Business Credit Reports are Just as Important

The three credit reporting agencies do not just keep track of individual's business credit report, ratings and scores. They keep track of businesses as well. If you own a business, and even if you have never borrowed money for that business, you will still have a report. Most likely you deal with other companies to get supplies or services. Do you get office supplies? Do you have a janitorial service? Do you pay a lease? Own a business credit card? All of these transactions may be on your report. If you are small and you pay only cash and work out of your house, you can still have a report as long as you file taxes.

Businesses, if they are to grow and do business with other companies, will most likely have to get credit so a clean business credit report is vital. It is a good idea for your business to do so as well. Just like your personal report, if you can show you can get credit and handle it responsibly by paying it off, then you will be in better standing.

Businesses also thrive on referrals and references. Your future creditors, whether it is a supply company who will bill you at the end of the month or a bank who will give you a small loan, other businesses will look at your reports. A company who may want to do business with you may look into your report. As long as they are members of one of the three reporting agencies, they can do so. In fact, if you deal with other businesses who are asking you to extend them credit, you should become a member as well. It is very common for businesses to look at each other's credit reports to determine if they want to, well do business.

You need to be on top of your business credit report and catch nay errors that may crop up. You have worked to hard and spent too many hours making your business grow not to. If you find errors, you need to get them repaired before your reputation is damaged. You know it can take years to build up your good standing and one day to tear it down. That is part of the business world.

So how can you obtain your report? There are ways to get it for free:

1.  Join one of the reporting agencies. That usually requires a monthly or annual fee. Download and complete the form from the reporting agency and fill it in, making sure everything is accurate.

2.  Join a program that monitors it for you. Again, that may cost your monthly or annually.

3.  Find out if you can request one annually for free. Many government stipulations have recently been made into laws that allow individuals to review their reports. Your business may qualify as well.

Again, if you find any mistakes, take the time to get them corrected before a company looks at your report. As soon as you ask for an investigation, a notice that it is in dispute will appear on your report. If it does not, contact the business credit report agency.