Frequently Asked Questions

DataLedger is a UK company data provider that transforms Companies House filings into structured, analysis-ready financial data and a REST API. It is the only service combining verified UK company financial data with PSC beneficial ownership records in a single structured export.

Products include pre-built sector datasets (from £195, instant download), custom filtered datasets (from £295, 24-48 hours), custom datasets with PSC ownership data (from £395), and API access (25 free credits on signup).

All financial data is sourced from Companies House electronic filings - the XBRL and iXBRL submissions that UK companies are required to make. PSC beneficial ownership data is sourced from the Companies House PSC register. ONS reference data is used for consistent geography and industry classification.

DataLedger ingests all active UK companies from Companies House each month with daily accounts updates - 5 million+ records in total. Of these, almost 3 million have filed accounts electronically and have structured financial data available. 2.8 million records carry DataLedger's verification flag confirming balance sheet figures are internally consistent.

Companies that file paper accounts only are not included as these cannot be reliably structured and validated.

Companies House publishes raw XBRL filings that require significant technical work to process. DataLedger structures those filings into immediately usable data:

• Clean output: JSON via API, or Excel/CSV for datasets - no raw XBRL parsing
• Pre-calculated metrics: Financial ratios and growth rates computed for every record
• Verification flags: Balance sheet validation across 2.8 million records
• Combined ownership: PSC beneficial ownership data combined with financial profile in a single export
• Advanced filtering: Filter by financial criteria, growth indicators, industry, location, and ownership

No. DataLedger is an independent data provider that builds on open Companies House data to provide structured, enhanced access with commercial reuse rights.

Yes. Every company in the DataLedger dataset includes balance sheet data. Under UK law, all companies that file accounts must submit a balance sheet regardless of size. This is why DataLedger focuses on balance sheet-led analysis.

No. Most UK SMEs are not required to publish turnover or profit figures. Micro-entities and small companies can file abbreviated accounts that exclude income statements. This is legal, normal, and affects the majority of UK companies.

Where P&L data is disclosed (typically medium and large companies), DataLedger includes it. Use hasPLFigures=true in the API search to filter for companies with full P&L statements.

Balance sheets show:

• Current Total Assets - company size and operational scale
• Current Total Fixed Assets and Current Total Current Assets - asset composition
• Current Total Liabilities - debt levels and payment obligations
• Current Equity - net worth and financial buffers
• Current Debt To Equity Ratio and Current Debt To Asset Ratio - pre-calculated
• Assets Growth Rate % and Net Assets Growth Rate % - year-on-year trajectory

All products include current and previous year figures sourced from the latest filing. Each set of accounts contains the current year figures plus the prior year comparatives as filed by the company. This gives year-on-year comparison for all balance sheet, P&L, ratio, and growth fields.

• API: Real-time access to the latest processed filings
• Pre-built datasets: Refreshed monthly with latest Companies House filings
• Custom datasets: Built at time of request from the most current data available

DataLedger runs proprietary automated validation across every record to confirm balance sheet figures are internally consistent (Assets = Liabilities + Equity). 2.8 million records carry the verified flag. It is independent of the accounts type label and is the most reliable quality signal across the dataset.

In the API this is returned as cVerified (current year) and pVerified (previous year). In datasets it appears as a column.

No. DataLedger processes electronically submitted accounts only. Electronic filing covers the majority of UK SMEs, growth companies, and digitally native businesses - and is the only format that can be reliably structured and validated at scale.

PSC stands for People with Significant Control. Every UK company is legally required to register individuals who own or control more than 25% of shares or voting rights with Companies House. This is the UK's official beneficial ownership register.

PSC data is available now on custom dataset exports, combined with the full financial profile in a single structured Excel or CSV file. This means you can see both how a company performs financially and who owns and controls it without running two separate lookups.

PSC data is coming to the API in 2026.

• Financials + PSC - up to 5,000 companies: £395
• Financials + PSC - 5,000-25,000 companies: £1,295
• Financials + PSC - 25,000+ companies: £2,995

Both include the same financial data: balance sheet figures, P&L where disclosed, pre-calculated ratios, growth indicators, and full company registration details. The Financials + PSC dataset adds the beneficial ownership layer - PSC Name, Nationality, Country Of Residence, PSC Ownership Band, PSC Voting Rights, and PSC Appointment Rights - for each company in the export.

