Find the dealings between a company and the people and entities close to it
Related party transactions are dealings between a company and people or entities that can influence it, such as owners, directors, executives, their families and affiliated companies. The amounts are often small next to revenue, but they show where a company's interests and its insiders' interests meet. Ask Search+ "What transactions with related parties are disclosed?" and the answer cites the note so you can read the terms.
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Last updated October 2026
How to find related party transactions with Search+
- Upload the statements and the documents around them
Add the financial statements, in PDF or Excel, plus prior years and, for a listed company, the proxy statement or annual filing where insider transactions are also described. Related party detail can be spread across all of them.
- Ask about each kind of relationship separately
Ask about transactions with shareholders, with directors and officers, and with affiliated or commonly controlled companies as separate questions. Each relationship tends to produce different dealings, such as loans, leases or management fees.
- Follow the amounts into other notes
A related party loan may also appear in the debt note, and a lease from a founder in the leases note. Ask a follow-up about each and open the citations to see whether the descriptions agree.
Questions to ask about related party transactions
Which people and entities does the company identify as related parties, and what is the relationship with each?
Does the company lease any premises from an owner, director or their family, and what rent does the note disclose?
Are there loans to or from shareholders or executives, and what interest rate, balance and repayment terms are described?
Does the company pay management, monitoring or consulting fees to a shareholder or an entity it controls?
What amounts were owed to or from related parties at the balance sheet date, and how did they change from last year?
What to look for in related party disclosures
Related parties usually include parent and sister companies, significant owners, directors, key management, close family members of those people, and entities any of them control. The note normally names the relationship rather than every individual.
A typical disclosure describes the relationship, the nature of the transactions, the amounts for each period and any balances outstanding at the period end, with any terms such as interest or guarantees.
Some notes say a transaction was on terms equivalent to an arm's length deal. Accounting frameworks generally expect such a statement only when it can be supported, so ask what the note says about how terms were set.
Related party items can also show up in the debt, leases, revenue or equity notes, and executive pay is sometimes disclosed separately. One question rarely surfaces all of them.
Ask across the statements, prior years and any proxy statement together, or narrow a question to one document. Answers cite the document and excerpt each point comes from, and AI answers can still miss an item, so read the cited text.
Related party wording you may see and what to ask next
| Wording you may see | What it usually signals | A follow-up question |
|---|---|---|
| "entity controlled by the Company's chief executive" | A business owned by an insider | What did the company buy from or sell to that entity, and for how much? |
| "due to related parties" or "due from related parties" | Balances owed between the company and insiders | What are the balances, and are they interest-bearing? |
| "management fee" or "monitoring fee" | Payments to an owner for services | How is the fee calculated, and what services are described? |
| "on terms equivalent to those in an arm's length transaction" | A claim that pricing matched the market | What basis does the note give for that statement? |
| "shareholder loan" | Funding from an owner | What are the rate, maturity and ranking of the loan? |
| "common control" | Entities owned by the same parent or person | Which entities are under common control, and what flows between them? |
What are related party transactions?
Related party transactions are transfers of resources, services or obligations between a reporting company and a party that controls it, is controlled with it, or can significantly influence it, whether or not a price is charged. Accounting frameworks require them to be disclosed in the notes to the financial statements.
Related party transaction questions
Can Search+ list every related party transaction in the statements?
Will it show whether a related party deal was on market terms?
Can it connect the related party note with the proxy statement?
Can I check how the balances changed from last year?
Does Search+ judge whether these transactions are a red flag?
See who the company deals with
Start a workspace, upload the statements, and ask which transactions involve owners, officers or affiliates.
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