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How to Check Credit Reports for Your Business

Do You Know How to Check Credit Reports for Your Business?

If you’re a business owner, chances are it’s been on your to-do list for quite a while: check credit reports. But do you know how to do this fast?

Business owners are always short on time. Find out here how to check credit reports with efficiency.

You Need to Check Credit Reports as a Part of Building and Maintaining Business Credit

Business credit is credit which is in a business’s name. It is does not tie to owner creditworthiness. Instead, business credit scores depend on how well a company can pay its bills. Hence consumer and business credit scores can vary.

Credit Reporting Agencies

There are three large business CRAs:

Dun & Bradstreet
Experian and
Equifax

There is also the FICO SBSS business score and CreditSafe. But today, we will focus on the big three’s reports.

Check Credit Reports for Your Business

The business credit reporting agencies offer a variety of reports, at all sorts of price points. We recommend getting detailed reports. That way, you can spot errors before they get out of hand.

If a report with details isn’t in the budget right now, at least a shorter summary report will keep you in the loop. And it will keep in the habit of checking your credit reports. It’s more than a credit score check. Today, we’ll look at high level data. This is what you absolutely must know.

Dun & Bradstreet

There are over millions of companies around the world in D&B’s database. You need a D-U-N-S number to start building business credit. No D-U-N-S number? Then get one; they’re free. The main score is PAYDEX. But a business will not get a PAYDEX score, unless it has at least 3 trade lines reporting, and a D-U-N-S number. A business must have BOTH to get a D&B score or report.

Predictive Models and Scoring

D&B takes historical information to try and predict future outcomes. This is to identify the risks inherent in a future decision. They take objective and statistically derived data, rather than subjective and intuitive judgments. There are sample reports online available on the D&B website.

D&B Rating

This rating helps companies quickly assess a business’s size and composite credit appraisal. Dun & Bradstreet bases this rating on information in a company’s interim or fiscal balance sheet plus an overall evaluation of the firm’s creditworthiness. The scale runs 5A—HH. Rating Classifications show company size due to worth or equity. D&B assigns such a rating only if a company supplies a current financial statement.

The rating contains a Financial Strength Indicator. D&B calculates it using the Net Worth or Issued Capital of a company. Plus there’s a Composition Credit Appraisal. This number runs 1 through 4, and it reflects D&B’s overall rating of a business’s creditworthiness. The scores mean:

1 – High
2 – Good
3 – Fair
4 – Limited

A D&B rating might look like 3A4.

D&B PAYDEX

This part shows two gauges: an up to 24 month PAYDEX, and an up to 3 month PAYDEX. Hence you can see recent history and a firm’s performance over time.

Both gauges have the same scores:

1 means greater than 120 days slow (in paying bills)
50 means 30 days slow
80 means prompt
100 means anticipates

100 is the best PAYDEX score you can get. The PAYDEX score is Dun & Bradstreet’s dollar-weighted numerical rating of how a company has paid the bills over the past year. It reflects how well a company pays its bills.

Financial Stress Score

This section shows a Financial Stress Class, and a Financial Stress Score Percentile. The Financial Stress Class runs 1—5, with 5 being the worst score.

Financial Stress Score Percentile

This is compares to other businesses. The percentile contains a Financial Stress National Percentile. The Financial Stress National Percentile reflects the relative ranking of a company among all scorable companies in D&B’s file. It also contains a Financial Stress Score. The report indicates the probability of failure with a particular score.

Financial Stress Score Percentile Comparison

The idea behind this score is to predict the chance that a business will fail over the next 12 months. The average probability of failure compares to other businesses in D&B’s database. The Financial Stress National Percentile reflects the relative ranking of a company among all scorable companies in D&B’s file. The Financial Stress Score offers a more precise measure of the level of risk than the Financial Stress Class and Percentile. It is meant for customers using a scorecard approach to determining overall business performance.

PAYDEX Yearly Trend

The PAYDEX Yearly Trend is a graph. It includes payment history in detail, with payment habits and a payment summary. It helps show if a business pays its bigger bills first or last

D&B Business Credit Monitoring

Pricing is current to September of 2021. You can use D&B Credit Monitor to check credit reports with D&B. It costs $39/month. View recent scores and ratings, and benchmark your business versus your industry. It also alerts you to special events like suits, liens, and judgments. And it includes dark web monitoring. This scans the dark web to help protect your business from potentially fraudulent activity.

Let’s take a look at Experian.

Experian

Experian has a massive consumer and commercial database that they use to gauge risk.

“By combining personal and commercial credit information in one report, Experian provides a complete picture of the creditworthiness of small businesses.”

Their best known and most popular score is Intelliscore Plus℠, a percentile score.

Experian’s Intelliscore Plus℠

Business credit scores range 0—100. An Intelliscore Plus score of 0 represents a high risk. It reflects the percentage of businesses scoring higher or lower than the business under review.

Many large financial institutions around the world use it. So do more than half of the top 25 P&C insurers and most major telecommunications and utility firms. Industry leaders in transportation, manufacturing, and technology also use Intelliscore Plus as their main risk indicating model. It has more than 800 aggregates or factors affecting business credit scores. There are scores on millions of businesses in the Experian database.

What does Intelliscore Plus measure?

This is a highly predictive score. It provides a detailed and accurate reflection of a business’s risk. It blends commercial data and consumer data on the business owner or guarantor. Reports include information on trades, legal filings, and more.

The Experian Financial Stability Risk Score (FSR)

In an Experian business credit report, FSR predicts the potential of a business going bankrupt or defaulting on its obligations. The score identifies the highest risk businesses by making use of payment and public records which include:

Severely delinquent payments of 61+ and 91+ days
High utilization of credit lines
Tax liens
Judgments
Collection accounts
Industry risk
Short time in business, etc.

FSR shows a 1—100 percentile score, plus a 1—5 risk class. The risk class puts businesses into risk categories. The highest risk is in the lowest 10% of accounts. A score of 66—100 and a risk class of 1 means a low risk of default or bankruptcy. But a score of 1—3 and a risk class of 5 means a high risk of default or bankruptcy.

Experian Business Credit Monitoring

Experian offers monitoring services. Prices are current as of September 2021.

Business Credit Advantage: $189/year, monitor business credit for 1 year, alerts of changes
Business Credit Score Pro: $1995/year with trade details or $1495/year in summary form only, multiple business credit report access.
Profile Plus: $49.95 for a single report
Credit Score Report: $39.95 credit summary report with score.

Experian Subscription Plans: The Business Credit Advantage Subscription Plan

This is just one report including almost everything Experian offers. It includes:

Business Credit Score (Intelliscore)
Financial Stability Risk Rating
Collections and trade payment details

Experian Subscription Plans: The Business Credit Score Pro Subscription Plan

Get 30 reports per month but it’s not a free credit score. This does not include:

Alert Emails & Monitoring
Dispute Resolution Status Alerts
3-Month Score Trend
Unlimited Access to Your Report
Business Identity Monitoring

Experian also offers an enhanced version of this plan. Get more information, including:

Trade payment detail
UCC detail
Inquiry detail

Currently costs $1,495 per year. So, it is far from being a free credit report!

