There has been an increase of almost ten per cent over the past two years in the number of companies trading while insolvent.The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has released research into 8904 external administrators' reports lodged during the 2014/15 financial year, providing an insight into corporate insolvencies.In 58 per cent of reports there was an allegation of insolvent trading - up from 57 per cent in 2013/14 and 53 per cent in 2012/13. Apart from the issue of trading while insolvent, the 2014/15 data was generally consistent with previous years.Seventy-nine per cent of reports detailed the affairs of companies with fewer than 20 employees. That number was down from 81 per cent in 2013/14.Eighty-five per cent of failed companies had estimated assets of A$100,000 or less, and 41 per cent had estimated liabilities of $250,000 or less.In 97 per cent of reports the estimated dividend was 11 cents in the dollar or less.The most common cause of failure was inadequate cash flow or high cash use, cited in 44 per cent of reports, followed by poor management (in 42 per cent of reports) and trading losses (34 per cent of reports).Companies in the construction industry made up 21 per cent of insolvencies, followed by companies in the accommodation and food services industry (ten per cent).The proportion of insolvent companies alleged to have failed to keep financial records was 38 per cent and the proportion whose directors were alleged to have failed to exercise care and diligence was 33 per cent.