[Forgeties79]

But how? Make them show me their books? Aside from a downpayment idk what else there is

[KomoD]

You could do a credit check.

And in this particular case since they're a UK company, yeah, you can just look at their reported accounts.

2023

CURRENT ASSETS: £571

Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within One Year: £28,051

----

That's not a client I'd take.

[imglorp]

As a customer or a vendor, being able to see any company's health like this must be wonderful if you're evaluating whether you want to enter a relationship with them. More of the world should do this.

[Forgeties79]

I legitimately did not know we could do that in the US. A cursory search says we can I think?

[Teever]

Wait, what, Anyone can check the balance of a UK company's chequing account?

[closewith]

Limited liability companies have to submit their accounts annually. Most small business accounts aren't audited, so it's self-reported at that level, but still useful to check scale, cash crunch, etc.