Separate the trading name from the legal identity
A company may advertise under a brand that is shorter or different from its registered legal name. Before a meaningful purchase or contract, ask for the full legal name, registration number, registered address and invoice details. Compare these with the name on the proposal, payment request and any official record you are entitled to inspect.
A directory profile helps you discover Nepal companies, but it does not replace the Office of Company Registrar or another competent authority. Use the OCR public data portal when company registration is relevant, and remember that registration alone does not prove current service quality, financial strength, professional licensing or authority to perform regulated work.
Confirm the person representing the company
Record the name, role and company contact details of the person negotiating with you. For a substantial agreement, ask how that person is authorized to approve the scope, price and contract. Use an email domain, published number or other channel that can be connected to the company instead of relying entirely on a newly created social account.
Be alert when the proposed contracting party and payment recipient do not match. There may be a legitimate explanation, such as an authorized payment provider, but it should be stated clearly and documented before money moves. Reconfirm any late change in bank, wallet or invoice instructions using a known contact route.
Check licences and professional credentials separately
Some services require a professional, sector or local authorization in addition to company registration. Ask which approval applies to the exact work and verify it with the issuing body where possible. Do not accept an unrelated certificate as proof that the provider can carry out a regulated activity or that every staff member holds the required credential.
Check the name, number, status, scope and expiry details shown by the relevant authority. If work will be completed by a particular engineer, doctor, lawyer or other professional, the individual's status may matter as well as the company's. When the rule is unclear, obtain advice from the authority or a suitably qualified independent adviser.
Ask for evidence that matches your project
Request examples of comparable work and ask what the company actually delivered. A portfolio can include projects where several suppliers contributed, so clarify its role, timing and responsible team. If you contact a reference, obtain permission and ask specific questions about scope control, communication, schedule, defects and support rather than requesting a general endorsement.
For physical work, inspect an appropriate completed job where practical. For digital work, ask for a demonstration, architecture explanation or redacted documentation that respects the earlier client's confidentiality. Evidence is useful only when it is relevant, permitted and recent enough to reflect the team that will handle your assignment.
Turn the proposal into testable terms
A sound proposal identifies deliverables, materials or systems, responsibilities, timing assumptions, exclusions, acceptance steps and the full commercial basis. Ask what could change the price and how a change will be approved. If two companies quote different scopes, normalize the comparison before deciding which offer is genuinely better value.
Link payment stages to clear events or deliverables where appropriate, and keep invoices and receipts. Read deposit, cancellation, warranty, defect correction and dispute provisions before signing. A detailed written agreement cannot remove every risk, but it exposes conflicting assumptions while they can still be resolved.
Scale the checks to the consequences
A small routine purchase does not require the same review as a construction contract, medical service, long-term software project or investment. Increase verification when the price, safety impact, access to personal data, irreversibility or dependency is higher. Consider independent legal, technical or financial review when the consequences justify it.
Save the directory profile, official search result, proposal, agreed changes, invoices and key messages in one project record. If something later differs, you can show which facts were checked and which terms were accepted. Good due diligence is not about collecting the largest number of documents; it is about resolving the risks that matter to the specific transaction.
