How to Check Business Credit Rating

Much like your own personal credit rating, businesses are assigned credit ratings. These numbers, on a scale from 0 to 100, are a sign of how reputable the business is when it comes to dealing with creditors. An optimal credit rating for a business is 75 or higher. You can check a business credit rating for yourself, as long as you have the right information.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Find a reputable website where you can check a business credit rating. Dun and Bradstreet (see Resources below) is one of the most widely accepted credit checking agencies. On this site, you can even search for a business and select the right one from a list. The cost of this service varies, depending on how thorough you want the report to be. Experian (see Resources below) is another reputable website for checking personal credit scores and business credit ratings.

2. Ask for the business identification number. A FIN or an EIN is helpful when you want to check a business credit rating. You can get the identification number from the owner of the business. However, some owners are reluctant to give this information out. It's similar to a person's social security number, and many businesses protect this information for their own security.

3. Check the personal credit of the business owner. Some businesses, especially small businesses, are funded based on the owner's personal credit rating. If you find out the credit rating of the owner, it's a safe assumption that the business has a similar credit rating.

Who Can Help:

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Resources

• Check Business Credit with Dun & Bradstreet
• Check Credit Ratings with Experian

[ceopccinc]

on 3/12/2009 Personal credit information should NEVER be entered into the business owner's credit profile at any of the top 3 business credit bureau's (DNB, Bus. Experian,

[ibodner]

on 8/27/2008 At Initial Underwriting Group we always have a hard time dealing with Dun&Bradstreet. The comments above show me that other companies (and people) experience our pains. To pay for a credit builder is not a bad thing (considering that the service is worth the cost) but when the credit reporting agency themselves are making a profit - to me that seems like a conflict of interest.


Sincerely,


Ilya Bodner
Small Business Owner
Initial Underwriting Group