Experian Reports: The Profile Plus Report

Check credit reports with everything in the Business Credit Score Pro Subscription Plan, plus (optional with the more expensive report):

Trade Payment Detail
Inquiry Detail
UCC Detail
Corporate Financial Information

Experian Reports: The Credit Score Report

Get everything in the Business Credit Score Pro Subscription Plan, but no optional sections. The credit score report is like a one-time version of the Business Credit Score Pro Subscription Plan. You can use it to decide if you want to subscribe to the more expensive plan.

Let’s turn to Equifax.

Equifax and Its Data

The company gets its data from a data sharing agreement with the Small Business Exchange. It gets net 30 type industry trade credit information from a wide variety of suppliers that provide products and services to businesses on an invoice basis. Equifax combines financial data with industry trade credit data, and adds utility and telephone data. It also adds public record information (bankruptcies, judgments, and tax liens).

Credit Risk Score

In an Equifax business credit report, the Credit Risk Score runs 101—992. Higher numbers are better. This section also shows key factors, which are positives and negatives about your business. Like how old your oldest account is, and if you have any charge-offs, and the size of your business.

Payment Index

This score runs 0—100. Higher numbers are better. It also shows Industry Median. 90+ means Paid as Agreed.

Business Failure Score

The next piece is on your Business Failure Score. This score runs 1000—1880. It has its own key factors, like recent balance information.

Equifax Business Credit Monitoring

Prices are current to September 2021. Check credit reports which include credit summary, payment trends, and public records. The idea is to help you identify potential risk of late payments and business failure. Order a single Business Credit Report for $99.95. Or order a Business Credit Report multi-pack (5 for the price of 4) for $399.95.

Improving Your Business Credit Reports

Make sure vendors are reporting your payments. Always pay your bills on time. Pay them in full. Don’t close positive accounts. Try to avoid derogatories like liens.

Monitor Business Credit at D&B, Experian, and Equifax for Less

All these reports are expensive! You could spend HUNDREDS of dollars trying to keep up with reports from all three big business CRAs.

But did you know that you can get business credit monitoring for all three big business CRAs, and all in one place—for less? Credit Suite offers monitoring through its Business Finance Suite (through Nav). See what credit issuers and lenders see. So you can improve your scores and get the business credit and funding you need.

Check Credit Reports for Your Business: Takeaways

In general, the most important parts of any business credit report include:

Scores or graphs denoting risks of failure or nonpayment
Data on public records
Information on how quickly (or slowly) you pay your company’s bills

Improving reports means paying on time more than anything else. Reports can be expensive—we can help you monitor for less.

The post How to Check Credit Reports for Your Business appeared first on Credit Suite.

How to Check Credit Reports for Your Business

Do You Know How to Check Credit Reports for Your Business? If you’re a business owner, chances are it’s been on your to-do list for quite a while: check credit reports. But do you know how to do this fast? Business owners are always short on time. Find out here how to check credit reports … Continue reading How to Check Credit Reports for Your Business

5 Reasons to Start Adding Tradelines to Your Credit Reports

Your business credit report needs tradelines. Not just one or two either. The truth is, you need to start adding tradelines to your business credit reports, and here’s why.

Top 5 Reasons for Adding Tradelines to Your Credit Report

Your business credit report reflects the creditworthiness of your business. It is not connected to you personally. As a result it needs to have business tradelines reporting to it. Why?

1. It can help establish a business credit score.

Your business credit is separate from your personal credit. For one, you have to be intentional about building it. Not all vendors will report payments to your business credit report. That means, you need to add tradelines that do. You’ll likely need help with this from a business credit expert, as most vendors do not make publicly known whether they report or not.

2. It establishes a PAYDEX score with D&B.

You need tradelines on your business credit report to establish a PAYDEX with Dun & Bradstreet. They are the largest and most commonly used business credit company. So obviously, having a PAYDEX is important. D&B says you only need two. However, many report that in their experience it took 3 tradelines reporting to establish a PAYDEX.

Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit, even in a recession.

3. It can help raise your business credit score.

Remember, this only works if you pay on-time. However, if you do, the more the merrier. When you add tradelines to your business credit report, and handle them responsibly, you are only helping your business credit score grow.

4. Adding tradelines to your credit report is a way to build business credit without good credit.

Tradelines break the vicious cycle of “you have to have credit to get credit.” They typically do not take credit into account for approval. Rather, they look at other things to determine credit worthiness like time in business, business revenue, and business bank account balance.

5. Strong business credit is essential to running a strong business and protecting your personal credit.

And as we said, you need tradelines to establish business credit, let alone build it. Business credit allows you to fund your business without jeopardizing your personal credit.

Bonus: Buying Business Tradelines Won’t Help You

Buying tradelines basically involves buying tradelines someone else has been using and putting it on your credit report. While it is not technically illegal, it is definitely frowned upon. If a lender figures out that you may be using business credit that you did not actually build yourself, you could be blackballed and lose any advantage you thought you were getting by buying tradelines. So don’t do it.

Adding tradelines to your business credit report is necessary. It is how you establish business credit in the first place. Then, it’s how you continue to grow it to a point that you can apply for other types of accounts. For example store cards, fleet cards, and business credit cards that can be used anywhere for anything require strong business credit. A strong business credit score will help you get better terms and rates on business loans and lines of credit as well. This is true even though they will check personal credit also. So, the sooner you work on this the better. Get started now.

The post 5 Reasons to Start Adding Tradelines to Your Credit Reports appeared first on Credit Suite.

Learn About Dun & Bradstreet Reports

Did You Want to Learn About Dun & Bradstreet Reports?

It’s time to learn about Dun & Bradstreet reports.

But let’s start with some definitions and background on business credit.

Business Credit

This is credit in a business’s name. It does not tie to the owner’s creditworthiness. Instead, business credit scores depend on how well a company can pay its bills. Hence consumer and business credit scores can vary dramatically.

Business Credit Benefits

Also, there are no demands for a personal guarantee. You can quickly get business credit regardless of personal credit quality. Also, there is no personal credit reporting of business accounts. Business credit utilization won’t affect your consumer FICO score. Plus the business owner isn’t personally liable for the debt the business incurs.

Being accepted for business credit is not automatic. Building business credit requires some work. Some of the steps are intuitive,and some of them are not.

Business Credit Reporting Agencies

There are three chief credit bureaus for business: Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax.

In the business world Equifax and Experian are up there, but it’s Dun & Bradstreet which is the major player.

D&B has more than 10 times the records of the next closest reporting agency. See dnb.com/about-us/company.html.

What are in a Dun& Bradstreet Reports?

Do you have a copy of your Dun and Bradstreet report?

What is Dun and Bradstreet?

They are the oldest and largest credit reporting agency. You need a D-U-N-S number to start building business credit. Go to D&B’s website and look for your business, atdnb.com/duns-number. Can’t find it? Then get a free D-U-N-S number. You will always need a D-U-N-S number to start building business credit. Go here to get a D-U-N-S number and get into their system: dnb.com/duns-number/get-a-duns.html.

