Business Credit Reporting Agency

When a business applies for credit, financial institutions check their credit history, too. A business credit reporting agency, like Dun & Bradstreet, is used to provide a record of how the business has paid their debts. Just like with a consumer credit report, business credit reports contain information on how much debt a business has and how much the monthly payments are. A business has to maintain a good credit rating in order to get the lowest interest rates on future credit.

Business Owner Profile

Collecting information on a small business owner can be difficult for a financial institution. With a business owner profile, they can get more complete information about the owner. A typical commercial credit report will only include information on the business. With a business owner profile, a lender can see information on the personal credit report for the owner, as well. This is important since a small business owner will often use personal assets as collateral for loans to help the business. If the owner is overextended personally, it may increase the risk of default on a loan for the business. Basically, it is making small business credit reporting better, since it is easier to identify higher risk small business owners and provide a more complete picture when determining credit worthiness.

Business Credit Score

To determine the credit worthiness of a small business, lenders can obtain a business credit score through business credit reporting agencies, like Experian. With this information and a copy of the small business credit report, the company risk can be assessed. Small business owners should review their business credit history regularly to make sure all information is accurate when they go to apply for additional credit.

It is not only banks that are reviewing the credit information for a business. Suppliers and subcontractors also have an interest in the financial viability of a company before agreeing to do business. After all, a supplier does not want to provide goods before payment if a small business makes it a habit to pay invoices seriously late.

Experian Business Credit Report

Credit reports for small businesses are very important to any company or financial institution looking to extend a line of credit to the business. Many small business owners are so busy trying to keep their business afloat that they may fail to extend the same care to paying their bills and maintaining their business credit score like they would for their personal credit history. This is a mistake, since a number of credit bureaus are keeping track of a business' credit history. In fact, Experian has a small business database to keep track of that information. To determine if they can extend credit to a small business owner, a potential creditor can review an Experian business credit report.

Small Business Credit Reporting

When considering the repayment history for small businesses, a potential lender can review a commercial credit history available through a business credit reporting agency. This information provides details on good payment items as well as negatives like liens, bankruptcy and collections. For a business, the credit history is important since it can be reviewed by more than just financial institutions but also suppliers and subcontractors.

Business Credit Report For Consumers

As an everyday consumer you may not see a need to purchase a business credit report. However, you may need to get one the next time you hire a subcontractor to do work on your house or other business that you plan to do work with. These reports can provide you with basic information on the credit history of the company like payment history, bad credit and current credit information. For a higher fee, you may also be able to get more detailed information about the company, including information on Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filings.

Business Profile Report

An Experian Business Credit Report may include information on the company profile. The business profile report is basically a summary of the overall credit experience for the company. The risk of making a loan to a company like this is determined by looking at the days beyond term. This term refers to when a company pays a bill or how many days beyond term. This information is compared to national information. The overall performance analysis allows a financial institution to quickly review important data regarding the company in order to make an informed decision on whether to extend credit.

Monitor Your Business Credit Reports

Just like you need to monitor your personal credit report, you should also be monitoring the business credit reports for your company. Commercial fraud does happen and it can hurt the credit rating of your company. A lower credit rating can cause you to be charged a higher interest rate and you may not be able to qualify for as much money as you need to borrow. If you don’t already do this, start checking the credit history for your business and get errors fixed as soon as possible.

Free Business Credit Reports

Free business credit reports are available to your business if it has been denied credit based on the information provided in the credit report. This works just like it does for a consumer. You will be notified from the financial institution that you have been denied credit and they will tell you where they obtained their information on the business credit history. You will then need to contact the business credit reporting agency and request in writing (on company letterhead and officially signed by the owner or an officer of the company) a copy of the business credit report. After receiving it, check it for completeness and accuracy.