As with personal credit scores, business credit scores provide powerful insight into how successful a business is for potential creditors, investors, and business partners. Experian also allows you to check your business credit score and business credit report, although the amount you pay depends on the plan you select. You can view your business credit report for as little as $39.95, but you can afford an annual plan that allows you to check your business credit reports and score $189 per year. The credit report itself can also contain a lot of information that lenders can review before approving or denying your application.
Similarly, your company name and EIN credit bureaus help to link the right accounts to your company’s credit history. It’s like how consumer credit reports are linked to people using personally identifiable information, such as their name and Social Security number. It is possible to have a good personal credit score and a bad business credit score, or vice versa. To find out your business credit score, you’ll need to pay a credit bureau to produce a business credit report. While business credit reports are similar to personal credit reports, there are some differences. First, you have free access to your personal credit report once a year, from all three credit bureaus.
FICO’s Small Business Scoring Service is the only agency that includes personal credit scores. That makes it possible for an investor or supplier to view a business owner’s personal credit reports, as well as the company’s financial obligations and credit reports. Qualification is required by the SBA for loan applications and is also required by many other lenders.
Just by checking these scores and making sure they’re strong, you’re ahead of most business owners who never check theirs or work on them. TransUnion collects all transactions related to credit and is also based on data from public reports. The company aggregates the information and issues corporate credit reports, assigning a number that establishes a financial stability risk classification. Your company’s financial history is not affected by your personal credit scores, except with the FICO SBSS score, as discussed above.
Some of the major business credit bureaus include Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax Small Business, and Experian Business. Having loans, credit cards, and checking accounts with vendors in your report (with timely payment histories) can help your credit scores. You can ask providers which business credit bureaus they report to, if applicable.
Having a nine-digit D-U-N-S number® allows other companies or the government to make an informed decision about whether or not to lend to you or work with you. Bad credit reports track your business driving records wherever you go and can certainly work against you and your ability to do business. Business credit reports are created by the collection of information by numerous commercial credit bureaus.