Why should I buy a Company Credit Report?

It’s a fair question. Before I answer, let’s look at the information you can expect to find in a company report:

Base Information

Company details – name, number, address, date of incorporation, current status, nature of business

Statutory dates – made up to dates for annual returns/annual accounts and the date the last accounts were filed

Any previous names

Trading addresses

Rating and Limit Information

Credit rating score

Credit rating history

Credit limit amount

Credit limit history

CCJ (County Court Judgement) and Mortgage Information

List of CCJ’s

Mortgage summary

List of mortgages

Event History

Key dates in the company’s lifetime with a description of the event

Status history

Director, Shareholder and Secretary Information

Names and addresses of current officers

Number of shares held by shareholders (if an annual return has been filed)

A list of current directorships held by the directors

Account Information

Profit and loss information

Balance sheet

Capital reserves

Key ratios

Group Structure Information

A list of other company’s that the company has a share relationship with

As you can see, that’s a lot of information to get stuck into.

So how can you use this to benefit your business?

1. Check the credibility of new suppliers and customers

If about to sign a contract with a supplier or start work on an order for a customer, you want to know that they are going to honour the agreement. Whilst a report can’t give a definitive yes or no, it can give some guidance.

Key info: Statutory dates (have they filed accounts on time?), Rating and Limit, Accounts.

2. Know your competitor

It’s good practice to keep an eye on what your competitors are up to. How’s business going? How successful are their current campaigns? Are they about to go bust?

Key info: If you’re feeling nosy everything in the report could be interesting. If it’s financial insight you want, take a look at the Rating/Limit and the Accounts.

3. See how you are seen

By viewing a report on your own company you can see exactly how you are seen by others. Work out the questions people are going to ask about your business and prepare your answers.

Key info: Everything!

I hope you found this post useful. If you have any questions or would like to leave some feedback, simply post a reply below.