Dun & Bradstreet is the leading provider of business credit.

It helps to know what your D&B credit profile and the accuracy of this report looks like.  Most banks use this reporting system to approve a company’s credit.

Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) compiles payment histories of most businesses that have trade credit. This information is presented in a Business Information Report that is use to learn more about your company and your payment history. It's a good idea to review your company's D&B report for accuracy. You can call D&B at 800-627-3867 or go to www.dnb.com to find out how to get a copy of your firm's report. D&B compiles its information on your company from outside sources as well as from phone interviews with a corporate officer. What you tell D&B, will be include in your D&B report, which will be available to anyone who requests a profile on your company. Although you don't have to provide financial data to D&B, you may want to do so if it is positive and would make your report attractive to creditors that may review it.

One of the most important statistics listed on your D&B report is your PAYDEX score. The PAYDEX is simply an indication of your payment performance to suppliers over a specified period of time. D&B's PAYDEX scores generally range from 30 to 80; the higher the score the better. A PAYDEX score of 80 means that all of your bills are being paid within terms, whereas a PAYDEX score of 63 may indicate that your bills are being paid 20 days beyond terms. Although D&B doesn't list the actual vendors that are reporting data on your Company, you can ask D&B to investigate any late payments that are reported by vendors that you feel may not be justified. In many cases, the vendor data reported to D&B may be incorrect. You can call D&B dispute dept at 877-753-1442 D&B will investigate and if information is incorrect D&B would then remove this data from your report and your PAYDEX score should improve.

For information on how to increase your PAYDEX score, Click here

For more information on PAYDEX scores, Click here

Credit Bureau Reports and FICO Scores

If a business is closely held, chances are we will seek the guarantees of the owners of the business to further support our extension of credit. We will look at your credit bureau report on the individual owners to get an idea of payment history and outstanding borrowings. The three national reporting credit bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Experian and generates a report that calculates a FICO ( To learn more about FICO scores, click here ) or credit score. Credit scores range between 650 and 880, with a higher score indicating lower risk. The score is used by most lenders, landlords, and even employers to gauge risk in evaluating an application for credit.



Key Points to know

• Fico scores will vary depending on your payment history
• Paying your bills on time and paying more than is currently due including your mortgage will help your credit score
• Keeping your outstanding debt less than 32% and your inquiries to a minimum will help your credit score
• Lenders like to see fico scores above 640 a Fico score of 700 is considered very good.

Good credit can ensure that all businesses get the financing when they need it. According to SBA insufficient or delayed financing is the second most common reason for a business failure.

For businesses with poor credit ratings, top banks will increase the interest rates given to that company.

5 PRACTICAL STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO MANAGE YOUR BUSINESS CREDIT

Now that you understand why managing your business credit is key to your business success take the steps to make sure your business credit is up to date.