When you are trying to decide whether to do business with a new partner, order from a supplier, or extend credit to a buyer, you need to know who you are doing business with and avoid high-risk situations that cause you to lose money.
Good cash flow management is essential for business success. Ensuring you have enough cash coming in to pay your vendors, suppliers, and lenders helps maintain your credit score so you do not have to borrow money needlessly. So, it helps to know how much risk you are assuming when you extend credit.
Business credit reports can play a big role in who you do business with and what terms you negotiate. Checking the financial well-being and credit history of potential business partners, suppliers and customers helps you make better decisions. It increases the likelihood of getting paid on time and alerts you if a company is in danger of going into bankruptcy or default within the next year.
The Equifax Business Credit Report
The Equifax Score Summary is a top-level report that provides comprehensive financial information that businesses can use to assess risk. It features four categories: Business Identity, the Risk Dashboard, Business Description, and Payment & Legal Filings Summary.
Here is what is included in each of these categories:
Business Identity
- Name
- DBAs
- Address
- Website
- Phone
- Tax ID#
- Position in the corporate hierarchy
Risk Dashboard
- Credit Score
- Repayment Risk
- Stability Risk Score
- Credit Limit Recommendation
- Days beyond payment
- Terms
- Derogatory legal filings and fraud alerts
Business Description
- State & Date of Incorporation
- SIC & NAICS codes
- Number of Employees
- Stock Exchange Information and Forbes 1000 rating
Payment & Legal Filings Summary
- Days Beyond Terms
- Creditor Balances
- Bankruptcy
- Liens
- Judgments & UCC filings
The Equifax business credit report also includes summary-level tradeline details for financial (and non-financial tradelines), detailed public record information, detailed owner and guarantor information, and Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filings showing when a secured transaction uses assets to secure loans.
When managing cash flow, it helps to know how promptly other businesses will pay what they owe. The Payment Index is a range from 1 to 100. The higher the score, the lower the risk.
- 90-100: Pays bills by due date
- 80-89: Some bills paid 1-30 days past due
- 60-79: Some bills paid 31-60 days past due
- 40-59: Some bills paid 61-90 days past due
- 20-39: Some bills paid 91-120 days past due
- 1-19: Some bills paid 120+ days past due
View a sample Equifax business credit report or Order now.
Check Your Equifax Business Credit Report
It is a good idea to check the business credit reports attached to your business so you can see how other companies view your creditworthiness.
When you have this information, you can often negotiate more favorable terms with business partners. It can also show where if there are any problems you need to correct or be prepared to explain. Even if your cash flow is strong and your business is operating well, understanding how others rate your business can help with:
Financing Terms
A solid business credit score increases your odds of receiving favorable terms on loans and lines of credit.
Borrowing Amounts
When you have good credit, you may be able to secure higher amounts of financing.
Insurance
Insuring a business can be expensive. Solid business credit reports may lower your premiums because of decreased risk to the insurer.
Business credit reports are available for anyone to see. You can request a report on any business and other businesses can easily pull your report. You should have the information about your business so you know what they know about your business.
If you do find gaps or potential issues that are lowering your credit score, you may be able to boost your score by encouraging companies you do business with – and pay on time – to report their information to the credit reporting agencies. You cannot tell whether a business is or is not reporting until you run your business credit report and review it.
accredit Makes It Easy to Pull Business Credit Reports
accredit makes it easy to pull business credit reports without having to sign up for long-term subscriptions. Instantly download business credit reports from Equifax, Experian, or Dun & Bradstreet to find the exact information you need. With 30 years of experience, accredit equips businesses with the business intelligence they need to understand suppliers’ and clients’ risk profiles so they can manage risk effectively.
Search and select the business credit reports you need here.