The register note and "Not checked"
For New Zealand organisations, WorkApproved can show what the New Zealand Business Number register says about a supplier, and it says "Not checked" when it could not look.
Is it on?
The check is off until it is switched on. Until then, no register note, "Not checked" message or register flag appears on any bill. If you do not see them, nothing is wrong.
It applies only to organisations in New Zealand. It goes by the country of the Xero organisation, not where the account is held. Suppliers of organisations in other countries are never looked up on the NZ register.
What it does
When the check is on, WorkApproved looks the supplier up on the New Zealand Business Number Register, run by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). It uses the NZBN stored on the supplier's contact in Xero. If there is none, it uses an exact name match, but only if exactly one business matches. It looks a supplier up once and keeps the answer up to date. It does not look up every bill.
You may then see:
- Matches NZBN register, in green, with the date and time of the last search. This shows when the supplier was found by its NZBN, the register shows it as Registered, and the name matches. It is a note, not a flag. A clean match by name alone shows nothing, because a name match is less certain.
- A flag saying what the register shows. For example, a status that suggests the business is being wound up, a name that does not match, or an NZBN in Xero that the register has no record of. The wording states what the register shows, with the date. It is information, not advice, and not a credit assessment.
- For a supplier that is not a company and was matched by name, a note saying what the register shows. A match by name alone is never turned into a flag.
Only people allowed to see the reasons for risk flags see these notes. Register flags work like other flags: a High one must be acknowledged before approving. See What the risk flags mean.
What "what the register shows" means
The register is a public list kept by the government. WorkApproved reports what it says, on the date shown. It does not confirm that a business is sound, and the register can be out of date. If a flag matters to you, look at the register yourself and ask the supplier.
What "Not checked" means
The bill shows Not checked against the NZBN register when WorkApproved has not been able to get an answer. It gives the reason. Common reasons:
- The supplier has not been looked up yet. A new supplier is looked up shortly after its first bill arrives, and the bill is re-checked when the answer comes.
- The register could not be reached. WorkApproved will try again.
- The last search is more than a week old. The green note is never shown from an old search.
- There is no NZBN on the supplier in Xero and no single exact name match.
"Not checked" never approves or blocks a bill. If your workflow approves some bills automatically, an administrator setting on the Risk indicators page, on by default, passes a "Not checked" bill to a person instead.
To help the check, put the supplier's NZBN on its contact in Xero.
Where the information comes from
Register content always shows when it was searched and where it came from. For example:
Searched 7 Oct 2026, 2:15 pm. Data sourced from the New Zealand Business Number Register.
The time is when the register was last searched for that supplier, not when you opened the page. The information is provided by MBIE.
Certificates carry a fixed sentence for a register flag and none of the register content itself.
If the register looks wrong
Register data comes from MBIE, so errors are corrected at the register. You can also tell us. See Get help or send a correction.
Related
Still stuck? Email [email protected]. This guide is also in the app at go.workapproved.app/help/register-note-and-not-checked.