In brief:
- A NAICS code is a six-digit number used to standardize classification of businesses by industry across the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
- If you’re a business, you may want to find out another company’s NAICS code to assess its risks (such as its industry’s overall economic health, or risks inherent to its industry.
- You can find the NAICS code for a specific company through a comprehensive business information platform, through some single-search lookup tools, or by contacting the company itself and asking for it.
The economies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico are heavily interdependent. That’s why the NAICS code system was invented: to replace the SIC code system as a standard for how to classify companies by industry across the three countries.
If you’re a business owner that has (or wants) relationships with companies in more than one of these nations, the NAICS system can be very useful. It tells you what industry a company belongs to, which can help you assess the company’s risk via factors like inherent industry hazards or overall economic trends. As such, this guide will explain how to do a NAICS code lookup by company.
First, we explain what NAICS codes are, along with why you would want to find another company’s NAICS code and what information you would need to know about the company to find it.
A North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is a six-digit code that standardizes industry designation across the US, Canada, and Mexico. Businesses with similar economic activity can have the same NAICS code, which is why you should look up a NAICS code by business name.
What is the purpose of an NAICS code lookup?
For a business, a NAICS code lookup of another company is primarily used in a risk assessment capacity. By knowing what industry a company is in, a business can assess risk based on the economic health of that industry, or on other industry factors that may make a company a prohibited business to work with.
What information is needed to lookup a NAICS code by company name?
Depending on the method used, a NAICS business code lookup may require a combination of the following pieces of company information:
- Name
- Address
- Phone number
- Postal code
- Website address
- DUNS number
What are NAICS code requirements and regulations?
Companies generally choose their own NAICS codes based on their primary economic activities. If a company engages in multiple types of economic activity, it may have more than one NAICS code. Government agencies sometimes informally assign codes, but none have any formal authority in doing so.
The NAICS system is reviewed every 5 years for potential changes to industry classifications. This is to adapt to economic shifts as new industries are created, and economic activity ramps up in some industries or slows down in others.
Companies are required to report their NAICS codes in various circumstances, such as on censuses, when filing business taxes, and when applying for government contracts. For example, certain governments may give tax breaks to businesses in specific industries, and NAICS codes make it easier to know which businesses belong to which industries.
A NAICS code lookup by company name is one part of the entire KYB process where you might be required to find specific information about a business before you onboard them, and ensure that information is verified - all of which require a comprehensive KYB system in place.
Compared to the many places where you can find the NAICS codes themselves and what they stand for, there aren’t many for finding out which NAICS code a specific company typically uses. There are generally three kinds of options.
1. Search a comprehensive database of business information, like Middesk
We recommend doing a NAICS code company lookup with a classifier tool like Middesk, a dedicated business verification & KYB solution. A simple dashboard-based interface lets you find a company’s NAICS code, as well as plenty of other information about the company necessary to fulfill KYB requirements.
Start by placing an order on our dashboard.
Select the Industry Classification option, along with any other products you want. Then click Next.
From here, just type in the company’s name, address, and (optionally) website URL. Then click Place Order.
A report will come up with the company’s industry classification details, including its NAICS code. In addition, each piece of information has a confidence score attached to tell you how accurately we think we’ve matched it.
You don’t need to generate these reports one at a time, though. We allow for creating orders for businesses through our API so you can search and get info on several companies at once!
2. Use a tool to look up companies one by one
Some single-search tools, such as ones at SICCode.com and the NAICS Association, let you do a business NAICS code lookup. However, they often require you to purchase records before you get any relevant information.
With these tools, it’s often unclear where the information was sourced from and how recently, which can affect how reliable it is. It’s also very inefficient to have to do one search at a time (and possibly check multiple records before you find the company you’re actually looking for).
3. Inquire directly at the company
Since companies by-and-large assign their own NAICS codes, you can just contact a company and ask what its NAICS code is. However, there are some pitfalls with this strategy.
One is that a company may be hesitant to tell you, another business, its NAICS code without you explaining exactly why you need it. This can end up being a very time-intensive process if you have to ask each company you work with (or are onboarding), one by one, what its NAICS code is.
Another is asking a company for a self-reported NAICS code does not enable conducting adequate KYB, especially if it doesn’t end up matching what government agencies have on file. This can particularly be the case if the company engages in more than one primary type of economic activity, and thus may have more than one NAICS code.
Performing a single-search NAICS lookup by company can be reasonable for the odd time you want to know about the industry classification of one particular company. But what if you’re a business that needs to look up company NAICS codes at scale for onboarding verification, continuous due diligence? Doing searches one by one isn’t going to cut it.
You need a way to automate KYB verification and risk assessment processes for companies so they’re faster, less error-prone, more comprehensive, working with the most recent data, and not taking up your risk team’s valuable time. That’s why Middesk Verify has a Policies function that allows for automatically sorting and filtering companies by risk level, as dictated by custom rulesets.
It’s also why our Industry Classification tool uses machine learning to determine a company’s most likely NAICS code by aggregating signals from several sources. Doing big data analysis can work as well.
NAICS business code lookups can be a manual and time consuming process. Middesk’s Business Verification API can completely automate the process, and find the NAICS codes and other business verification information you need in minutes.
A fast NAICS code lookup by company name solution, solved by Middesk
If you need to quickly do bulk lookups of company NAICS codes (and other industry classifiers), Middesk’s powered-up Industry Classification tool has you covered. With the help of machine learning, it can find companies’ industry classification codes in seconds, while only needing inputs of company names and addresses. Save time and money by not having to look codes up one-at-a-time for each company you want to verify or risk-assess.
Contact us for a demo to see first-hand how our products can supercharge your KYB compliance operations for industry classification checks.
