Your NZBN is linked to your core business information, which is stored on the NZBN Register. This information is called your Primary Business Data (PBD).
Primary Business Data (PBD) is the information you’re most likely to be asked to share with other businesses and government agencies so they can work with you.
Your PBD includes information such as your:
Legal business name
Trading name
Registration status
Email
Phone number
Physical address
Registered address.
Primary business data
Purpose
Example information for a fictional business
Legal entity name
To enable the NZBN entity to be identified by its official (proper, legal) name.
Jessica Helga Forbeteaux
Forbeteaux Homes Limited
Trading name or names
To enable the NZBN entity to be identified by any other names (other than its legal name) it uses for business purposes.
Forbeteaux Homes
Trading area(s)
To identify the geographic areas where the NZBN entity conducts its business activities in New Zealand.
Wellington City
Porirua City
Hutt City
NZBN
To identify the NZBN allocated by the NZBN Registrar to the NZBN entity.
9412312341235
Entity type
To identify the legal structure of the business. For example, Company, sole trader, partnership or trust.
NZ Limited Company
Registration status
To identify the currency of the NZBN registration and any solvency issues. For example, Registered, in liquidation or removed.
Where the NZBN entity is a registered company or a limited partnership to record the address of the registered office in New Zealand consistent with the requirements of those Acts.
47 Gorgeous Grove, Blenheim 7201
Postal address
To identify the address the NZBN entity uses to receive physical postal deliveries.
PO Box 12-123, Springblock, Blenheim 7241
Address for service
To identify the NZBN entity’s physical address in New Zealand at which writs, summons, notices and other legal documents can be served (as appropriate) on the entity, its management/employees and/ or its Director(s) or Owner(s).
To identify the primary, physical address at which the NZBN entity wishes to receive physical deliveries of ‘goods’ and other items that are not postal deliveries.
1234 State Highway 123, Renwick
Invoice address
To identify the address the NZBN entity uses to receive deliveries of invoices email.
invoices@gogowine.co.nz
GST number
To identify the entity’s Inland Revenue verified GST number(s), if any.
000-123-321
Australian Business Number (ABN)
To identify the NZBN entity’s ABN (if any).
Not applicable
Māori Business Identifier
To identify whether the entity self-identifies as a Māori business and, if it is, the factors that indicate that the entity is a Māori entity.
Yes
Ownership
Different types of address
There are multiple addresses which businesses can enter as part of their NZBN information. Incorporated business types like companies and limited partnerships will always have a 'Registered address' publicly available, however in some cases this may be the address of their accountant or lawyer.
It is important for businesses to add their 'Office address' or 'Delivery address' to their NZBN information if these differ from their 'Registered address' to ensure that other businesses or the government agencies they deal with have the information they need to do business with them. Go back to table
Keep your core business information up to date
Your core business information is a valuable business asset, and it’s important you keep it up to date. This ensures that other businesses or the government agencies you deal with have the information they need to do business with you. Make the NZBN Register your first stop when something changes, because the organisations you deal with most often rely on your details being accurate.
Imagine you’ve placed purchase orders with a number of suppliers, and then you move premises. Updating your address on the NZBN Register means your suppliers are notified about the change, if they are using the NZBN watchlist feature.
Make your Primary Business Data shareable
The more information that you make publicly available, the easier it is for other businesses to connect with you, the better your NZBN can work for you, and the less work you’ll have to do to keep everyone informed.
Some of the NZBN data is mandatory and automatically public under the NZBN legislation and this will differ slightly depending on the business structure. For the remaining data, businesses can choose whether to add the information and make it public. This means that some businesses will not have a complete NZBN data set if they have chosen not to provide some information or have kept some information private.
Regardless of the type of business, the more information that businesses choose to make publicly available, the easier it is for other businesses to connect with them and keep up to date with any changes.
If your trading name is publicly available, another business can verify that yours is the organisation they were intending to deal with. If you make your phone number publicly available, then people will know how to contact you to buy your products or services.
Integrate NZBN data into your business
The more you know about your customers, the better your service to them can be. Subscribe to the NZBN API and integrate your systems with NZBN data to automatically find, share and update information about businesses.
You can integrate the NZBN into your systems and processes, so you know you’re using up-to-date data when you deal with other businesses. This makes business faster and more efficient for you and your customers. When a business you work with makes a change to its information, you can be notified automatically via the NZBN API.
Find out more about our NZBN Notification API to help ensure the data you hold on your customers is kept up-to-date.
You can use the NZBN API to find other businesses’ Primary Business Data, for example to prepopulate a customer onboarding form with their NZBN information such as their legal name, business type and contact details.
Update your NZBN Primary Business Data
Let’s get the NZBN working for you by making sure all of your information is correct. Here's what to do if —
