Business credit reports are essential to a business, because it is how creditors and lenders check to see if a company is worthy of borrowing money. Also, it can be used to learn about companies and see if doing business with them would be a good investment. Because of this, having good business credit is essential to the success of your business.

There are four major companies that are responsible for rating and keeping track of your credit: Experian Business, Equifax business, Dun & Bradstreet, and Credit.net. These agencies check the size and type of your business, the length of time that you've been in business, your debt payment and creditor history, the number of trades you have, and your total outstanding debt to determine your credit rating and calculate your business credit score. This score can be any number from 0 to 100, and anything about 80 is known as ?excellent? credit in the business world.

Dun & Bradstreet was founded in 1841. They are the leader in business credit reporting, and have a database including over 100 million companies around the world. Their rating classification of a business's worth is based on submitting financial statements, the number of employees, and what is known as a Composite Credit Appraisal. This last report ultimately is Dun & Bradstreet's assessment of overall credit rating. Dun & Bradstreet is responsible for setting the standard for business credit ratings with the PAYDEX score. The PAYDEX score is the number given to a business that indicates how well bills have been paid and debts have been maintained over the course of one year. For more information about the Dun & Bradstreet rating and scores, you can search the internet for publications and explanations.

Equifax is a leader in consumer credit ratings. Although the company was established in 1899 as a consumer credit agency, they started expanding to commercial and business credit rating and services in the United States and Canada soon after opening. The Equifax business credit report looks at businesses? banking and leasing information, as well as trade credit information. By being a commercial credit agency, Equifax touts itself as standing out above the rest by providing this banking and leasing information that other companies don't have. However, only members of the program can actually access the Equifax credit reports and exchanges.

The Equifax report has a Credit Risk Score that is reported based on the credit history over a 12 month period that is monitored in the Equifax Small Business Enterprise database. By using trade credit, Equifax makes their reports a little different, and more thorough than other companies. The scores can be anywhere between 101 and 992, and the higher they are, the better the credit rating, which is typical. Equifax can even combine consumer reports with business credit information, and you can find a sample of these reports by visiting Equifax ePort.

Experian is a relatively new company, founded in 1980 in the UK. They also started as a consumer credit reporting agency, but then expanded to handling business credit transactions, and claims to have connections with over 18 million companies currently. Experian Business offers five different reports for business credit: a snapshot with basic information, a comprehensive report, a monthly monitoring report, and a report of the company's legal matters. Experian offers a score rating system similar to PAYDEX known as Intelliscore. They use statistics and analysis in the form of algorithms to determine a credit score between 0 and 100. Check out Experian's Smart Business Reports if you're interested in more information on what to expect from an Experian report.

Credit.net, formerly Business Credit USA, only does commercial credit reporting. They don't require subscriptions to access company information, and they have a convenient, simple web-based interface. You do need to be signed up to access detailed credit reports and information. Also, the site offers sample reports, a free trial (72 hours), and 25 free business reports, which you can sign up for at www.credit.net.

A business credit report is a great tool for building and growing your business, as well as making relationships and determining which companies to make relationships with. You can use these reports to assess business to business transactions, as well as just to check up on companies you work with.

The credit agencies listed in this article are at the top of the industry in business credit reporting. They focus on putting the most effort into preparing and maintaining business credit profiles, to make your job much easier and allow you to focus on growing your business.