The main score is PAYDEX. But a business will not get a PAYDEX score, unless it has at least 3 trade lines reporting, and a D-U-N-S number. A business needs both to get a D&B score or report.

Dun & Bradstreet Reports

D&B offers database-generated reports. These help their clients decide if a business is a good credit risk. Companies use the reports to make informed business credit decisions and avoid bad debt.

Usually, when D&B does not have all of the information that they need, they say so in their reports. But missing data does not necessarily mean a company is a poor credit risk. Rather, the risk is unknown.

D&B’s database contains over 350 million companies around the world. It includes millions of active firms, and over 100 million companies which are out of business. But they keep these for historical purposes. This data goes into their reports.

D&B lists over a billion trade experiences. For as accurate a report as possible, give D&B your company’s current financial statements.

To see a sample Business Information Report, go to products.dandb.com/download/2019_BIR-Snapshot-Report.pdf

Predictive Models and Scoring

D&B takes historical information to try to predict future outcomes. This is to identify the risks inherent in a future decision. They take objective and statistically derived data, rather than subjective and intuitive judgments.

Dun & Bradstreet Reports: Sections

Here are the sections you could currently see in a typical Dun and Bradstreet business credit profile report.

Executive Summary

The report starts with basic company information, such as number of employees, year the business was started, net worth, and sales.

D&B Rating

This rating helps companies quickly assess a business’s size and composite credit appraisal. Dun & Bradstreet bases this rating on information in a company’s interim or fiscal balance sheet plus an overall evaluation of the firm’s creditworthiness. The scale goes from 5A to HH. Rating Classifications show company size based on worth or equity. D&B assigns such a rating only if a company has supplied a current financial statement.

The rating contains a Financial Strength Indicator. It is calculated using the Net Worth or Issued Capital of a company. Preference is to use Net Worth. D&B will show if a business is new or if they never got this information.

This section also adds a Composition Credit Appraisal. This number runs 1 through 4. Also, it reflects D&B’s overall rating of a business’s creditworthiness.

The scores mean:

1 – High
2 – Good
3 – Fair
4 – Limited

A D&B rating might look like 3A4.

Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring.

D&B PAYDEX

This part shows two gauges. One is an up to 24 month PAYDEX. There’s also an up to 3 month PAYDEX. Hence you can see recent history and a firm’s performance over time.

Both gauges have the same scores. A 1 means greater than 120 days slow (in paying bills). A score of 50 means 30 days slow. One great score is 80, which means prompt. Also, 100 means anticipates. A 100 is the best PAYDEX score you can get.

PAYDEX Score

This is Dun & Bradstreet’s dollar-weighted numerical rating of how a company has paid the bills over the past year. D&B bases this score on trade experiences which various vendors report. The Score ranges from 1 to 100. Higher scores mean a better payment performance. PAYDEX scores reflect how well a company pays its bills.

Predictive Analytics

This next section shows likelihood of business failure. It also shows how frequently a business is late in paying its financial obligations. These are comparative analyses, the Financial Stress Class, and the Credit Score Class.

Financial Stress Class

Overall numbers range from 1 to 5. A 1 is businesses least likely to fail. Also, a 5 is firms most likely to fail. The Financial Stress Class measures likelihood of failure.

Financial Stress Class Score

These more granular scores range from 1,001 to 1,875. A score of 1,001 represents the highest chance of business failure. Also an 1,875 shows the lowest chance of business failure.

Credit Score Class

The Credit Score Class measures how often a company is late paying its bills. Overall numbers range from 1 to 5. A 1 is businesses least likely to be late. 5 is firms most likely to be late making payments. More granular scores run from 101 to 670. 670 is the highest risk.

Credit Limit Recommendation

It shows a spectrum of risk. Your risk category can be low, moderate, or high. Risk is assessed using D&B’s scoring methodology. It is one factor used to create the recommended limits.

D&B Viability Rating

This section contains:

Viability Score – to show risk
Portfolio Comparison – also a demonstration of risk
Data Depth Indicator – descriptive vs. predictive
Company Profile – this shows if financial data and other information was available

Credit Capacity Summary

This part repeats the D&B Rating above. It includes financial strength, the composite credit appraisal, and payment activity.

Business History and Business Registration

This section contains information on ownership. It also shows where a corporation is filed (i.e. which state). This includes the type of corporation, and the incorporation date.

Government Activity Summary and Operations Data

This section gives basic information on if a company works as a contractor for the government. It also shows the kind of business a company is in. It shows what the facilities are like, including general data on its location.

Industry Data and Family Tree

The section shows the business’s SIC and NAICS codes. It also shows where the branches and subsidiaries are. This list is just the first 25 branches, subsidiaries, divisions, and affiliates, both domestic and international. D&B also offers a Global Family Linkage Link to view the full listing.

Financial Statements

This section is for the financial statements D&B has on a business. It shows assets and liabilities, with specifics such as equipment, and even common stock offerings.

Indicators and Full Filings

This part shows public records, like judgments, liens, lawsuits, and UCC filings.

This part also breaks down where filings are venued, like the court or the county recorder of deeds office. It shows if judgments were satisfied (paid). It also shows which equipment is subject to UCC filings.

Commercial Credit Score

This part shows the Credit Score Class again. It also shows a comparison of the incidence of delinquent payments. It also includes key factors to help anyone reading the report interpret these findings. Also, it explains what the numbers mean.

Credit Score Percentile Norms Comparison

Here, D&B compares a company to others on the basis of region, industry, number of employees and time in business.

Financial Stress Score

This section shows a Financial Stress Class and a Financial Stress Score Percentile. The Financial Stress Class runs from 1-5, with 5 being the worst score.

Financial Stress Score Percentile

The Financial Stress Score Norms calculate an average score and percentile for similar firms. The norms benchmark where a business stands. This is in relation to its closest business peers.

It is a comparison to other businesses. The percentile contains a Financial Stress National Percentile. The Financial Stress National Percentile reflects the relative ranking of a company among all scorable companies in D&B’s file. It also contains a Financial Stress Score. The report shows the chance of failure with a particular score.

Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring.

Financial Stress Score Percentile Comparison

The idea behind this score is to predict how likely it is a business will fail over the next 12 months. The Financial Stress Class shows a firm shares some of the same business and financial characteristics of other companies with this classification. It does not mean the firm will necessarily experience financial stress. The chance of failure shows the percentage of firms in a given percentile that discontinue operations with loss to creditors.

The average chance of failure comes from businesses in D&B’s database. It is provided for comparative purposes. The Financial Stress National Percentile reflects the relative ranking of a company among all scorable companies in D&B’s file. The Financial Stress Score offers a more precise measure of the level of risk than the Financial Stress Class and Percentile. It is meant for customers using a scorecard approach to determining overall business performance.