Financials only: from £295. Financials + PSC: from £395 (£100 more on the smallest tier).

• M&A and deal origination: Understand who controls an acquisition target before making contact - whether it is founder-owned, PE-backed, or part of a larger group
• KYC and AML compliance: Verify beneficial ownership as part of customer onboarding or supplier due diligence
• Credit risk: Understand ownership structure alongside financial health in a single export
• Sales and BD: Identify owner-managed businesses and reach the individual with control directly
• Recruitment: Understand whether a company is founder-controlled, PE-backed, or corporately owned

Yes. PSC data is sourced from the public Companies House PSC register - individuals are legally required to submit this information and it is publicly available. DataLedger has completed a full Legitimate Interests Assessment (LIA) and Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) screening for PSC data processing. Full details at dataledger.uk/privacy.

PSC data is coming to the API in 2026. It will be available as additional fields on the company profile endpoint and as search/filter parameters on the search endpoint. Register interest by emailing contact@dataledger.uk.

• Company metadata: Status, name, incorporation date, SIC codes, location, employees
• Balance sheet data: Assets, liabilities, equity - current and previous year
• P&L data: Turnover, profit/loss where disclosed
• Financial ratios: Debt-to-equity, debt-to-asset
• Growth indicators: Assets growth rate, net assets growth rate
• Quality flags: Verification status per record

PSC beneficial ownership data is coming to the API in 2026.

• /v1/companies/autocomplete - resolve a partial company name to a Companies House number. 25 calls = 1 credit.
• /v1/companies/search - filter for lists of companies by financial criteria, sector, location, and more. 1 credit per request.
• /v1/companies/{companyNumber} - retrieve a full company profile. 1 credit basic, 2 credits with financials=true for full line items.

Full documentation at api.dataledger.uk/docs/v1.

Use the x-api-key header (lowercase) on every request:

Get your API key by signing up at hub.dataledger.uk. You receive 25 free credits, no card required.

• Autocomplete: 25 calls = 1 credit
• Company Search: 1 credit per request
• Company Profile basic: 1 credit
• Company Profile with financials=true: 2 credits

Monthly subscription credits roll over each month. One-time purchases never expire.

Every API response includes an X-API-Key-Details header:

count = credits used, limit = credits available, cost = this request, reset = when credits reset.

Basic profile (1 credit): company metadata plus financial summary - calculated totals, pre-calculated ratios, and growth rates.

Detailed profile with financials=true (2 credits): everything in basic plus full balance sheet line items (intangibles, property, current assets breakdown, creditors, provisions) and full P&L details (turnover, gross profit, operating profit, wages). Default to basic unless you specifically need line items.

Yes. API usage is rate limited to 50,000 credits per hour across all plans to ensure reliability. This gives substantial headroom for legitimate use cases.

Pre-built datasets (£195 each): six sector and investment profile datasets available for instant download. Refreshed monthly.

Custom datasets (from £295): built to your exact specifications - any sector, any geography, any financial threshold. Delivered within 24-48 hours. Add PSC beneficial ownership data from £395.

• Capital-Efficient, Scalable Businesses
• Distressed and Turnaround Opportunities
• High-Growth Companies with Strong Equity
• Professional Services Firms
• UK Financial Services Companies
• UK Software and Technology Companies

Each includes balance sheet data, pre-calculated ratios, growth indicators, SIC codes, registered address, and employee count. P&L data included where disclosed. Sample files available before purchase at dataledger.uk/packages.

• Financial metrics: assets, equity, liabilities, turnover where disclosed
• Ratios and growth: debt-to-equity, assets growth rate, net assets growth rate
• Industry: SIC codes, principal activities description
• Location: postcode areas, local authorities
• Company attributes: employee counts, incorporation dates, company category
• PSC beneficial ownership fields: available on Financials + PSC datasets from £395

Pre-built datasets: Excel (.xlsx), instant download after purchase.

Custom datasets: Excel (.xlsx) or CSV, your choice at time of request.

