subject: Business Credit Score [print this page] Business Credit Score Business Credit Score
What is your business score and why is it important to your business?Like your personal credit score, your business credit score provides lenders with the opportunity to learn about your company. They will be able to see what type of borrowing patterns you have and if you can afford to take on more debt. A business credit score is incredibly important to your business as it can be the determining factor when you apply for any type of financing.So what makes up your corporate credit score?Your business credit score can be access by just about anyone. If you are looking for investors or partners, they can pull up your business credit rating to see if you are worthy of a loan or not. Your corporate credit score includes information about every loan you have ever had. It also includes information about the management of the company, contact information, etc. Seek out lenders and vendors that actually report timely information to the credit bureaus. This is the best way to make sure you are building a solid credit report.Reading your business credit reportLike your personal credit report, you need to check your business credit report often. This will allow you to see which lenders are actually reporting information to your credit report and which ones you need to work with to try and report accurate information. Inaccurate and outdated information can hurt your chances to get a loan and it can also hurt your chance to acquire investors for your business. The wrong information will pose the wrong image for your business and it will hurt your reputation. Dun & Bradstreet and Experian remain the most popular credit services for businesses.Use a credit monitoring programSince you are busy running your business it may be a good idea to hire another company to help you keep track of your business credit rating. A credit monitoring program will post information if there are any changes made to your account. This is a great way to protect your business credit report if you are worried about fraudulent activity.Keep it separateIn order to provide your business with the best possible chance to acquire funding, you need to separate your business credit score from your personal credit. When you mix your personal assets and credit with the business, its going to be hard for you to explain it to the IRS.