Advanced PAYDEX + CLR

This section repeats the 24 month and 3 month PAYDEX gauges. It also includes a repeat of the Credit Limit Recommendation. There is also a PAYDEX Yearly Trend. It shows the PAYDEX scores of a business compared to the Primary Industry from each of the last four quarters.

PAYDEX Yearly Trend

The PAYDEX Yearly Trend is a graph. It includes detailed payment history. with payment habits and a payment summary. This helps show if a business pays its bigger bills first or last.

Correcting Your Dun &Bradstreet Reports

Get your report from D&B at www.dnb.com/about-us/our-data.html. Update the relevant information if there are mistakes or the information is incomplete. At D&B, you can do this at: dnb.com/duns-number/view-update-company-credit-file.html.

Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring.

Disputing Issues with Dun & Bradstreet Reports

None of the different business bureaus will change your scores without proof. They are also starting to accept more and more online disputes. Include proofs of payment with it. These are documents like receipts and also cancelled checks.

Fixing credit report errors also means you specifically spell out any charges you challenge. Make your dispute as crystal clear as possible. If you need to snail mail anything in, then use certified mail. This is so you will have proof that you sent in your dispute.

Be specific about the concerns with your report. D&B wants you to go through their Customer Service. You can also go through D&B Customer Service to add payment experiences. D&B’s Customer Service contact number can be found at dandb.com/glossary/paydex.

Monitoring Dun &Bradstreet Reports

Business credit reports are not always perfectly correct. All of the major CRAs are committed to accuracy. But you won’t know there are errors unless you monitor your business credit reports.

For D&B only, you can monitor your reports via CreditMonitor. It currently costs $39/month. See dnb.com/products/small-business/credit-monitor.html.

Monitoring Experian, Equifax, and Dun & Bradstreet Reports

You can monitor your business credit at D&B, Equifax, and Experian through Credit Suite, for considerable savings over what it would cost you at those different credit bureaus. And all in one place! Credit Suite offers monitoring through the Business Finance Suite (through Nav). See what credit issuers and lenders see. So you can directly improve your scores and get the business credit and funding you need. See suitelogin.com and also creditsuite.com/monitoring.

Dun & Bradstreet Reports: Takeaways

Dun & Bradstreet reports sport an impressive level of detail. The idea is to make it easier to decide if it’s a good idea to extend credit to another business. Also, your own company’s report can help show you where you can improve payment history. Also, you can see how your firm compares to similar businesses.

D&B is the largest business CRA. A D-U-N-S number is an absolute necessity for business credit building.

Monitoring all of your reports is expensive. But you can save 90% by monitoring your D&B, Experian, and Equifax scores through Credit Suite.

The post Learn About Dun & Bradstreet Reports appeared first on Credit Suite.

Get Business Credit Cards That Don’t Report on Your Consumer Credit Reports During a Recession Downturn

Get business credit cards during a recession downturn – coronavirus or no coronavirus, this could be the perfect time for you to build your business credit history. So here are excellent cards where you can do just that.

You Can Get Business Credit Cards That Don’t Report on Your Consumer Credit Reports Even During a Recession Downturn

Learn how to make sure your business credit cards don’t report on your consumer credit reports. It makes a difference with business credit funding! You need business credit cards that do not report to personal credit. Even in a recession downturn!

Many small business credit cards require that the business owner to personally guarantee the debt. Usually this person is also the cardholder, although not all the time. But you want to apply for business credit card without personal guarantee. Don’t blame you! It would be a lot better to get an unsecured business credit card no personal guarantee.

That means that if the balance is not paid off for the business, then the owner will end up being responsible for the entire amount. It also means that business account activity could potentially spill over to the owner’s personal credit reports. It stinks to guaranty business credit!

But this depends upon each card issuer’s policy.

Policy Considerations

Some card issuers only report activity to the cardholder’s personal credit reports in the case of the owner defaulting. And there are others which will report all activity. And they will not distinguish between positive and negative activity.

The easiest way to keep business credit activity off your personal credit report is to use a business credit card which does not report business activity to personal credit bureaus. However, the decision to use a card such as this should not be made lightly. But no matter what, you don’t want these cards to report on your consumer credit reports.

So, is how to get a credit card without credit.

Report Activity During a Recession Downturn

Which is better? It all depends upon your situation. If you pay your business card on time and avoid high balances, then a ‘business’ card that appears on your personal credit reports with Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion should not be a problem.

It could even help your credit scores.

Utilization Issues

But if you charge everything you can on your card in order to rack up rewards, then your personal credit could conceivably suffer. Credit scoring models will take into consideration your debt usage or utilization ratio.

This compares the reported balances versus available credit limits. It is often for each card as well as all credit cards combined.

A high balance on a business card which appears on your personal credit can mean a higher debt usage ratio. And that can lower credit scores.

And paying the balance off in full every month alone is unlikely to solve this problem. The reported balance is often the balance as of the statement closing date and not after a payment has been made.

Therefore, if you want lower balances to get onto the reports, you need to make your payments before either the statement closing date, or whichever date the issuer reports.

Some Small Advantages

However, if your personal credit history is lacking, a business card which reports your full account activity could help. Hence if you avoid credit cards and use a debit card, you may have a “thin” credit profile. It could benefit from the boost another card could provide.

Opting for a business credit card which does not report to personal credit may help if you know there will be times you need to run up charges putting you close to the limit or carry a balance.

This could be for anything from investing in new equipment to spending to prepare for a trade show. Of course you do not want that activity to bring down your scores.

Using a Business Credit Card that Doesn’t Affect Personal Credit in a Recession Downturn

Generally, it’s better to apply for the business credit card which offers rewards and benefits of the most interest to you, rather than focusing solely on the card’s reporting policy.

Furthermore, if you default, then having a business credit card which does not report regularly to consumer credit bureaus will make no difference. You will still end up personally liable for the debt on the card if you signed a personal guarantee. This is not the way to get credit cards for businesses with no personal guarantee.

And you want a business credit card no personal guarantee required.

If the card issuer brings a lawsuit against you for the balance or sends the account to a collections agency, then this activity will likely show up on your personal credit report. That can happen regardless of how any other payment information is reported.

Another option in a Recession Downturn

Another way out is to use business credit cards that do not require a personal guarantee. However, those are few and far between. These sorts of cards ask you, the business owner, to meet a set of conditions which can differ from one product to another.

These could be annual sales guarantees. Or they might be requirements to have an open Dun & Bradstreet file or other conditions. If you cannot meet these conditions, then this option will not exist for your business at all.

Finally, as always, it literally pays to separate your business life from your personal life, by opening separate accounts and even incorporating your business, in order to demonstrate to creditors that you and your company are not the same when it comes to credit.

Build Business Credit During a Recession Downturn

So the truth is the best way to get around these problems is simply to build business credit! Don’t settle for credit cards that don’t do what you want. And don’t settle for a corporate business card that say ‘business’ on it, but is really a personal credit card in disguise.

You want it when business credit cards don’t report on your consumer credit reports. And such cards would not be them.

Every Small Business Needs Company Credit Building

Business credit is credit in a small business’s name. It doesn’t tie to an entrepreneur’s personal credit, not even when the owner is a sole proprietor and the only employee of the small business.

