ARES (Administrative Register of Economic Entities) is a central database run by the Czech Ministry of Finance. It aggregates data about business entities from various state registries and is freely available to the public. If you need to verify basic details about a company — address, company ID, legal form, or date of incorporation — ARES is the right starting point.

What ARES contains

ARES is not a registry in its own right but an aggregator pulling from several sources:

  • Commercial Register (OR) — limited liability companies (s.r.o.), joint-stock companies (a.s.), and larger businesses
  • Trade Licence Register — sole traders and companies with a trade licence
  • Register of Economic Entities (RES) — statistical data and CZ-NACE industry codes
  • RUIAN — verified registered address from the land and property cadastre

For each entity ARES provides: company ID (IČO), VAT number (DIČ, if registered), company name, registered address, date of incorporation, legal form, and basic status (active / dissolved / in liquidation).

How to search for a company in ARES

ARES supports three search methods:

  1. By company ID (IČO) — most precise. The IČO is a unique identifier; the search returns exactly one result.
  2. By company name — returns a list of matches. Note: multiple companies can share a similar name — always confirm you are working with the correct IČO.
  3. By address — returns all entities registered at a given address.

Firmometr uses ARES as its primary data source. Enter a company ID or name — Firmometr queries ARES and presents the results directly, enriched with data from ISIR, the VAT register, and the Commercial Register.

How to validate a company ID (IČO)

The IČO is an eight-digit number with a check digit. Mathematical validation works as follows:

  • Multiply the first digit by 8, the second by 7, the third by 6, the fourth by 5, the fifth by 4, the sixth by 3, and the seventh by 2
  • Sum the products and divide by 11; subtract the remainder from 11
  • The result must equal the eighth (last) digit of the IČO

If the IČO on an invoice fails this test, it is either incorrectly written or fictitious. Firmometr validates the IČO format automatically and flags an invalid format immediately.

ARES vs. other registries — what to find where

ARES covers basic company identification. For risk assessment it is not sufficient on its own:

  • Insolvency — only in ISIR (Insolvency Register)
  • VAT reliability — only in the Financial Administration register
  • Directors, ownership structure, financial statements — only in the Commercial Register

Firmometr combines all these sources into a single profile — ARES, ISIR, VAT register, and Commercial Register together, in 10 seconds.

Practical tips for using ARES

  • Verify the IČO from an invoice — if the IČO does not match the ARES result (different name or address), that is a serious signal of an error or fraud.
  • Check the registered address — addresses shared by hundreds of companies are typical of shell companies and intermediaries with no real operations.
  • Date of incorporation — a company less than one year old has no track record; risk is harder to assess.
  • Entity status — "Active" vs. "Dissolved" or "In liquidation" is a critical distinction. A company in liquidation is winding down; avoid entering new contracts with it.

Summary

ARES is the foundation of any company check — it verifies a subject's identity and basic formal details. For assessing the risk of a business partner, ARES alone is not enough. Firmometr combines ARES with ISIR, the VAT register, and the Commercial Register into a single clear profile. Enter a company ID and have a complete overview in 10 seconds.