Check a supplier: SSM records

What can SSM records tell you about a supplier?

SSM records can tell you whether a supplier or partner is registered and still existing, who owns and runs it, where it is registered, whether its assets carry charges, and what accounts it has filed. SSM, the Companies Commission of Malaysia (Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia), keeps these records and appoints service providers to sell them online as documents; SAFEDATA-SSM, Safeguards KioskMedia's SSM Service Provider portal, is one. Each question has its own document.

SSM describes the Company Profile as "a current report that contains basic information of a company", including its "share capital, directors/officers, shareholders, charges (if any) and financial information". For most supplier checks it is the one document to buy first. A certified true copy (CTC) is the same record issued as an SSM certified true copy; on SAFEDATA-SSM the Company Profile CTC is RM23.24 (SSM's RM20 plus the same RM3.24).

Is your supplier a company or a business?

Most suppliers are either a company or a business, and the two have different SSM records. A company, a Sdn Bhd or Berhad, is registered with SSM under the Companies Act, in its companies register (ROC), and its record is the Company Profile. A business, the smaller sole proprietorship or partnership, is registered under the Registration of Businesses Act 1956 (ROB), and its record is the Business Profile. A limited liability partnership (LLP, or PLT) has its own record, the LLP Profile, which SSM says gives its status, registered office and business address, and its partners and compliance officers.

The name and registration number tell you which. Check both on the supplier's quotation, invoice or letterhead before you search, so that you buy the record of the right entity. How a registration number is read is in how to check if a company is registered in Malaysia, and the two profiles are compared in company profile vs business profile.

How do you check a supplier with SSM records, step by step?

Checking a supplier with SSM records takes five steps: confirm who you are dealing with, buy the profile, compare it with what you were told, look deeper for a bigger contract, and keep the documents. On SAFEDATA-SSM you sign up free, search by name or registration number, choose the document, pay and download it.

1. Confirm the entityTake the exact registered name and registration number from the supplier's own papers, not from a website or a business card.
2. Buy the profileThe Company Profile for a Sdn Bhd or Berhad, the Business Profile for a sole proprietorship or partnership, RM13.24 each on SAFEDATA-SSM.
3. Compare the detailsCheck that the status, the address and the people named match the ones you were given, and for a business that its registration has not expired.
4. Look deeper for a bigger dealRead the charges and financial information, buy the Financial Comparison for the filed accounts, or the Attestation of Company Good Standing.
5. Keep the recordSave the documents with your supplier file, dated, so you can see later what the record said when you signed.

What should make you stop and ask? Each of these is a field SSM itself shows:

• A company status other than 'existing', such as being wound up, struck off or dissolved.
• A registered or business address different from the one on the quotation or invoice.
• Directors, shareholders or business owners different from the people you have been dealing with.
• A charge on the company you were not told about.
• A Business Profile whose registration expiry date has passed.

None of these proves a problem on its own, but each is a question to ask the supplier before you sign or pay. The steps on SAFEDATA-SSM, from sign-up to download, are on SAFEDATA-SSM at Safeguards KioskMedia. To see who is behind a company in more detail, see how to find the directors and shareholders of a Malaysian company.

What does an Attestation of Company Good Standing confirm?

An Attestation of Company Good Standing (ACGS) confirms that a company exists and has met the statutory requirements of the Companies Act 2016. SSM calls it "a document issued by SSM to confirm the existence of a company and that it has met the statutory requirements by the Companies Act 2016 (Act 777)". SSM's fee is RM100; on SAFEDATA-SSM it is RM103.24.

SSM lists the criteria a company must meet. Among them:

• It has been incorporated for at least 18 months.
• It has lodged its latest Annual Return and Audited Financial Statements, or its latest Exempt Private Company (EPC) certificate.
• Its status is 'existing' and it is not being wound up, struck off or dissolved.
• It has a registered address and is not dormant.
• Neither the company nor its directors have an outstanding compound or a pending prosecution case with SSM.

That makes it a useful check for a larger contract or a tender. A company that does not meet SSM's criteria cannot get one, and its Company Profile shows its status and the details SSM holds.

How do you check a supplier's accounts and the people behind it?

A supplier's filed accounts are in SSM's Financial Comparison, and the other companies its directors are involved in are in a Personal Involvement search. SSM describes the Financial Comparison as "a comparative information on the audited financial statements of a company", compared over 2, 3, 5 or 10 years; on SAFEDATA-SSM it costs RM23.24, RM33.24, RM53.24 or RM103.24. More is in how to get a Malaysian company's financial information.

A Personal Involvement search is made with the person's identity number (SSM names MyKad, passport, old IC, police or army ID), so you need that number first. SSM describes it as information on "an individual's involvement as a director, shareholder, secretary, auditor or liquidator in any company". It is described on Personal Involvement on SAFEDATA-SSM.

What can't SSM records tell you about a supplier?

SSM records cannot tell you whether a supplier delivers on time, pays its bills or makes good products. They show what the company or business has lodged with SSM: who owns and runs it, its status and address, its charges and its filed accounts. They are records, not an assessment of the company, so use them alongside trade references, a site visit or a trial order.

Records also change. SSM calls the Company Profile a current report, so a profile bought months ago may not show a new director or a new address. Buy a fresh one before a large order, and if a document you bought looks wrong, see what to do if an SSM document has the wrong information.

What if the business registration has expired?

If a supplier's business registration has expired, ask the supplier to renew, then buy a fresh Business Profile yourself before you sign or pay. The Business Profile shows the expiry date. To confirm an expiry on paper, SSM also sells a Business Expiry Confirmation Letter, "a supporting document confirming the expiry status of a business registration", which it says "can be purchased by anyone" once the registration has expired.

Renewing is the supplier's job; it can be done online or at a SafeKiosk location with SSM services. For the owner's side, see how to renew a business registration (ROB) in Malaysia and how to pay an SSM compound.

Questions about checking a supplier with SSM records

Sources

1. SSM, Products: Company Information (ssm.com.my): Company Profile, Financial Comparison, Attestation of Company Good Standing and its criteria, particulars and fees (read 7 Nov 2026).
2. SSM, Products: Business Information (ssm.com.my): Business Profile, Business Expiry Confirmation Letter and fees (read 7 Nov 2026).
3. SSM, Products: LLP Information (ssm.com.my): LLP Profile (read 7 Nov 2026).
4. SAFEDATA-SSM (safedata-ssm.com), FAQ and Our Products: the documents on sale, prices including the RM3.00 service fee and 8% SST, sign-up and download.
5. Safeguards KioskMedia: ROC covers companies (Sdn Bhd, Berhad), ROB covers businesses; Personal Involvement is looked up by MyKad number (October 2026).

Last checked against SSM's published product pages on 7 November 2026.