Because of this, an entrepreneur’s business and individual credit scores can be very different. And establishing business credit without personal guarantee is key.

The Advantages – Especially in a Recession Downturn

Given that small business credit is distinct from personal, it helps to safeguard a business owner’s personal assets, in case of litigation or business bankruptcy.

Also, with two distinct credit scores, a business owner can get two separate cards from the same merchant. This effectively doubles purchasing power.

Another advantage is that even startups can do this. Visiting a bank for a business loan can be a formula for disappointment. But building company credit, when done properly, is a plan for success. You could even get a business loan no personal guarantee.

Individual credit scores depend upon payments but also other elements like credit usage percentages.

But for small business credit, the scores actually merely hinge on if a company pays its invoices promptly.

Discover our business credit and finance guide, jam-packed with new ways to finance your business without emptying your wallet. Save your money during the recession!

The Process

Growing business credit is a process, and it does not occur automatically. A small business will need to actively work to build business credit.

That being said, it can be done readily and quickly, and it is much speedier than establishing personal credit scores.

Vendors are a big component of this process.

Carrying out the steps out of order will result in repetitive rejections. Nobody can start at the top with company credit. For example, you can’t start with store or cash credit from your bank. If you do you’ll get a rejection 100% of the time.

But done right, this is how to get business credit card without personal guarantee.

Business Fundability in a Recession Downturn

A business needs to be bona fide to lending institutions and merchants.

As a result a company will need a professional-looking web site and e-mail address. And it needs to have website hosting bought from a merchant like GoDaddy.

In addition company telephone and fax numbers should have a listing on ListYourself.net.

Likewise the company phone number should be toll-free (800 exchange or similar).

A company will also need a bank account dedicated solely to it, and it must have every one of the licenses necessary for running.

Licenses

These licenses all must be in the perfect, accurate name of the business. And they need to have the same company address and telephone numbers.

So keep in mind that this means not just state licenses, but possibly also city licenses.

Working with the IRS

Visit the Internal Revenue Service website and acquire an EIN for the business. They’re free of charge. Choose a business entity such as corporation, LLC, etc.

A small business can get started as a sole proprietor. But they will probably want to change to a variety of corporation or partnership.

This is in order to decrease risk. And it will make best use of tax benefits.

A business entity will matter when it pertains to tax obligations and liability in case of litigation. A sole proprietorship means the owner is it when it comes to liability and tax obligations. Nobody else is responsible.

Beginning the Business Credit Reporting Process

Start at the D&B web site and get a free D-U-N-S number. A D-U-N-S number is how D&B gets a company into their system, to produce a PAYDEX score. If there is no D-U-N-S number, then there is no record and no PAYDEX score.

Once in D&B’s system, search Equifax and Experian’s web sites for the business. You can do this at www.creditsuite.com/reports. If there is a record with them, check it for accuracy and completeness. If there are no records with them, go to the next step in the process.

In this manner, Experian and Equifax will have something to report on.

Discover our business credit and finance guide, jam-packed with new ways to finance your business without emptying your wallet. Save your money during the recession!

Vendor Credit

First you should establish trade lines that report. This is also known as vendor credit. Then you’ll have an established credit profile, and you’ll get a business credit score.

And with an established business credit profile and score you can begin getting retail store and cash credit.

These kinds of accounts tend to be for the things bought all the time, like shipping boxes, outdoor work wear, ink and toner, and office furniture.

But first off, what is trade credit? These trade lines are credit issuers who will give you starter credit when you have none now. Terms are usually Net 30, instead of revolving.

Therefore, if you get approval for $1,000 in vendor credit and use all of it, you must pay that money back in a set term, such as within 30 days on a Net 30 account.

Details

Net 30 accounts need to be paid in full within 30 days. 60 accounts have to be paid completely within 60 days. Unlike with revolving accounts, you have a set time when you must pay back what you borrowed or the credit you used.

To launch your business credit profile properly, you need to get approval for vendor accounts that report to the business credit reporting bureaus. When that’s done, you can then use the credit.

Then pay back what you used, and the account is on report to Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, or Equifax.

Vendor Credit – It Makes Sense

Not every vendor can help in the same way true starter credit can. These are merchants that will grant an approval with marginal effort. You also need them to be reporting to one or more of the big three CRAs: Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax, and Experian.

You want 3 of these to move onto the next step, which is retail credit.

Uline Shipping Supplies

Uline Shipping Supplies is a true starter vendor. You can find them online at www.uline.com. They offer shipping, packing, and industrial supplies, and they report to D&B.

You have to have a D-U-N-S number. They will request 2 references and a bank reference. The first few orders might need to be paid in advance to initially get approval for Net 30 terms. Also, you may have to buy some items you don’t need.

Crown Office Supplies

Crown Office Supplies is another true starter vendor. You can find them online at https://crownofficesupplies.com. They sell a variety of office supplies and take helping clients seriously. They state, “just starting your business, or maybe have an existing business, but you have a question regarding office supplies… we are here to help!” And they report to Dun and Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax.

There is a $99.00 yearly fee, though they do report that fee to the business credit reporting bureaus. For other purchases to report, the purchase must be at least $30.00. Terms are Net 30.

Grainger Industrial Supply

Grainger Industrial Supply is also a true starter vendor. You can find them online at www.grainger.com. They sell safety equipment, plumbing supplies, and more, and they report to D&B. You will need to have a business license, EIN, and a D-U-N-S number.

For less than a $1000 credit limit they will approve almost any person with a business license.

Accounts That Do Not Report

Non-Reporting Trade Accounts can also be helpful. While you do want trade accounts to report to at the very least one of the CRAs, a trade account which does not report can also be of some worth.

You can always ask non-reporting accounts for trade references. Additionally credit accounts of any sort ought to help you to better even out business expenditures, thereby making budgeting less complicated. These are companies like PayPal Credit, T-Mobile, and Best Buy.

Discover our business credit and finance guide, jam-packed with new ways to finance your business without emptying your wallet. Save your money during the recession!

Retail Credit

Once there are 3 or more vendor trade accounts reporting to at least one of the CRAs, then move to retail credit. These are companies which include Office Depot and Staples. These companies are likelier to have supplies you need.

Use the company’s EIN on these credit applications. These are no personal guarantee business credit cards!

Fleet Credit

Are there more accounts reporting? Then progress to fleet credit. These are service providers such as BP and Conoco. Use this credit to purchase, fix, and take care of vehicles. Make certain to apply using the business’s EIN. These are business credit cards without personal credit. You will have start up business credit cards without personal guarantee.

Cash Credit

Have you been responsibly handling the credit you’ve gotten up to this point? Then move to more universal cash credit. These are service providers like Visa and MasterCard. Keep your SSN off these applications; use your EIN instead. These are business credit cards for new businesses without personal guarantee.

These are frequently MasterCard credit cards. If you have more trade accounts reporting, then these are feasible. Once you’re here, these become easy business credit cards no personal guarantee.