Custom datasets are typically delivered within 24-48 hours after you specify your requirements. For very large datasets (100,000+ companies) we will provide a delivery estimate when you submit your request.

Pre-built datasets: £195 each, instant download.

Custom datasets - financials only: £295 up to 5,000 companies, £995 for 5,000-25,000, custom quote above 25,000.

Custom datasets - financials + PSC: £395 up to 5,000 companies, £1,295 for 5,000-25,000, £2,995 above 25,000.

API access: 25 free credits on signup. Monthly plans from £10/month. One-time credit packs from £5.

Yes. Sign up at hub.dataledger.uk to receive 25 free API credits with no card required. Use them to test all three endpoints, explore the data structure, and validate your integration before committing to a paid plan.

Yes. Free sample files are available for each pre-built dataset on the packages page. For custom datasets we can provide sample records matching your specifications before you commit to the full purchase.

Monthly subscriptions: unused credits roll over each month. One-time purchases: credits never expire.

• Starter API (10k/month): £75/month, £0.0075 per credit
• Professional API (50k/month): £300/month, £0.006 per credit
• Business API (200k/month): £1,000/month, £0.005 per credit
• Enterprise API (500k/month): £2,000/month, £0.004 per credit
• Enterprise Unlimited: £4,000/month with fair use policy

• M&A advisors and private equity: Screen acquisition targets by balance sheet strength and add PSC data to understand ownership before outreach
• Sales and business development: Build financially-qualified prospect lists and identify decision-makers using PSC ownership data
• Recruiters: Identify companies with expansion indicators and surface the individual in control using PSC data
• KYC and compliance teams: Verify beneficial ownership of UK companies for onboarding and regulatory compliance
• Credit analysts and risk teams: Balance sheet data plus ownership structure in a single export
• Developers and AI builders: UK company financial data via REST API, compatible with any LLM framework or automation tool
• Market researchers and analysts: Consistent structured data across sectors and geographies

Yes. Many customers use balance sheet signals to identify financially relevant companies - even those that don't disclose revenue. Add PSC data to identify owner-managed businesses and reach the individual with control directly, rather than navigating through a corporate structure.

Yes. Debt-to-equity ratios, asset levels, equity positions, and year-on-year trends all give reliable financial health signals, even for companies that don't disclose turnover. Add PSC data to understand ownership structure alongside financial health in a single export.

Yes. The API is designed for commercial reuse and integration into internal tools, CRM enrichment workflows, onboarding and KYC processes, financial products, and AI agents. All paid plans include commercial use rights. A ready-to-use system prompt for AI agent integration is available at dataledger.uk/agents.

JSON. All responses are clean, structured JSON with consistent field names. Financial field prefixes: c = current year, p = previous year. Growth rates returned as decimals (0.1 = 10% growth).

Yes. Use limit (max 500 per request) and offset to paginate. Use meta=true to get the total count before fetching results.

Any language that can make HTTP requests - Python, JavaScript/Node.js, PHP, Ruby, Java, C#, and others. Full documentation with examples at api.dataledger.uk/docs/v1.

Standard HTTP status codes: 200 success, 204 no content, 400 bad request, 403 invalid API key, 429 rate limit exceeded, 500/502 server error. Error responses include descriptive messages.

Yes. Full interactive documentation at api.dataledger.uk/docs/v1 including detailed schemas, example requests and responses, and a try-it-out interface.

Yes. The REST API is compatible with any LLM framework or automation platform - n8n, Make, Zapier, custom GPTs, and others. A ready-to-use system prompt covering all three endpoints is available at dataledger.uk/agents.

Yes. Email contact@dataledger.uk with your use case and we will help refine the right criteria and confirm what's available before you commit to a purchase.

Yes. Email support is included with all paid plans. Commercial and Enterprise plans include priority support. For AI agent integration, the system prompt and instructions at dataledger.uk/agents cover most integration scenarios.

• Try the API: sign up free at hub.dataledger.uk - 25 credits, no card required
• Buy a pre-built dataset: browse at dataledger.uk/packages - instant download from £195
• Request a custom dataset: email contact@dataledger.uk with your requirements

Email contact@dataledger.uk and we will respond within 24 hours on business days.