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A business credit report will give you a good understanding of the creditworthiness of a company. Different providers have different metrics but Creditsafe scores companies between 1-100 with 1 being extremely high risk and 100 being low risk. The risk indicates how likely a company is to become seriously delinquent in paying its bills or going bankrupt in the next 12 months.

You should check the credit score of your customers and suppliers as regularly as possible to avoid any issues. The easiest way to do this is using a service like company monitoring from Creditsafe. These services can be customized so you receive email alerts on over 20 criteria including credit score and limit changes, address changes and much more.

A business credit report is designed to help you make an informed decision on whether to extend credit to another business. Typically you will a business credit score and limit, payment behavior analysis, firmographic data, officer details etc. With Creditsafe you get and much more. Claim a free business credit report here.

A Limited Liability Company (LLC) is its own legal entity and as such has its own credit score which is not linked to the owner’s personal credit score. Whilst an LLC is in its infancy lenders may request a personal guarantee from the owners for any credit that is being extended. In that scenario, the owners would become liable for that credit.  

Unlike personal credit checks, data within a business credit report is generally considered in the public domain and therefore you do not need permission to view it. Whilst the data is generally publicly available a good business credit report will pull all of these data together and give you a credit score so you can easily understand the credit risk posed by a company before you do business with them.

A business credit score generally ranges from 0 to 100, with a score of 100 indicating very low credit risk and 0 indicating very high risk. Maintaining a strong credit score is beneficial when seeking financing, as lower perceived risk is often rewarded with more competitive interest rates. Businesses that consistently meet their credit obligations on time among other positive financial behaviors, are more likely to achieve higher credit scores.

When trading internationally, understanding credit risk becomes even more critical, as countries vary in their regulations regarding debt repayment and financial disclosure requirements. If you're considering doing business with an overseas company, it's advisable to use a service such as Creditsafe. With access to over 430 million reports worldwide and an international A–E credit rating system, Creditsafe enables consistent cross-border risk assessment and comparison.

Each credit bureau uses its own scoring model, which means your business credit score may vary depending on the provider. However, the primary purpose of a business credit score remains consistent: to assess your company’s ability to meet its credit obligations on time. As such, payment behavior is a key factor in all scoring algorithms. Additional elements such as length of time in business, court judgments, liens, mortgages, officer history, and industry classification also contribute, each carrying varying levels of influence on the final score.

Lenders often review business credit reports, as they provide a snapshot of a company's financial health and its ability to meet credit obligations on time. These reports typically include a credit score that reflects the level of credit risk. A higher credit score generally indicates lower risk, which can improve a business’s chances of securing financing at more competitive interest rates.

Due to varying legislative requirements across countries, the sources and availability of business data can differ significantly. As a result, credit bureaus must tailor their scoring models based on the type and quality of data accessible in each region. For example, in the UK, Companies House serves as a central repository where all limited companies are legally required to file annual information. In contrast, the U.S. has no such centralized filing obligation, making payment data a more prominent factor in credit assessments. These disparities mean that a credit score of 70 in one country may not be equivalent to the same score elsewhere. To address this, Creditsafe has introduced an international A–E credit rating system, enabling more consistent cross-border comparisons.

At Creditsafe, we recommend that every business maintains a business credit report. This helps demonstrate creditworthiness, improves access to preferential loan rates, and enhances credibility when pursuing larger contracts. However, for small businesses not actively reporting payment activity to credit bureaus, it can be challenging to generate an accurate credit score. To address this, Creditsafe offers Small Business Owner Reports, which incorporate additional data points, such as commercial credit card usage to provide a more comprehensive view of financial health and affordability, enabling more informed credit decisions.

Creditsafe recommends reviewing your business credit report at least once a month. It's also important to regularly monitor the credit reports of your customers and suppliers to identify any changes that may impact their ability to make timely payments or deliver goods and services as expected.