Before a multi-year contract with an Italian vendor: financial and compliance checks
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In short: before you commit to a multi-year contract with an Italian vendor, check seven things: that the company exists and is active, that its VAT number is valid, its last three years of accounts, protests, insolvency proceedings, who controls it, and sanctions exposure. Then agree in the contract how you will keep tracking it. A Veryfy Investigation (€99) covers the checks in one report and includes the Sentinella, which watches the company for 12 months.
Part of the guide Vetting an Italian company or counterparty: a guide for US businesses. If the vendor works on construction sites in Italy, also read Masonry and construction contractors in Italy: compliance checks on subcontractors and suppliers.
Why a multi-year commitment needs a deeper check
A one-off order needs the vendor to deliver once. A multi-year contract needs the vendor to be solvent, owned by the same people and able to deliver in every year of the term. Your exposure builds up quietly: advance payments, tooling or moulds paid for and held at the vendor, stock produced to your specification, price commitments, and the time it would take to qualify a replacement. Masonry, tile and stone buyers know this well: a quarry or plant that stops shipping halfway through a project leaves you with matching problems on colour, batch and finish that a new supplier cannot always solve.
So the question is not only "is this company real?" but "will this company still be standing, and still be the same company, when the contract ends?"
The pre-signing checklist
| Check | Italian source | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Existence and status | Registro Imprese (business register) | Legal name, registered office, legal form, date of incorporation, business activity, directors |
| 2. VAT number | VIES, the EU VAT validation service | Whether the VAT number is valid for intra-EU trade |
| 3. Financial statements | Accounts filed with the Registro Imprese | Revenue, profit, equity, debt and liquidity over time |
| 4. Protests | Registro Protesti | Unpaid bills of exchange and bounced cheques, kept for five years |
| 5. Insolvency proceedings | Registro Imprese and court records | Whether the company is in liquidation, composition with creditors or judicial liquidation |
| 6. Owners and beneficial owner | Registro Imprese, shareholder records | Who controls the company and who would gain from a change of control |
| 7. Sanctions | OFAC, EU and UK lists, checked against owners and directors | Whether paying the vendor could breach sanctions |
Limited companies (S.r.l. and S.p.A.) must file their approved financial statements with the business register within thirty days of approval (Italian Civil Code, art. 2435). Ask for at least three years and read the trend, not the single year: falling equity, rising debt and a shrinking cash position over three filings matter more than one weak year. Our guide How to tell from the balance sheet whether a supplier is about to fail lists the ratios to look at.
Protests are recorded in the Registro Protesti, where each one stays for five years from publication unless it is cancelled, for example after payment (Registro Imprese: protests). For sanctions, ownership counts as much as the name on the invoice: see OFAC screening of an Italian company's owners and Beneficial ownership of an Italian S.r.l. for US KYC.
Size the exposure, not just the vendor
Write down what you would lose if the vendor stopped in each year of the contract: advances not yet delivered against, tooling held at their premises, stock built to your specification, and the cost of a replacement. Then compare that number with what the vendor can sustain. Veryfy reports give an estimated operating credit line, an estimate of how much exposure is reasonable with that company, which you can set against your own figure. If your exposure is well above it, reduce advances, split the volume with a second source, or tie payments to deliveries.
Build the tracking into the contract
A check at signing goes stale. These clauses are common practice in supply agreements; ask your lawyer how each one works under Italian law and your governing law:
- delivery of the approved annual financial statements each year;
- prompt notice of a change of control, of directors or of registered office;
- a right to review the relationship if a protest or insolvency proceeding appears;
- advance payments limited to a share of the next delivery, not the whole year;
- ownership of tooling and moulds kept with you, and documented.
The guide Financial tracking of an Italian vendor during a multi-year contract turns these into a yearly calendar.
One report for the whole checklist
Veryfy collects checks 1 to 6 from Italian official sources in one report, with the people behind the company, and says how much it is reasonable to risk with it. The visura tells you who the company is; Veryfy tells you how much you risk by working with it.
| Product | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Verification | €19 | Full company check, beneficial owner, shareholders and directors, estimated operating credit line, protests and insolvency signals, comparison with the sector |
| Decision | €49 | Everything in Verification, plus properties registered to the company, links with other companies and a restated financial statement |
| Investigation | €99 | Everything in Decision, plus risk algorithms developed by experienced risk managers, and the Sentinella included free for 12 months on that VAT number |
For a multi-year vendor, Decision is the usual level when the contract is material; Investigation fits a vendor you cannot easily replace, because the Sentinella keeps watching the company after you sign. The service and the report are in Italian, built from Italian official sources; How to read an Italian company report is the glossary.
Frequently asked questions
What should I check before a multi-year contract with an Italian supplier?
Seven things: that the company exists and is active in the Registro Imprese, that its VAT number is valid in VIES, its last three filed financial statements, protests, insolvency proceedings, who owns and controls it, and whether any owner or director appears on a sanctions list.
Why is a multi-year contract riskier than a one-off order?
Because your exposure is spread over years: advance payments, tooling, stock built for you and the cost of switching all depend on the vendor still being solvent in year three. A one-off order only needs the vendor to deliver once.
Which Veryfy report fits a multi-year vendor?
Decision (€49) when the contract is material, Investigation (€99) when the vendor is critical to your operations. Investigation includes the Sentinella free for 12 months, which emails you when accounts, directors, shareholders, registered office or PEC change.
Hub: Vetting an Italian company or counterparty: a guide for US businesses. Related guides:
- Financial tracking of an Italian vendor during a multi-year contract
- Masonry and construction contractors in Italy: compliance checks
- Italian company credit report: what a US buyer gets
- Italian VAT number lookup
- Financial qualification of suppliers and third-party manufacturers
All guides: Guides.
Sources
Official sources opened and read on November 7, 2026 (2026-11-07).
- Registro Imprese, the Italian business register portal (InfoCamere)
- European Commission: VIES VAT number validation
- Registro Imprese: protests (Registro Protesti)
- Italian Civil Code, art. 2435 (filing of financial statements)
General information, not legal advice. Sources verified on 2026-11-07.
Frequently asked questions
What should I check before a multi-year contract with an Italian supplier?
Seven things: that the company exists and is active in the Registro Imprese, that its VAT number is valid in VIES, its last three filed financial statements, protests, insolvency proceedings, who owns and controls it, and whether any owner or director appears on a sanctions list.
Why is a multi-year contract riskier than a one-off order?
Because your exposure is spread over years: advance payments, tooling, stock built for you and the cost of switching all depend on the vendor still being solvent in year three. A one-off order only needs the vendor to deliver once.
Which Veryfy report fits a multi-year vendor?
Decision (€49) when the contract is material, Investigation (€99) when the vendor is critical to your operations. Investigation includes the Sentinella free for 12 months, which emails you when accounts, directors, shareholders, registered office or PEC change.
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