Questions and Answers

Why don’t you accept card payments?

We prefer to use electronic bank transfer as Firmrater is a business to business service. It also eliminates any risk of card fraud and helps us confirm that our subscribers are genuine businesses if they make payment from their business account.

Can I cancel a subscription and get a refund?

Yes, we will refund each whole month remaining on a paid-for subscription, up to a maximum of 9 months, in accordance with our Terms and Conditions. We will not pay a refund for free subscriptions or free subscription extensions.

How do I contact you if I need help or have comments?

Please email us in the first instance at info@firmrater.co.uk and if we cannot resolve your query by email we will arrange to speak to you. If you have a Firmrater account, you can also log in and use the ‘Support Contact Form’ on your ‘Dashboard’. Alternatively you can write to us at our postal address: Firmrater Ltd, 145-157 St John Street, London EC1V 4PY.

What business information do I have to provide?

Please refer to the “Information required” page and our Data Collection Guide for full details. The guide explains what information you need to provide and where to find it.

Can my accountant or other professional adviser use Firmrater on my behalf?

Yes, but they must do this using their own account as you must not share your log in details. You are responsible for selecting a suitable professional adviser and giving them permission to submit your business information into the system.

What if I want to transfer operation of Firmrater from me to a professional adviser?

You should print your firm’s business information from the “Edit a Firm” page and give it to your professional adviser so that they can re-enter it using their own account. You must then delete the firm from your own account so that it does not appear in the system twice. Remember, you may get a refund if you delete a firm before a paid-for subscription expires.

What if I want to stop using a professional adviser to operate Firmrater for me?

You should request a printed copy of your latest business information from your professional adviser (they can print this from the “Edit a Firm” page) and ask them to delete the firm from their account. You can then open your own Firmrater account (if you don’t already have one) and add your firm into it using the data provided by your professional adviser.

What information does the Performance Report give me?

Please refer to the “Performance Report” page and our Performance Report Guide for full details. The guide explains what each part of the report means and how to interpret it.

What is the purpose of the Performance Report?

The Performance Report shows you how your firm is performing compared to a group of similar businesses. It tells you where your firm is doing well and what you could consider improving.

Can I download the Performance Report data for use in a spreadsheet?

Yes, you can download your Performance Reports as a “.csv” file for use in spreadsheets. (You can also download your Performance Report in PDF format to save or print)

Can I get a Performance Report for a date in the past?

Yes if you still have an active subscription for that firm, however you cannot get a report for a date before your firm was submitted into the system.

Does Firmrater track my business performance over time?

You can run a Performance Report whenever you like so you can monitor your business performance over time using a series of reports. You can also run reports for dates in the past if necessary.

What can I do if my ratings are low?

Don’t worry! Your business may be performing perfectly well, but your group may be performing even better. The ratings depend on which other firms are included in your group, so you can alter the report filters to see how different groups affect your position and ratings. The purpose of the report is to show you where improvements could be made, so if you see low ratings, they may indicate areas of your business that you could try to strengthen. You can also approach a professional adviser such as an accountant or specialist consultant for assistance and further advice. Firmrater does not provide advice about what you should do based on your Performance Report.

What can I do if I disagree with my Performance Report or ratings?

Your Performance Report is calculated based on the business information which you have provided, along with information entered by the group of firms against which your firm is being compared. If you disagree with the report you should first check that your business information is accurate and up to date. If you still disagree with the report it may be because the other firms in your comparison group are performing very differently to your own business. You can also change the report filters to see how that affects your report. If your selected group is relatively small it may not be as representative as a larger group. Firmrater collects the same data and applies the same calculations to each firm so the report shows how the information that you have provided compares against the selected comparison group. If you think there is a bug in the system, please email us using the ‘Support Contact Form’ on your account ‘Dashboard’ page.

How do I know what other firms are in my comparison group?

You will not be able to identify the other firms in your comparison group and they will not be able to identify your business. The report is produced using a group of firms with the same primary business activity as your firm, plus any additional filters that you have selected. You will only see how many firms are in the selected group, but not who they are.

How do I select the group of firms used in my Performance Report?

Firmrater identifies the largest group by finding other firms in the database which have the same primary business activity as your firm. You can refine the group by using the report filters to include additional business activities, distance from your firm, turnover, headcount and age of the business. You can also change your postcode to select a group elsewhere in the UK.

How often can I update my business information?

As often as you like. You can update your business information as soon as something changes or perhaps review it monthly or quarterly. You must update your business information at least annually.

Is there a limit to the number of Performance Reports I can run?

There is no limit. You can run as many Performance Reports as you like within an active subscription, although we may contact you if excessive use affects the system.

Can I use Firmrater if my business is less than 1 year old?

Yes. You can annualise your numbers if you have been trading for less than one year, however, your business must be generating revenue. For example, if you have been running for 6 months, you can double your trading figures to give the equivalent for a 12 month period. When you have full year figures you should update your business information.

Can I exclude firms from my comparison group if they are less than 1 year old?

Yes, the Performance Report allows you to set lower and upper business age limits for your comparison group, so you can focus on other businesses of a similar age to your own if you wish.

Why can’t I run a Performance Report as soon as I submit my business information?