Monitor Your Business Credit in a Recession Downturn and Beyond

Know what is happening with your credit. Make certain it is being reported and fix any errors as soon as possible. Get in the practice of taking a look at credit reports. Dig into the details, not just the scores.

We can help you monitor business credit at Experian and D&B for 90% less.

At Equifax, you can monitor your account at: www.equifax.com/business/business-credit-monitor-small-business.

Update Your Information

Update the info if there are mistakes or the relevant information is incomplete. At D&B, you can do this at: https://iupdate.dnb.com/iUpdate/viewiUpdateHome.htm. For Experian, go here: www.experian.com/small-business/business-credit-information.jsp. And for Equifax, go here: www.equifax.com/business/small-business.

Fix Your Business Credit

So, what’s all this monitoring for? It’s to dispute any inaccuracies in your records. Errors in your credit report(s) can be fixed. But the CRAs generally want you to dispute in a particular way.

Get your small business’s PAYDEX report at: www.dnb.com/about-us/our-data.html. Get your company’s Experian report at: www.businesscreditfacts.com/pdp.aspx?pg=SearchForm. And get your Equifax business credit report at: www.equifax.com/business/credit-information.

Disputes

Disputing credit report errors generally means you send a paper letter with duplicates of any evidence of payment with it. These are documents like receipts and cancelled checks. Never send the originals. Always mail copies and keep the originals.

Fixing credit report inaccuracies also means you precisely spell out any charges you challenge. Make your dispute letter as crystal clear as possible. Be specific about the concerns with your report. Use certified mail so that you will have proof that you sent in your dispute.

Dispute your or your small business’s Equifax report by following the directions here: www.equifax.com/small-business-faqs/#Dispute-FAQs.

You can dispute errors on your or your company’s Experian report by following the instructions here: www.experian.com/small-business/business-credit-information.jsp.

And D&B’s PAYDEX Customer Service telephone number is here: www.dandb.com/glossary/paydex.

A Word about Building Business Credit During a Recession Downturn

Always use credit smartly! Don’t borrow more than what you can pay off. Keep track of balances and deadlines for repayments. Paying in a timely manner and fully will do more to raise business credit scores than just about anything else.

Establishing business credit pays off. Great business credit scores help a company get loans. Your lending institution knows the business can pay its debts. They understand the small business is for real.

The business’s EIN connects to high scores and you can start to get new business credit cards without personal guarantee.

Business credit is an asset which can help your company for years to come. It’s the best way to get corporate credit cards without personal guarantee.

Keep Your Business Credit Cards Off Your Consumer Credit Reports in a Recession Downturn: Takeaways

Learn more here and get started toward getting the best business credit cards for you needs . And make sure your business credit cards don’t report on your consumer credit reports. This is the best way to successfully apply for business credit card no personal guarantee.

As you keep going, you can qualify for business credit lines with no personal guarantee. And it can all start with small business credit cards without personal guarantee. The COVID-19 situation will not last forever – and in the meantime, you can be getting amazing credit cards for your business.

The post Get Business Credit Cards That Don’t Report on Your Consumer Credit Reports During a Recession Downturn appeared first on Credit Suite.

Reports: F1 to call off Bahrain and Vietnam GPs

Formula One will call off the Bahrain and Vietnamese Grands Prix after the cancellation of Sunday’s Australian season-opener due to the coronavirus outbreak, multiple F1 sources told Reuters on Friday.

The post Reports: F1 to call off Bahrain and Vietnam GPs appeared first on Buy It At A Bargain – Deals And Reviews.

Everything You Need to Know About Your PAYDEX and Other D&B Reports

PAYDEX is important to your business credit. In fact, the D&B PAYDEX is one of the most common tools used by lenders to determine credit risk. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, Dun & Bradstreet is one of the largest and most commonly used business credit reporting agencies. Next, the PAYDEX score is the most like the personal FICO score, so it is easy for lenders to understand.

The PAYDEX is Important, But It’s Not the Only Thing the Dun & Bradstreet Has on You

Though the PAYDEX is the most commonly used, there are other reports that Dun & Bradstreet issue that can be helpful to lenders. You need to know about all of them, because you never know what all a lender will look at.

Learn more here and start building business credit with your company’s EIN, not your SSN.

The Quick and Dirty on the PAYDEX

The PAYDEX Score is Dun & Bradstreet’s score that tells the lender how well your business has paid the bills over the past year. D & B bases this score on trade experiences documented by vendors. It ranges from 1 to 100. The higher the score, the lower the perceived risk. In business credit terms, it is the most similar to the personal FICO score. This is why it is the most popular business credit option among lenders.

In addition to the PAYDEX, D&B issues the following options for lenders.

PAYDEX and Your Delinquency Predictor

To estimate how likely a company is to be late in paying debts, Dun & Bradstreet uses predictive models. They use predictive scoring, which takes past data to try to predict what will happen in the future. They do this by figuring out the potential risk of a future decision. Then they compare the historical information to a future event. Thus, predictive scoring only represents a statistical probability. It is not a guarantee.

Financial Stress Percentile

The Financial Stress Percentile compares companies in categories such as region, industry, number of employees, or number of years in the business. Financial Stress Score Norms determine an average score and percentile for like firms.

Financial Stress Score

Dun & Bradstreet generates Financial Stress Scores to predict how likely it is a business will fail over the next twelve months. These scores range between from 1,001 to 1,875. A score of 1,001 represents the highest probability while a figure of 1,875 shows the lowest probability of business failure.

Financial Stress Risk Class

This is a rating from D&B that places business in classes from 1 to 5. Class 1 includes businesses least likely to fail, while class 5 includes those firms most likely to fail. Therefore, a D & B customer can rapidly divvy their new and existing accounts by risk and then determine how to proceed. If your business is shown as being Discontinued at This Location; Higher Risk; or Open Bankruptcy, you are going to automatically get a 0 score.

Financial Stress Score Percentile

This score has a 1-100 ranking where a 1 percentile is most likely to fail and a 100 percentile is least likely to fail. If D&B identifies a company as financially stressed, that indicates it has stopped operations following assignment of bankruptcy, voluntarily withdrawn from business operation with unpaid obligations, or closed up shop with a loss to creditors. It could also mean a company is in receivership, reorganization, or has made some sort of an arrangement for the benefit of creditors.

Supplier Evaluation Risk Rating

The Supplier Evaluation Risk Rating (also called a SER Rating) predicts how likely it is a company will get legal relief from creditors or end operations without paying creditors in full over the next twelve months. Once Dun & Bradstreet calculates the Financial Stress Score percentile for your company, they apply a second set of rules to calculate the SER Rating, on a scale of 1 – 9. A 1 means your company is least likely to fail to pay suppliers. A 9 is the opposite, showing the highest likelihood.

Credit Limit Recommendation

A D&B Credit Limit Recommendation includes two recommended guidelines:

A conservative limit, recommending a dollar benchmark if a company’s policy is to extend less credit to minimize risk and
An aggressive limit, suggesting a benchmark if a firm’s policy is to extend more credit with potentially more risk.

