How are codes shown in company listings?

A company listing shows a code as one attribute among others, alongside a name, an address, and other company details, and it is not the register. A listing can copy a code from a register, it can show a code supplied by the company, or it can show a code derived from a description, and the listing does not always state which. A code in a listing must therefore be verified with the register that holds the record, before it is relied on. A listing is a lead. The register is the confirmation.

A listing that is treated as a confirmation overstates the listing, and the overstatement is the most common error in reading codes in the wild.

What is a company listing?

A company listing is a page in a directory, a database, or a commercial service that presents information about companies, usually for searching, grouping, or contacting. Listings group companies by activity, by place, or by size, and a code is a convenient grouping attribute, because it is short, structured, and comparable. A listing can show a code at section, division, group or class level, and it does not always state the level, the version, or the date of the record. A listing can also show more than one code for a company, without stating which is the principal code and which are secondary codes, or it can show a single code without stating whether it is the principal code. The listing is designed for finding and grouping, not for confirming a register entry, and its design should be read as such: a finding aid, not a record.

Why can a listing code be out of date?

A listing code can be out of date because the listing copies the register at intervals, because the company has changed its activities without updating the listing, or because the classification has changed and the listing has not been recoded. The French change illustrates the recoding risk: from 1 January 2027 (FIXED), all companies and establishments will see their amended APE code according to NAF 2025, and the new code is shown in the Sirene tool before that date. A listing that copies the Sirene record before the change will show the old code, and a listing that copies it after the change will show the new code, and a listing that copies it during the transition may show either, depending on the copy date. The Dutch change illustrates the same risk in a different form: Statistics Netherlands states that SBI 2008 and SBI 2025 will both be in use during the implementation period, from 2026 onwards (FIXED, as stated by Statistics Netherlands), so a listing can show either version during that period. A listing code without a copy date and a version is therefore undated and unversioned, and it should be verified, not quoted.

How is a listing code verified?

A listing code is verified by opening the register that holds the record, using the identifier for the unit, and comparing the code, the label, the version, and the date. The identifier is the key: in France, the SIREN number, as Service Public states for the Sirene tool. In the Netherlands, the business identifier as shown in the KVK record, with the code assigned by the KVK, as Statistics Netherlands states. In Ireland, the enterprise as coded in the CSO Business Register, which completed its updating to NACE Rev. 2.1 during 2025 (FIXED, as stated by the Central Statistics Office). A verification that compares only the code, without the identifier, can match the wrong unit, and a verification that compares only the name can match a different unit with a similar name. The verification record should name the listing, the date it was consulted, the register consulted, the identifier used, and the code as shown in each, so that a difference between the listing and the register is visible and dated.

Source	Status	Check
Company listing	Lead, for finding and grouping	Note the listing, the date, and the code as shown
Business register	Record, for the entry	Open the register with the identifier, record the code, label, version and date
Statistical institute	Classification, for meaning	Open the note for the category, in the version stated
Correspondence table	Movement, between versions	Record the mapping type, where a revision is involved

The table keeps the four sources in their proper places. A listing is never promoted to a record by repetition, and a record is never demoted to a listing by being quoted in one. The status of the source is part of the citation, and it should be stated wherever the code is quoted.

What does a listing code not prove?

A listing code does not prove that a business carries on the activity shown, that it holds a licence, that it has a particular tax position, or that it is eligible for funding or a collective agreement. A listing is compiled for searching and grouping, and its code is an attribute copied or derived for that purpose. The EUR-Lex summary states that the NACE legislation only applies to the use of the classification for statistical purposes, and a listing code is even further from a legal finding than a register code, because it is a copy, not the record itself. A reader who treats a listing code as proof of activity, licence or status treats a copy as a finding, and the treatment should be corrected by verifying the entry in the register and by confirming any other fact with the holder that records it.

Where is a listing code confirmed?

A listing code is confirmed in the register that holds the record for the unit, using the unit identifier, and the meaning of the category is confirmed in the Eurostat explanatory notes, for the version stated. A listing should be cited, where it is cited at all, as a listing, with the date consulted, and with a note that the entry was verified, or was not verified, in the register. A listing code that cannot be verified, because the identifier is not given or the register cannot be opened, should be recorded as unverified, with the date of the check, rather than being quoted as if it were confirmed.

Treat a listing as a lead, verify the code in the register with the identifier, and confirm the category meaning in the explanatory note.