When you submit business information, you will be asked to pay the subscription fee (if applicable). Once we have received the correct payment we will activate your Performance Report service. If a subscription is free, you will be able to run Performance Reports straight away. In the case of a charity, we will activate the Performance Report service once we have confirmed the organisation is a genuine UK registered charity.

What happens if I decide not to pay for a subscription after submitting business information?

You can either do nothing, in which case we will use your business information for up to a year until it becomes out of date and then exclude it from our calculations, or you can log in to your account and delete the firm. If you delete a firm we will continue to use the data for that firm up until the date that it was deleted. This is so that Performance Reports can be generated consistently for past dates.

Is my information secure and confidential?

Yes, we take security seriously. Access to your account is password protected, but you must keep your log in details confidential as we are not responsible for access to your information if you allow other people to log in to your account. We only use your business information anonymously in Performance Report calculations and in the production of statistics and indices. Your firm cannot be identified as these reports are statistical and do not reveal the identity of the firms involved. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for further information.

Do you share my personal details or business information with anyone else?

No, we do not share or pass your personal details to anyone else. We use your business information anonymously in Performance Report calculations and in the production of statistics and indices which we may then publish, but your firm cannot be identified as these reports are statistical and do not reveal the identity of the firms involved.

What happens to my business information if I delete a firm from the system?

We stop including your business information in Performance Report groups from the date that you delete it. However, we keep and use historical data for deleted firms up to the date of their deletion so that Performance Reports can be generated consistently for historical dates.

Is the system always available?

We aim to make the system available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. If we need to take the system offline for maintenance we will advise you beforehand and try to minimise the outage. If the system goes offline unexpectedly we may extend your paid-for subscription free of charge, subject to our Terms and Conditions.

How many firms can I hold in one account?

Up to 99 businesses, branches or locations can be held in one account.

What is the minimum group size before a subscription fee becomes payable?

Please refer to our Homepage and Pricing Plan for the current minimum group size. Please note that we may vary this figure from time to time but will not reduce it below 25.

How do businesses describe what they do?

Each firm must provide its primary business activity code from the UK Standard Industrial Classification list (SIC-2007). Firms can also provide up to 4 additional activities if they wish.

How do I know the business information provided by other firms in the system is reliable?

We cannot guarantee that all information provided by our subscribers is accurate as we do not audit it. However, we do require our subscribers to declare that their business information is accurate and we reserve the right to exclude any particularly unusual data from our Performance Report calculations. Business information must be confirmed as being up to date at least annually and our Terms and Conditions require subscribers to act in good faith in providing accurate information.

Why do you ask for raw data and then calculate the performance indicators rather than just ask for the figures themselves?

We specify and collect the same data for each business and then apply identical calculations to ensure that the Performance Report is consistent between firms. There are often several different ways to calculate performance indicators and so, to guarantee that all firms are treated in the same way, we perform the calculations ourselves within the system. This helps ensure the Performance Report compares firms on a like for like basis.

Why do you ask for net profit excluding owners’ income and tax?

We want to show how the underlying performance of your business compares to other similar firms and we recognise that owners, directors or partners may take out very different proportions, thereby masking the underlying performance of the firm. Tax can also vary depending on different circumstances, also clouding the underlying performance of a business. This is why we exclude both from our analysis.

Should I include VAT in my figures?

No. All the figures you submit should exclude VAT.

Why do you treat owners separately from employees?

So that we can show the difference between owners and employees in terms of headcount and costs. Business owners, directors and partners can choose not to take income from their firm but may still have to pay staff.

What if I have several firms or branches in different locations?

We recommend that you enter each branch as a separate business so you can compare the performance of each branch with its local competition. You will also be able to find out which of your branches are performing better or worse than the others.

What happens if I forget my password?

You can log in using the additional security questions that you provided when you opened your account. If you have forgotten these you will need to contact us, prove your identity and we will enable you to log in. You can then change your password.

How do I renew a subscription?

When a subscription is approaching expiry, a renewal button will appear on your ‘Dashboard’ page. Click the button to trigger the renewal process.

What happens if I let my subscription expire?

You will not be able to run Performance Reports for a firm once its subscription has expired. Click the renewal button to trigger the renewal process. If you do not wish to renew, you can either do nothing or you can delete the firm in question. Please note that we will continue to include your business information in Performance Report groups until you delete it or until one year since it was last updated. You can still log into your account and edit or delete business information even if the subscription has expired.

How often should I update my business information?

We recommend that you update your business information whenever there is a material change so that your Performance Report remains as accurate as possible. As a matter of good practice we suggest that you review and amend your data on a monthly or quarterly basis.

What happens if I don’t update my business information?

Your Performance Report will not provide you with an accurate picture of how your firm compares with others if your business information is out of date. If you don’t update your business information for a year, we will exclude it from our calculations but you will still be able to run Performance Reports if your firm has an active subscription.

How often should I run a Performance Report?

We would recommend running it at least once a month or perhaps every 2 weeks while you get familiar with how it can change over time.

Why do my ratings change even though I have not changed my business information?

Your rating is based on a comparison with a group of other firms, so even if you have not changed your own business information, other firms may have joined your group, left your group or changed their own information. This will cause your ratings to change even if you have not amended your own business information. Your ratings also depend on the group that you have selected using the report filters.

Does the system log me out automatically if I forget?

Yes, after approximately 1 hour of inactivity.