A retainer is a bet on a company's next quarter. As a consultant or fractional executive you block out your calendar, turn down other work and often start before the first payment clears. If the startup runs out of runway, was never properly formed, or already owes money to three other advisers, you find out when the invoice bounces. ClientVetter lets you look at the business first. Type the client's domain and get a scored report from public business records, domain and website signals, dispute mentions, sanctions screening and evidence-backed member reports, with the reason behind every flag. You walk into the engagement knowing what the public record says.
Project work has a clear end. A retainer has a monthly rhythm, which means a struggling client can fall a month behind, then two, while you keep showing up because the relationship matters. Startups and small companies are often great clients, but some are not as solid as the pitch deck suggests.
The entity named in the agreement may not match any registry record, or may have been formed in a different state than the founder mentioned.
The registry status may already show forfeited or administratively dissolved for a missed annual report.
The website and domain may be weeks old, with no working mail setup behind them.
Other vendors may have documented unpaid invoices in our shared database or in public court records.
Each of these takes minutes to spot when you know where to look. ClientVetter looks in all of those places at once.
The full report gives you a readable picture of the company, not a pile of raw lookups.
Identity: registry match with status, formation date, state and registered agent, plus domain registration age from public registration records (RDAP).
Operating signals: website reachability, HTTPS, and mail records (MX, SPF, DMARC).
Footprint: public listings and a summary of public review ratings with links.
Disputes and payment: public news and court-record mentions tied to unpaid vendors, liens or lawsuits, plus verified reports from members about non paying clients, each with the company's reply.
Sanctions: screening of the company and listed principals against the OFAC SDN list and other public government lists.
A score from 0 to 100, a band (Low, Watch, High) and a written reason with a source for every point.
For the method behind each step, read our guide on how to vet a client.
Check this client
Consultants usually work closely with one person: a founder, a CEO or a department head. ClientVetter lets you choose "Contact person at a company" and checks that person only in their role at the company named. That means their stated role, the company's own public pages, public professional profiles and sanctions lists.
It never looks at home addresses, criminal or personal history, family or private life. ClientVetter is not a consumer reporting agency, and reports may not be used for credit, insurance, employment or housing decisions about an individual. Our fcra compliant background check page sets out the rules.
The report closes with suggested terms based on the band and the value you selected. For consultants that usually means a few practical options.
Low band: your normal retainer, billed monthly in advance.
Watch band: billing in advance with a short grace period, or a smaller first month to establish payment history.
High band: a paid discovery phase before any retainer, or payment of the first two months up front.
This is guidance, not legal advice. For contract language on late fees or termination, ask an attorney who knows your state. If you want a full checklist for the engagement, see our client due diligence guide.
Retainers often last a year or more. With monitoring, ClientVetter keeps an eye on clients you choose and sends an alert when the registry status changes, the domain lapses, a new public dispute appears or a member files a verified non-payment report. You can then raise it early, before you have put in another month of unpaid hours. Learn more about business credit monitoring.
Starter covers most solo consultants: 25 full checks a month, 10 monitored clients, one seat, PDF export and email alerts, for $49 a month or $24 a month billed $288 a year. A small advisory firm with associates usually picks Team: 120 checks, 50 monitored clients, 5 seats, shareable PDF links, Slack alerts and the right to submit non-payment reports, for $129 a month or $64 a month billed $768 a year. Limits reset every billing period. You can cancel anytime.
See pricingYes. Registry records and domain records usually exist from the day the company is formed. The report explains a thin footprint as a signal and shows which pieces are missing.
No. Checks are private to your account. Nobody is notified when you run a check.
No. It reads public business records, domain and website signals, public disputes, sanctions lists and member reports. It does not access bank accounts, funding databases behind paywalls or private financial data.
No. Employment decisions about individuals are outside what ClientVetter may be used for. It is a tool for deciding whether to take on a business as a client.
Paste the client's domain and see the first signals in about a minute. No card needed for the preview.
Your full report for this client is saved to your account.