What's the cheapest and easiest way to get a business's credit report?

December 7, 2013 8:59 PM

What's the cheapest and easiest way to get a business's credit report? It's my business (USA corporation.) I'm mainly interested in the overall score and the list of items affecting the score more than the details of each item.
posted by michaelh to Work & Money (5 answers total)

I mean, this is specifically what DNB does. But they're kind of a skeevy feeling company, like you'd expect from any credit agencies.
posted by disillusioned at 2:31 AM on December 8, 2013

I used to work at D&B -- you can get a report on yourself pretty easily -- they will try to upsell you on other products, but you should be able to order one through the website pretty easily -- will cost you about $100.

However, it won't tell you the names of the actual businesses who reported on you like a consumer credit report.
posted by hrj at 4:33 AM on December 8, 2013

I'm not sure your specific reason for needing to look, but back when I used to approve or disapprove a customer's request for open account status I mostly went by trade references, and frankly by the seat of my pants. D&B rating didn't matter as much to me. The D&B info will tell you something, but it's only one piece of info a prospective creditor will look at.

The banking world may be different on the inside, but my experience with businesses getting loans suggests that for small/medium businesses, the underwriting is done more with an eye on the business's tangible assets and the owner's personal credit history (because they will personally guarantee the loan in most cases). I don't believe that small/medium businesses have a credit score like the individual score from the big three agencies or equivalent, say, to the bond ratings published on large entities.
posted by randomkeystrike at 5:48 AM on December 8, 2013

I agree with randomkeystrike. What matters is your trade references (payment history) and bank history (average balance, etc.).
posted by Dansaman at 7:12 AM on December 8, 2013

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. It was mostly out of curiosity, but I understand now there aren't official scores as is the case with consumer.
posted by michaelh at 7:54 AM on January 27, 2014