D & B bases these dollar guideline levels on a historical evaluation of the credit demand for similar businesses, with respect to employee size and industry. They assess how likely a business is to continue to pay obligations according to the agreed-upon terms, and how likely it is to experience financial stress in the next twelve months.

Learn more here and start building business credit with your company’s EIN, not your SSN.

D & B Rating

A D&B Rating helps lenders assess a business’s size and credit potential. Dun & Bradstreet bases this rating on details in your company’s balance sheet and an overall evaluation of the firm’s creditworthiness. The scale goes from 5A to HH.

Composite Credit Appraisal

This number, between 1 through 4, makes up the second half of your firm’s rating. It reflects Dun & Bradstreet’s overall rating of your business’s creditworthiness. They analyze company payments, financial information, public records, business age, and other factors.

If your company does not supply current financial information, you cannot get a Composite Credit Appraisal rating of better than a 2. The 1R and 2R ratings show company size only based on the total number of employees. Consequently, these ratings are assigned if your company’s file does not contain a current financial statement. Employee Range (ER) Ratings apply to specific lines of business that are hard to put into categories under the D & B Rating system. These kinds of businesses receive an Employee Range symbol based upon the number of employees and that is all.

In general, when Dun & Bradstreet does not have all of the information they need, they will show that in their reports. However, omitted information does not necessarily mean your firm is a poor credit risk.

Now, How Do You Get Started Building Your PAYDEX?

The first step is to ensure your business is set up properly to separate it from yourself. You don’t want business credit accounts reporting to your personal credit. They need to report to your business credit only. How do you make this happen? Glad you asked.

Your Business Needs Separate Contact Information

The first step in setting up a foundation of fundability is to ensure your business has its own phone number, fax number, and address. Then, when you apply for credit accounts, use that information and not your personal information.

That doesn’t mean you have to get a separate phone line, or even a separate location. You can still run your business from your home or on your computer if that is what you want. You do not even have to have a fax machine.

In fact, you can get a business phone number and fax number that will work over the internet instead of phone lines. In addition, the phone number will forward to any phone you want it to so you can still use your personal cell phone or landline. Whenever someone calls your business number it will ring straight to you.

Faxes can be sent to an online fax service, if anyone ever happens to actually fax you. This part may seem outdated, but it does help your business appear legitimate to lenders.

You can use a virtual office for a business address. How do you get a virtual office? What is that? It’s not what you may think. This is a business that offers a physical address for a fee, and sometimes they even offer mail service and live receptionist services. In addition, there are some that offer meeting spaces for those times you may need to meet a client or customer in person.

You Must Have an EIN

The next thing you need to do is get an EIN for your business. This is an identifying number for your business that works similar to how your SSN works for you personally. Some business owners use their SSN to apply for business accounts. This is what a lot of sole proprietorships and partnerships do. However, it really doesn’t look professional to lenders. It can cause your personal and business credit to get mixed up. When you are looking to increase fundability, you need to apply for and use an EIN. You can get one for free from the IRS.

Incorporating is Absolutely Necessary

This is the most important step separating your business from yourself. Incorporating your business as an LLC, S-corp, or corporation is necessary to fundability as well. It lends credence to your business as one that is legitimate and it offers some protection from liability.

Which option you choose does not matter as much for business credit and fundability as it does for your budget and needs for liability protection. The best thing to do is talk to your attorney or a tax professional. What is going to happen is that you are going to lose the time in business that you have. When you incorporate, you become a new entity. You basically have to start over. You’ll also lose any positive payment history you may have accumulated.

This is why you have to incorporate as soon as possible. Not only is it necessary for fundability and for building business credit, but so is time in business. The longer you have been in business the more fundable you appear to be. That starts on the date of incorporation, regardless of when you actually started doing business.

A Separate Business Bank Account Is Vital

You have to open a separate, dedicated business bank account. There are a few reasons for this. First, it will help you keep track of business finances. It will also help you keep them separate from personal finances for tax purposes.

Learn more here and start building business credit with your company’s EIN, not your SSN.

There’s more to it however. There are several types of funding you cannot get without a business bank account. Many lenders and credit cards want to see one with a minimum average balance. In addition, you cannot get a merchant account without a business account at a bank. That means, you cannot take credit card payments. Studies show consumers tend to spend more when they can pay by credit card.

How Do You Establish a PAYDEX Score?

Once you are certain your business is established as an entity separate from you as the owner, you need a DUNS Number. This 9-digit number is a unique identifying number that works to establish a business credit file with D & B. A DUNS (Data Universal Number System) works to keep accurate and timely data on over 250 million businesses around the globe. You want your business to be one of them.

From an identification standpoint, it makes a lot of sense. With the use of this identifier, errors can be kept to a minimum. As a result, Dun & Bradstreet will never confuse your business with someone else’s.

Dun & Bradstreet requires that you register your company for free on their site to get a number. There are a few other ways to get a DUNS if your business belongs to a special class. These include if it is a US government contractor or grantee, your company is Canadian, or you are working as an Apple developer.

Registration is fast and simple. Once you have said yes to their Terms and Conditions, you are taken straight to a dashboard where you either ask for a DUNS number or you look up to see if your business is already listed. If it is already on the big list, then you click on your company’s name to make any needed changes.

Understanding the PAYDEX and How Dun & Bradstreet Works Is Important

By understanding what the D&B PAYDEX is, how it works, and how lenders use it, you can have a better feel for how fundable your business is. The PAYDEX is one measure of business credit, and business credit is just one piece of a business’s overall fundability.

While other aspects of fundability are important, business credit is the one that is easiest to control. All you have to do is make your payments consistently on-time. If you do that, you PAYDEX will be fabulous and you will be able to get whatever funding you need to run and grow your business.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Your PAYDEX and Other D&B Reports appeared first on Credit Suite.

How to Build PAYDEX Score Fast: And Other Dun & Bradstreet Reports You Need to Know About

If you know anything about business credit is it probably about the Dun & Bradstreet PAYDEX score. D&B is the largest and most commonly used business credit reporting agency. The PAYDEX score is the score from Dun & Bradstreet that lenders use most often. This is likely because it is the most comparable to the consumer FICO, so they feel like they can easily understand the information it is telling them. Follow these tips to build PAYDEX score fast.<

Build PAYDEX Score Fast, but Don’t Forget the Other D&B Reports

Your Dun & Bradstreet report is among the first things a lender will look at when determining whether to do business with you. They offer database-generated reports to their clients to help them decide if you, a potential vendor, supplier, or business partner, are a good credit risk.

A company will rely on the D & B Report about your firm to make informed business credit determinations and avoid bad debt. Dun & Bradstreet takes several factors into account in creating such a report. Let’s look at all of these factors in turn, starting with the PAYDEX. Afterall, you cannot understand how to build PAYDEX score fast without understanding what exactly the PAYDEX is.

Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.

PAYDEX Score

We will discuss this more in depth later, but the quick answer to how to build PAYDEX score fast is to pay your business obligations on-time and consistently. The trick is getting those payments reported to D&B and not personal credit reporting agencies.

