Searching for a debtor organisation

How to get the best results

When searching for a debtor organisation we recommend conducting 2 separate searches:

  1. Organisation name
  2. Incorporation number and NZBN

As a minimum, you need to enter one of the following criteria:

  • the organisation name or
  • the incorporation number and its New Zealand Business Number (NZBN).

Being an ‘and’ search, using more than one criteria will refine your results but may not return all financing statements listing the debtor organisation. Therefore, we recommend conducting two separate searches, for:

  • organisation name
  • incorporation number and NZBN

If you choose to enter further criteria into the advance search fields, please be sure the information is correct.

The exception to the rule when making an 'and' search is when you have entered both an incorporation number and the NZBN. This will return all financing statements that contain either of these numbers.

New Zealand Companies Office

View transcript

Transcript

Duration: 3:44

Audio

Welcome to this short video on how to search the PPSR. If you're planning to both search and register on the PPSR, you'll need a RealMe username and password. If, however, you're only searching the register, you can also use social media to log in. This option is available to individual account users only.

Visuals

Facebook or google

Audio

For this video, we'll log in with RealMe.

Visuals

Clicking log in button

Audio

On the dashboard menu, you'll see there are five types of search you can make. For this video, we'll be making a Debtor Organisation search.

Visuals

Clicking Debtor Organisation

Audio

On the Debtor Organisation Search screen, first confirm that you are conducting the search for a legitimate reason. Now you can enter your search criteria. At a minimum, you must enter one of the following-- organisation name, incorporation number, or New Zealand Business Number. Being an exact match search using more than one criteria will refine your results that may not return all of the financing statements listed in the debtor organisation. Therefore, we recommend you make separate searches for organisation name and incorporation or NZBN number. If you choose to enter further criteria using the advanced search fields, please be aware that this will narrow down the search results.

Visuals

Advanced search option

Audio

When you have entered the search criteria, click on the Proceed to Payment button.

Visuals

Bottom right

Audio

Select your preferred method of payment. You have a choice of three options-- credit, debit card, and internet banking. Direct debit is also available, but you need to set this up beforehand. We're going to select Direct Debit. The information you enter as a reference for this transaction will appear on your invoice.

Visuals

Clicking process payment

Audio

Once payment has been made, you'll arrive at the Debtor Organisation Search Results screen, where you can see a summary of the search and a full list of search results. Here, you can download, print, or email the results list and the financing statement details in either PDF or Excel formats. Financing statements can be selected individually or all together. To view the details of a financing statement, click on the Registration Number hyperlink. From the View Financing Statement screen, you can also email, download, and print each statement. To return to the Debtor Organisation Search results screen, please click Cancel in the left bottom corner of the screen. If you wish to make another search, click on the Search Again button. To view your recent search history, click on the Visit My Recent Searches link.

Visuals

My recent searches list

Audio

Search results are kept for a period of 14 days. The search results are accurate as at the date and time of the initial search. By clicking on the search ID, you may view your search results. All users for your organisation can view the organisation's search history from the dashboard, or by selecting My Tools and My Recent Searches. If you have any questions about searching the register or anything to do with the PPSR, contact the Companies Office. Check out our Contact Us page for details.

Visuals

Logo, New Zealand Companies Office, Personal property securities register. ppsr.govt.nz

How to search for a debtor organisation

To conduct a debtor organisation search:

  1. Log in to the PPSR.
  2. From the dashboard, choose the debtor organisation search.
  3. Confirm that you are conducting the search for a legitimate reason.
  4. Enter your search criteria.
  5. Pay the search fee - $2 (plus GST).
  6. View, email, print or download the search results.

You can view your search results on the dashboard’s ‘My Recent Searches’ for a further 14 days.

Please be aware of the following when searching for a debtor organisation

  • You can choose an 'exact match' search or a 'starts with' search.
  • A minimum of two characters must be entered when using the ‘starts with’ search. PPSR limits the number of results to 300. If the number exceeds this, you will need to contact us to obtain the full search results.
  • If the ‘exact match’ option is used for the debtor name, the search will only produce results precisely matching the search words. The PPSR will limit the number of results to 300.
  • If you have chosen to refine the search by collateral, the results will also include those for ‘All present and after acquired personal property’ and ‘All present and after acquired personal property except…’
  • When making a debtor organisation search the following will be ignored:
    • Double spaces
    • Non-alphanumeric symbols and punctuation, such as *()!@$%^&-+{}:;”’<>,.?/
    • Words such as ‘the’, ‘and’, ‘New Zealand’, ‘limited’, ‘unlimited’, ‘company’, ‘incorporated’, ‘trust’ and tapui’
    • Abbreviated words such as ‘NZ’, ‘ltd’, ‘unltd’, ‘coy’, ‘co’, ‘corp’, ‘pty’, and ‘inc’.

This means if you enter (or omit) ‘ltd’ instead of ‘limited’ or ‘and’ instead if ‘&’, your results will not be affected.

Search the PPSR

Related articles

Other guides in
Searching the PPSR

Other help topics

Getting started on the PPSR

Managing your online services account

Registering on the PPSR

Information for debtors and consumers

Paying PPSR fees

View all topics