Monitor Business Credit Reports

You already know the importance of monitoring your personal credit. It is even more important to monitor your business credit, since the way your business credit files are updated is very different from your personal credit. You just do not have the time to stay on top of all the potential changes that could impact your business financial profile. Let a good business credit monitoring product help you save time and keep you informed.

Access to capital is the lifeblood of any small business that wants to thrive. One of the most important keys to having good business credit is your business credit scores. These scores are dynamic and require constant care if you want to access affordable financial products in lean times and boom times.

What is the Big Deal with Business Credit?

Your business credit will impact almost every facet of running your business. Both short-term and long-term decisions require that you take your business credit profile into consideration. Your business credit report will reflect impact:

The interest rate you pay on business loans and credit cards
Payment terms that you negotiate with vendors and suppliers
Insurance premiums for your business

Business Credit Monitoring Makes Sense

Your business credit reports are updated and managed very differently than your personal credit reports. With your personal credit reports, there are very strict guidelines and laws that govern how information is added to your reports, as well as who can access your reports. Your business credit reports are a reflection of a variety of different sources of information, most of which is completely optional. When you open a business credit card, the issuer is not required to report to any business credit bureau. Some of them do, and some of them do not.

Other information like liens and judgments are also included in business credit files. If your company name is similar to any other company name (which is very likely), a creditor could accidently report misinformation on your company and you will never know it – unless you are constantly monitoring your business credit reports. Since anybody can order one of your business credit reports without your permission or your knowledge, you must ensure that the information is accurate as possible to reflect your business in the best light possible.

How to check your business credit

Checking your business credit is pretty straightforward. You simply need to order a credit report from each of the major business credit bureaus and check it for completeness and accuracy. Once you have a baseline of information established, you can start monitoring your reports for any changes. We work with the major business credit bureaus as well as other companies in the ecosystem. Here is a list of companies you should consider.

Equifax is a trusted authority on business credit monitoring, and offers a suite of products that include credit score education, data beach response products, and identity theft protection products. These products can help you stay abreast of the variety of demands on your business that affect your overall financial wellness.

By monitoring the credit activity of your business customers, partners and suppliers you can get out in front of potential issues before they become big problems. The sooner you identify unwelcome risk, the sooner you can adjust payment terms and find new partners for goods and services to help you keep your business on track.

Your business credit report and score are dynamic. They constantly change based on a variety of criteria, including the number of reported business credit transactions, outstanding balances and whether you pay on time.

With Business Credit Advantage(sm), you can keep a closer eye on changes to your Experian business credit report. This affordable monitoring service provides unlimited access to the tools you need to manage and build your business credit at Experian. Experian is very popular with business credit card issuers and financing companies. Make sure these companies see your business in the best possible light when they request your Experian business credit report.

Today, companies need to make smart, swift decisions about what companies to extend credit to and how much credit to extend them. Knowing that your company&'s score and credit limits can change quickly, D&B Credit Monitor makes you aware of what's being reported about your company in real-time.

Offering you access to your complete D&B Business Information Report, D&B Credit Monitor, keeps you up-to-date on how the market sees your company's creditworthiness, and with the Peer Comparison Pack, you know exactly where you stand against your key competitors. With a complete view of your company's strength, D&B Credit Monitor allows you to demonstrate your business value so you can stay ahead of your competition and help ensure that you are in the best position to win new business.

More and more companies are using Creditsafe business credit reports every day. Make sure the information Creditsafe has on file about your company is complete and accurate. You do not want to miss out on potential business opportunities when your business credit report is viewed by others. Sign up for MyCreditsafe.com to monitor changes to your credit report. You will also receive important alerts about activity on your report – like someone checking you out.

Nav is the only product that allows you to see your personal and business credit scores side-by-side. It's easy to check your credit reports – both personal and business – to discover areas that might need improvement. Nav offers three different products including an entry-level product that is completely free. Nav is the most comprehensive product that provides you with alerts for your personal credit reports from Experian and TransUnion, as well as your business credit reports from D&B, Equifax, and Experian.

Have you ever been blindsided when a good paying customer suddenly goes bad? If you rely on the timely payment of your customers, there is significant value to you in monitoring their credit profile. You get an early warning that something’s probably wrong with their business so you can get out in front of potential payment issues. The sooner you discover the issue, the sooner you can mitigate the damage.

For $5 annually per company, BusinessCreditReports.com will actively monitor their credit report for you. Any changes in their profile will cause an Alert to be issued and you to be notified of what exactly changed. Every report pulled includes 12 months of monitoring, for free!