In addition to the PAYDEX, D&B uses the following.

Delinquency Predictor

To estimate how likely a company is to be late in paying debts, Dun & Bradstreet uses predictive models. They use predictive scoring, which takes historical data to try to predict future results. They do this by figuring out the potential risk of a future decision, then they compare the historical information to a future event. Thus, predictive scoring only represents a statistical probability, and not a guarantee.

Financial Stress Percentile

Financial Stress Score

Financial Stress Risk Class

Financial Stress Score Percentile

Supplier Evaluation Risk Rating

Credit Limit Recommendation

A D&B Credit Limit Recommendation includes two recommended guidelines:

A conservative limit, recommending a dollar benchmark if a company’s policy is to extend less credit to minimize risk and
An aggressive limit, suggesting a benchmark if a firm’s policy is to extend more credit with potentially more risk.

Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.

D & B bases these dollar guideline levels on a historical evaluation of the credit demand for similar businesses, with respect to employee size and industry. Dun & Bradstreet assesses how likely a business is to continue to pay your according to the agreed-upon terms, and how likely it is to experience financial stress in the next twelve months.

D & B Rating

A D&B Rating helps lenders swiftly assess a business’s size and credit potential. Dun & Bradstreet bases this rating on details in your company’s balance sheet, plus an overall evaluation of the firm’s creditworthiness. The scale goes from 5A to HH.

Composite Credit Appraisal

If your company does not supply current financial information, you cannot get a Composite Credit Appraisal rating of better than a 2. The 1R and 2R rating categories show company size only based on the total number of employees. Consequently, these ratings are assigned only if your company’s file does not contain a current financial statement. Employee Range (ER) Ratings apply to specific lines of business not lending themselves to categorization under the D & B Rating system. These kinds of businesses receive an Employee Range symbol based upon the number of employees and nothing else.

D & B Data

Finally, any report is only as good as the data it originates from. Dun & Bradstreet’s database includes over 250 million companies around the world. It includes around 120 million active companies and about 130 million companies which are out of business but kept for historical reasons. D & B continuously gathers data and works to improve its systems to ensure the greatest degree of accuracy feasible. Businesses should provide D&B with a complete financial statement to ensure as accurate a report as possible.

Build PAYDEX Score Fast: Practical Tips

While it is tremendously helpful to understand all the different reports Dun & Bradstreet can generate for your business, when it comes to getting funding you need to know how to build PAYDEX score fast. Keep in mind however, fast is relative. Will it take years like it does to build a personal credit score? No, it won’t. Will it happen overnight? That’s a resounding no as well.

It also will not happen on its own. You cannot passively do business and expect to build PAYDEX score fast. You have to take intentional steps toward building your business credit score. It’s a process, and it starts with how your business is set up. Some of these steps may already be done, as often they happen in the course of opening a business. Some of them however, may not have seemed necessary at the time. When it comes to building PAYDEXs however, they are absolutely necessary.

Regardless of where you are in the life of your business, it is never too late to take the steps necessary to build PAYDEX score fast.

Build PAYDEX Score Fast: Set Up Your Business as a Fundable Entity

Many times, in the early days of a business, business owners find it easy to run the business as an extension of themselves. They operate as a sole proprietorship, using their own address and phone number as contact information. There seems to be no reason for a separate bank account, and an SSN works just find when asked for.

To build PAYDEX score fast however, this will not work. Your business needs to be separated from yourself as the owner. It needs to appear to lenders to have fundability on its own merits, not yours.

Steps to Set Up Your Business as a Fundable Entity

Separate Contact Information

Contact information is an identifying factor. If you apply for credit with your personal address and phone number, that application is going to pick up you’re your personal credit report. Your business needs its own phone number and address. If you don’t have an actual location or separate phone line, you can still accomplish this. There are a number of options for phone numbers that will ring to your current line, and virtual offices offer a physical mailing address along with many other services.

Get an EIN to Use in Place of an SSN

This is easy to do and completely free. It can be done online at IRS.gov in a matter of minutes. The point is to use this number, instead of your social security number, to apply for credit in your business name. This way, the account will report your information to the business CRAs, including Dun & Bradstreet.

Incorporate Your Business

Whether you choose to incorporate as a corporation, S-corp, or LLC does not matter when it comes to fundability. Make that decision based on other factors, like how much liability protection you need and your budget. You do need to choose one though. Operating as a sole proprietorship will not work well if when building business credit.

Get a D-U-N-S Number

If your follow every single step and do not do this one, you will never build PAYDEX score fast. In fact, you cannot have a PAYDEX score at all if you do not have this number. It’s free also, and easy to get on the D&B website. However, they will try to sell you a ton of other services that you really do not need. Just get the number and move on.

Open a Separate Business Bank Account

Not only will this help you keep your business expenses separated from your personal expenses for tax purposes, but it will also help you when you apply for credit in your business name. Some vendors and lenders like to see a business bank account with a minimum average balance before extending credit.

Build PAYDEX Score Fast: Vendor Credit

Separating your business from yourself is not the whole story. That’s really just laying the foundation that you can build on. You have to stack the blocks, and they have to be stacked in order. You can’t just follow all these steps and then go apply for regular business credit cards with your business credit. It still doesn’t exist.

The key to building PAYDEX score fast is the vendor credit tier. This is how your will initially build your PAYDEX score so that you can apply for credit from those lenders that will want to see a strong score.

The vendor credit tier includes starter vendors that will issue invoices with net 30 terms without even checking your credit. Set up your account in your business name, and they will report your on-time payments to the business credit reporting agencies. It is important to note that not all of them report to all the CRAs, so be sure you find those that report to Dun & Bradstreet if you want to build PAYDEX score fast. The more of these vendors your have reporting, the faster your score will grow. Remember though, you have to pay on time.

Build PAYDEX Score Fast: Other Ways to Get Accounts Reporting

At the same time, you can talk to vendors you already do business with. In light of the fact that you already have a relationship with them, they may be willing to offer net terms without checking credit and report payments. Check with utilities too. They will sometimes report payments to D&B if you ask. The more accounts you get reporting, the faster your score will build. With each on time payment your score will only get stronger.

Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.

It is Possible to Build PAYDEX Score Fast with the Vendor Credit Tier

This process is not only important for building PAYDEX score fast, but really for building PAYDEX, or any business credit at all. If you do not separate your business from yourself, any credit accounts you get approval for will report payments to your personal credit. That doesn’t affect your business credit score. If you follow these steps however, you will be able to build your business credit score on each report, including your PAYDEX report, faster.

The post How to Build PAYDEX Score Fast: And Other Dun & Bradstreet Reports You Need to Know About appeared first on Credit Suite.

Reports: Hinchcliffe to be replaced at McLaren

James Hinchcliffe has been released from the new Arrow McLaren SP Racing team, two people with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press, despite repeated public assurances that the popular Canadian was not leaving the organization.

The post Reports: Hinchcliffe to be replaced at McLaren appeared first on Buy It At A Bargain – Deals And Reviews.