Similar to personal credit reports and scores; business credit reports are constantly changing because of a variety of data. This ongoing change is based on a variety of factors such as the number of reported transactions, outstanding balances and payment activity to name a few.
The accuracy of the data being reported about your business is crucial. It shows your company’s ability to meet its financial obligations with vendors, suppliers, lenders and other businesses.
Your business credit report impacts the following decisions:
- The amount of credit issued to your business
- What the terms of repayment will be
- The interest rates you will pay
- What your insurance premiums will be
It’s important to realize an established business credit report and score is an invaluable asset for your company. Like all assets it’s necessary to take certain steps to protect and manage them.
The first step is to order a copy of your company’s credit reports and review the information being reported about your business. Business credit agencies such as Dun and Bradstreet allow you to view your business credit report and update your company information all online via iUpdate.
To order your reports from each of the major business credit agencies you will need to purchase one of their profile report products. While there are a variety of reports you can order, it’s important to obtain a full company report in order to review all the information that is being reported about your business.
Here are five key reasons to monitor your business credit report:
1) Ensure your company’s credit report is complete and accurate
2) Stay notified on any changes to your report that could impact your business
3) Identity any issues or areas in your report that can be improved upon
4) Be aware of who is inquiring about your business (inquiries)
5) Prevent identity theft by monitoring inquiries into your report
If you identify any inaccurate information on your company reports, you will need to take the proper steps to initiate a dispute. Any type of inaccurate information will require that you contact the business credit reporting agency and initiate an investigation. Other protective measures you can take include having spending limits and control measures on business credit cards issued to employees. By having certain control measures in place, you can reduce the risk for credit card abuse and avoid a potential loss. As a business owner, it’s essential that you take a proactive approach and monitor your business credit profiles on a regular basis. You’ve worked hard at establishing a creditworthy report, it’s important to work equally hard at protecting and managing it. With the proper steps and protective measures in place you can easily avoid potential threats to the business.
Marco Carbajo is a business credit expert, author, speaker, and founder of the Business Credit Insiders Circle. He is a business credit blogger for Dun and Bradstreet Credibility Corp, the SBA.gov Community, About.com and All Business.com. His articles and blog; Business Credit Blogger.com, have been featured in ‘Fox Small Business’,’American Express Small Business’, ‘Business Week’, ‘The Washington Post’, ‘The New York Times’, ‘The San Francisco Tribune’, ‘Alltop’, and ‘Entrepreneur Connect’.
