How to read ariregister: what a provider’s register entry tells you
The Estonian commercial register is public and free. Searching a company by name or registry code on ariregister.rik.ee gives you more reliable information about it than the provider’s own description: does it file its reports on time, how many employees does it have, what is its capital, where is its address, who represents it. This guide also shows step by step how the public-record cards on this site were produced.
Search and page layout
Type the company name or the 8-digit registry code into the search box on the home page. Choose “ENG” at the top right for the English interface. The result page shows the company name and code at the top, then tabs: Registry card, Proceeding information, Connections, Data extract. The registry card is divided into boxes: General information, Contacts, Tax information, Annual reports, Articles of association, Right of representation, Shareholders, Areas of activity, Beneficial owners.
If you see an orange exclamation warning at the very top, read it: “Legal person has non-submitted annual reports” means at least one report is overdue.
General information: capital, founding, status
- Registry code: the 8-digit registry number; it should appear on your contract and invoices.
- Status: “Entered into the register” is normal. “Deleted” means struck off, “In liquidation” means being wound up.
- Capital: share capital. Since 2023 the minimum capital in Estonia can be one cent; “Capital is 1 €” is legal, but it means this: in a dispute you face a legal entity with € 1 of equity. The “€ 1 capital” finding on this site is read from here.
- Registered: founding date. A company less than a year old has no financial data in the register at all; you cannot assess its track record.
- Period of the financial year: usually 01.01–31.12. The report is due six months after the end of the financial year.
- Receipt of e-invoices: whether it accepts e-invoices; a company selling accounting services that does not is notable (opinion).
Annual reports: what Esitamata / Not submitted means
This box shows one row per financial year: Year, Submitted (filing date), Period, Status. If the status column shows red “Not submitted” (Estonian “Esitamata”) with “due date 30.06.2026” beneath it, that year’s report has not been filed although the deadline has passed. “Valid” means the report was filed and accepted; “Expired” marks a version that lapsed because it was not completed; if a valid report exists it appears in a separate row as “Valid”.
Compare the Submitted column with the due date. The report was due by 30 June; a date such as “Submitted 19.09.2025” shows the 2024 report was filed about three months late. A provider that files its own reports late for years shows what its discipline is while reminding customers about late-filing penalties (opinion). The history of late filing and the 2025 report unfiled at six companies on this site were read this way.
Clicking the arrow at the start of a row opens the report PDF: the income statement, balance sheet and “Töötajate keskmine arv” (average number of employees) are there. If the report is in micro-enterprise format it is very short, and that is normal.
Right of representation, Shareholders, Beneficial owners, Connections
- Right of representation: management board members and the representation rule. If there is only one person, every decision in the company depends on that person.
- Shareholders: owners and their shares. Beneficial owners: the ultimate owners.
- Connections (BETA) and the Business connections preview at the bottom of the page: show in which other companies the same person is a director or shareholder. This is where you see that five, nine or twelve companies stand behind the provider. The company network page on this site was produced from this view.
- Areas of activity (EMTAK): the declared activity code. A company selling accounting services should carry code 6920 (accounting); if an accounting invoice comes from a company coded 70201 (management consulting) or 62201 (software), the code and the service do not match; see the mismatched activity codes card.
Personal identification codes (isikukood) shown in the register are public, but they are not published on this site and are hidden in the screenshots.
Contacts: address and the contact-person line
Address is the company’s registered address. Since 2023 an Estonian company whose management board is abroad may also show a registered address abroad; in that case a contact person in Estonia is mandatory and appears in the “Address of the contact person” line. So the reading is: an accounting company with its registered address in the United Kingdom and its contact person’s address in Tallinn is a company not physically present in Estonia; official correspondence is received by the contact person. The Sazara OÜ entry on this site was read this way.
Why it matters to a customer: whoever appears in the “Address of the contact person” line of your own company’s registry card receives your court and registry notices. Leaving that line unchanged after a relationship with the provider has broken down may mean notices count as “received” without you knowing. The steps to change it are in the relevant guide.
A five-minute checklist
- Is there a “non-submitted annual reports” warning at the top?
- Annual reports: are the Submitted dates of the last two years before 30 June?
- General information: how much is the Capital, when was it Registered?
- In the latest report PDF: average number of employees? Revenue and profit?
- Contacts: is the address in Estonia, who is the contact person?
- Connections: how many other companies does the same person have, which of them invoice you?
- Areas of activity: does the activity code match the service sold?
You can check these seven points for one provider in five minutes. Repeat for every company of the same person; the financial statements page on this site is that work done for nine companies.
Frequently asked questions
Is ariregister paid?
The registry card, annual report status, right of representation and connections are free. Annual report PDFs also open free of charge. Some detailed outputs (data extracts) may be paid.
Are “Esitamata” and “Not submitted” the same thing?
Yes; the Estonian interface says Esitamata, the English one Not submitted. Both mean the report has not been filed although the deadline has passed.
What happens if a report is filed late?
The registrar may fine the company and its board members, and the fine may be repeated; if the report stays unfiled for a long time it can go as far as a deletion warning and deletion proceedings. For a customer this matters because the provider’s delay becomes your company’s fine; in the register, the penalised party is you.
Where is the employee count?
In the annual report PDF, usually on the first pages, in the line “Töötajate keskmine arv taandatuna täistööajale” (average number of employees converted to full-time equivalents). Analysis sites such as Radar also show it in table form.
Is what I see in the register current?
The registry card is live; report status and address are the information valid that day. The screenshots on this site are dated, and the “Register data last checked” stamp at the top of each page says when they were looked at; look yourself before deciding.