADOWNLOAD as quick reference and Data Download from CH XML as description and select the Shared Batches option, then save. This batch is available on the search pages under All Searches.
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Go to Working Documents > Electronic Filing > For United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom Electronic Filing Wizard displays.
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On the Select Wizard page, select Batch Download Data Wizard, then select Next.
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On the Data Download Type page, select Companies House XMP Gateway, then select Next.
The Company Data Request option enables presenters to download data for managed companies free of charge, provided that they are already the presenters for these companies and the application is licenced for electronic filing and data download.
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On the Companies to Download page, select Choose File and find the file that contains the list of companies you want to download data for.
The file you select here must be of .xls extension. The worksheet inside the file must be labelled DOWNLOAD, and the first row must have a column labelled REGNO. The registration numbers of the companies to download must be entered in the column with the REGNO label from row 2 onwards, and they must be formatted as text, not number. You can find a sample spreadsheet in Working Documents > Form Fill.
Note
If you selected the Company Data Request option in the previous step, the worksheet must also contain a column labelled COMPANYPIN and list the company PINs for the companies you want to download data for.
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Once the Companies to Download page is populated with the list of companies from the file you selected, review the list and select Next.
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On the Company Details page, provide the company number, choose the details to download and select the Import after Download option, then select Next.
Options marked with (£) incur charges. Refer to Companies House's website for more details on costs.
If the Import after Download option is selected, the application creates a company record using the downloaded data. If this option is not selected, the system downloads the data as a comparison report into Working Documents.
Note
External appointments for an individual only download their current directorships in other companies. Past external directorships are not downloaded.
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Select Finish to complete the wizard.
The wizard closes and a document is listed as Verified and Queued in Working Documents > Electronic Filing.
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Go to Working Documents > Electronic Filing, select Send and Receive and complete the wizard.
A company record is created in Diligent Entities for each company included in the selected worksheet and populated with the entity information available in the company profile at Companies House.
If Filing List was selected for download, a summary of all of the forms that Companies House have in their records for the entity are also imported. The list can be checked under Working Documents by opening the Electronic Filing Data Download document and can assist users in choosing which forms to request after download.
If you selected the Allow documents to be downloaded later option, a pending event is created in the company record with the Document Download for Company description. Refer to Recreate a Document from a Pending Event to learn more about how you can download the required documents from the pending event.
What's next?
Once all the necessary steps outlined in Set up Electronic Filing for the United Kingdom have been completed, users can start to generate and e-file forms to Companies House.
