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Is clearbooks.co.uk a Scam? Security Check Results - Clear Books Limited Reviews

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Is clearbooks.co.uk Safe? Security Analysis for Clear Books Limited

Check if clearbooks.co.uk is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

TechnologyUnited Kingdomsmall
jQuery 1.9.1jQuery UI 1.11.4Google Tag ManagerVisual Website Optimizer (VWO)Font Awesome 4.4.0+3 more
Analyzed 8/2/2025Completed 7:29:01 PM
75
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

Clear Books Limited is a UK-based company providing premier online accounting software tailored for small businesses. Their platform offers comprehensive features including invoicing, bookkeeping, VAT management, multi-currency support, and compliance with HMRC's Making Tax Digital and Construction Industry Scheme. The company positions itself as an award-winning solution with a strong user base of over 15,000 UK small businesses and endorsements from accountants. Technically, the website employs a modern tech stack with jQuery, Google Tag Manager, and Visual Website Optimizer, delivering a responsive and user-friendly experience. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and CSRF protections, though there is room for improvement in implementing additional security headers. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear cookie and privacy policies and consent mechanisms. Overall, the website reflects a professional, trustworthy, and mature digital presence supporting Clear Books' business objectives.

Detected Technologies

jQuery 1.9.1jQuery UI 1.11.4Google Tag ManagerVisual Website Optimizer (VWO)Font Awesome 4.4.0HTML5CSS3JavaScript

🧠AI Business Intelligence

Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

Clear Books operates a SaaS business model offering tiered subscription plans with a free 30-day trial, targeting UK small businesses including limited companies, sole traders, and partnerships across various industries such as construction, IT, retail, and consulting. Their competitive advantage lies in AI-powered bookkeeping automation, HMRC-recognized compliance, and strong customer support. The company leverages partnerships with accounting bodies and maintains active social media channels to enhance market reach. Revenue streams are primarily subscription-based with potential upsells in payroll and CIS software. Growth indicators include positive Trustpilot reviews and accreditation by the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers. The company’s digital marketing ecosystem includes analytics and optimization tools to drive customer acquisition and retention.

Extracted Contact Information

Marketing Intelligence Data

Phone Numbers (2)

+4420347*****
+4480086*****

Company Registration

Legal Name:

Clear Books Limited

Registration Number:

843585

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS, CSRF protection, and no visible exposure of sensitive data. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Content-Type-Options suggests opportunities for hardening. No known vulnerabilities or malware indicators were detected. Privacy policies and cookie consent mechanisms align with GDPR requirements, though no explicit incident response or vulnerability disclosure policies were found. The lack of a security.txt file or dedicated security contact may limit incident response readiness. Overall, the security maturity is good but could benefit from enhanced header policies and formalized incident response documentation.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement comprehensive HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Clear Books Limited

Description:

Clear Books offers premier UK online accounting software focused on seamless invoicing, bookkeeping, VAT management, multi-currency support, and CIS compliance. It targets small businesses with intuitive and clear accounting features.

Key Services:
Online accounting softwareInvoicing softwareMaking Tax Digital (MTD) complianceConstruction Industry Scheme (CIS) softwarePayroll software
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
jQuery 1.9.1jQuery UI 1.11.4Google Tag ManagerVisual Website Optimizer (VWO)Font Awesome 4.4.0HTML5CSS3JavaScript
Platforms:
Web
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

basic

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • CSRF protection script included
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google Tag ManagerVisual Website Optimizer
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:good

Advertising & Marketing

Tracking Pixels:
Visual Website OptimizerTrustpilot widget
Marketing Tools:
Visual Website OptimizerGetSiteControl
Transparency Level:good

Website Quality Assessment

Design Quality:excellent
User Experience:excellent
Content Relevance:excellent
Navigation Clarity:excellent
Professionalism:excellent
Trustworthiness:high

Key Observations

1

Website is fully accessible with rich content and no blocking mechanisms.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

65/100
Score

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

Weak Referrer-Policy configuration

LOW

Current value: "no-referrer-when-downgrade"

Missing Permissions-Policy header

MEDIUM

Controls browser features and APIs

Sensitive data may be cached

LOW

Cache-Control header should include "no-store" for sensitive pages

👤GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.

GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment

83/100
Score

No Data Protection Officer mentioned

LOW

Large organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR

Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant

MEDIUM

Privacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy85% confidence
Cookie Policy85% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
phone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

17/100
Score

No information security framework found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures

No vulnerability disclosure policy

MEDIUM

NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure

No security policy documentation found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management

No incident response procedures found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans

No business continuity planning found

MEDIUM

NIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity

No security contact information

HIGH

NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels

No vulnerability reporting mechanism

MEDIUM

Clear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure

No NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts

📧Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

97/100
Score

No TLS-RPT Record

LOW

TLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues

SPF
Sender Policy Framework
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication
MX Records
Mail Exchange Records
BIMI
Brand Indicators
MTA-STS
Mail Transfer Agent Security
TLS-RPT
TLS Reporting
DNSSEC
DNS Security
SPF Details
Record:
v=spf1 include:_spf.clearbooks.co.uk include:_spf.google.com ip4:52.208.131.114 ip4:52.57.223.37 ip4:46.137.181.22 ip6:2a05:d014:4e3:9600::/56 include:emsd1.com -all
DNS Lookups:3/10
Policy:-all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:google(1296-bit rsa)
Selector:k1(1296-bit rsa)
Selector:s1(1440-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:reject
Subdomain Policy:reject
Aggregate Reports:rua@dmarc.clearbooks.co.uk
Forensic Reports:dmarc-reports@clearbooks.co.uk
MTA-STS Details
Mode:enforce
Max Age:1 days

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

75/100
Score

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 83 days

Weak SSL Key Length

HIGH

SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:*.clearbooks.co.uk
Issuer:Amazon ECDSA 256 M02
Valid Until:10/24/2025 (83 days)
SANs:*.clearbooks.co.uk, clearbooks.nl, *.clearbooks.nl +1 more

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

75/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

Domain Transfer Lock Not Enabled

MEDIUM

Domain can be transferred without authorization

Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled

LOW

Domain can be deleted without additional verification

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
17 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
none(679 days)
Protection Level
none
Suspicious Indicators Detected
  • No domain protection locks enabled

DNS Records

A Records:52.48.105.66, 52.18.210.15
AAAA Records:2a05:d018:c4e:d601:7069:b776:f692:db7e, 2a05:d018:c4e:d602:1bef:9ba:e2ca:6e89
Name Servers:
ns-1050.awsdns-03.orgDNS only
ns-2024.awsdns-61.co.ukDNS only
ns-209.awsdns-26.comDNS only
ns-842.awsdns-41.netDNS only
MX Records:
10: aspmx.l.google.com
20: alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
20: alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
30: aspmx2.googlemail.com
30: aspmx3.googlemail.com
30: aspmx4.googlemail.com
30: aspmx5.googlemail.com
SOA:Serial: 1, TTL: 86400s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:119ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:_spf.clearbooks.co.uk include:_spf.google.com ip4:52.208.131.114 ip4:52.57.223.37 ip4:46.137.181.22 ip6:2a05:d014:4e3:9600::/56 include:emsd1.com -all

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

100/100
Score

Good Network Security Posture

LOW

No unnecessary services detected on common risky ports

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website is built on a custom PHP-based MVC framework with frontend technologies including jQuery 1.9.1 and jQuery UI 1.11.4, which are somewhat dated but functional. It uses Google Tag Manager and Visual Website Optimizer for analytics and A/B testing, indicating a data-driven approach to marketing. The site is mobile responsive with good SEO metadata and structured data in JSON-LD format, enhancing search engine visibility. Performance is moderate, with potential improvements by updating libraries and optimizing assets. No CMS was detected, suggesting a bespoke platform. Hosting provider details are not disclosed. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the business needs but could be modernized for improved performance and security.
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