A guide to business credit reports

A business credit report includes important information about your company’s creditworthiness, including your business’s credit score. Having a good business credit score is essential when it comes to getting approved for a loan, business credit card or other line of credit. It can also affect the loan’s terms—the better your credit score is, the better terms your business will typically enjoy.

Business credit reports are considered public records. So this means you can also use a business credit report to review credit information about another organization before deciding to work with them, helping you avoid some potential financial risks.

Staying on top of your business’s financial health can be key to your success. Here’s a helpful guide about business credit reports to ensure you know how to stay in control of your company’s financial well-being.

What you’ll learn:

• Business credit reports reveal your business credit score and the scores of companies you’re considering partnering with to help you determine the financial risk of working together.

• Business credit reports include information like company background, payment history, liens and bankruptcies, and more.

• Understanding and continually monitoring your credit scores helps ensure you

Business credit reports provide the following types of information:

• Financial information about your business

• An overview of your business credit accounts with suppliers, service providers and financial institutions

• A company profile, including name, address and phone numbers

• Background information, such as owners’ names and any subsidiaries

• Your current credit score and potential credit risk factors

• Payment history

• Negative information, such as bankruptcies, lawsuits or liens

Although they’re used for similar purposes—to help determine creditworthiness—business credit reports are different from personal credit reports. Business credit reports provide information on your company’s financial health and credit activity, while personal credit reports focus on an individual’s credit history. 

When you’re first starting out with a new business, lenders typically look at your personal credit score before approving your company for a loan or line of credit. But once your company is established, your business credit scores don’t take your personal credit scores into consideration.

Knowing your business credit scores can be key to your company’s financial success. Checking your credit report helps you understand where your business stands financially, the types of loan terms you may qualify for and whether there’s room for improvement to get better terms in the future.

Keep in mind that potential vendors, partners and suppliers may also check your business credit report to determine whether you’ll be a good partner—and vice versa. Access to business credit reports allows each organization to learn more about their ability to repay debts and assess the risk of working together.

Here’s a quick overview of the three major business credit bureaus and how to check your business credit report with each.

Experian allows you to check your own credit report and those of a business you might be considering working with. You’ll be able to view background business and financial information, credit scores and risk factors, payment and collection history, and more.

Experian offers four different business credit report products, ranging in price from around $40 for a one-time report to almost $1,500 for a detailed annual subscription. For more information about how to get a business credit report from Experian, you’ll need to sign up or subscribe through its website.

Like Experian, Equifax business credit reports offer the option of checking your own credit report and those of other companies. And you’ll be able to view key company information, credit summaries, risk scores, public records and payment histories. 

Complete the contact form on its website to learn more about pricing options and how to get a business credit report from Equifax.

Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) is a data and analytics company that offers business credit reports to help you monitor and manage your business credit scores. The D&B business credit report allows you to view multiple types of credit scores, ratings and data to see how financially stable and reliable a company is before engaging in business with them.

You can get a free business credit report from D&B as long as your business has a D-U-N-S® Number. They also offer a more detailed version for roughly $500 annually.

A good business credit score is essential to your company’s financial well-being. And once you’ve established a good credit score, you’ll want to take steps to monitor and manage it for the long term—and that means checking your report regularly.

A few advantages of monitoring your business credit report include:

• Getting notifications of any changes that might impact your organization

• Staying on top of any inaccuracies so you can take immediate action to dispute them

• The ability to identify and improve any issues

• Monitoring inquiries on your report to help prevent identity theft

A good business credit report can help open the door to more favorable loan terms, like lower interest rates, for your business. Strong credit can also help your business get approved for a business credit card or a business loan, providing access to the funds you need to grow your company. 

After you’ve established a business credit score, here are a few steps you can take to maintain or improve it:

• Make payments on time. Payment history plays a key role in your business credit score. By paying your lenders, suppliers and vendors on time, you’ll show that you’re a reliable, financially stable company.

• Keep credit utilization low. Financial experts highly recommend keeping your credit usage under 30%. Try to use only the credit you need. 

• Apply with lenders that report payments to the business credit bureaus. If you’re thinking of opening a new line of credit, try to choose a lender that reports to the business credit bureaus. This will help build your credit history.

• Monitor your business credit reports regularly. This helps you catch errors that could impact your credit. It can also help you spot signs of fraud early.

Monitoring your business credit report and improving your business credit scores can go a long way in positioning your business for the best loan terms and interest rates. Plus, business credit reports allow you to gain valuable insight into the businesses you’re considering partnering with to decrease some of the financial risk involved. Each of the bureaus provides different information in their business credit reports, so it’s important to take the time to learn about all your options. 

Capital One offers business credit cards for those with excellent credit to fair credit, all with the ability to help cardholders earn rewards like cash back and bonus miles. Check to see if you’re pre-approved for a card, without it impacting your credit.