Using our data through APIs

​How to find and set up our APIs

What APIs are

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) allow your system to retrieve information from us automatically. They're designed to do multiple searches fast, and can be developed and deployed within many different technology environments.

We offer a range of APIs that help our customers to build software that connects directly to our systems.

Who uses our APIs

We have a wide range of customers who use our APIs, including:

  • people who frequently use our registers to manage company compliance
  • anyone who uses data regularly from the:
    • Companies Register
    • Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR)
    • Disclose Register, or
    • New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) Register
  • anyone looking to develop a new product or service using our data
  • software developers.

Using our APIs

Our customers can use our APIs to:

  • search the details of companies registered in New Zealand, by:
    • name
    • director or shareholder
  • search for disqualified directors and prohibited company managers
  • maintain company details and submit annual returns
  • create new funds against existing financial offers and submit compliance data on the Disclose Register
  • amend or discharge finance statements on the PPSR
  • use the data available to develop a new product or service
  • search or update primary business data for companies, sole traders, partnerships, trusts, public sector entities and other registered entities allocated an NZBN.

Our customers can find everything they need to get started by using the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) API Explorer, which offers technical specifications for APIs and support to use them.

API Explorer MBIE API website

Set-up and other costs for using an API

It's likely there will be set-up costs to develop the software to access our APIs, but there is no charge for using most of our APIs.

We charge fees for some transactions, such as filing a company annual return or registering a financial statement. The cost of using an API for these transactions is lower than if filed using the Companies Office website. Fees are paid by direct debit on a monthly basis.

Schedule of fees - Companies Register