Part 2 ELOC: How to Create Your D&B Profile for Corporate Equity Lines of Credit
Get Financing Part 2: Corporate Credit – How to Build Your Dun & Bradstreet Credit Profile –
Establishing a profile and Duns number: To build equity lines of credit (ELOC) for your business.
As soon as you contact D&B with information about your business, you will have established a Duns file number for your business.
When you first create your credit profile, you’ll need to plan your responses accordingly. The answers you give the D&B analyst will be added to your report as you talk to them. If you have to go back and change something, you could show the old information as changed.
Keep in mind that your credit report is divided into several different sections. The analyst will ask you a series of questions about your business. If they are really good at what they do, he will answer questions from your file throughout the interview process.
You must control the conversation or at least understand the purpose of your questions, not the analyst. Ask them to send you a copy of a full credit report for your review, or look for one online at dnb.com to get an idea of what’s required. This allows you to prepare your questions and answers before speaking with an analyst.
When establishing a D&B profile:
The main topics to be dealt with by the D&B analyst:
1. Company name and start date.
2. What kind of company did you start? C corp, s corp, llc, partnership or sole proprietorship
3. Did you incorporate the business? If so, what state.
4. In what additional states are you registering to do business?
5. How many employees do you have at corporate headquarters?
6. Do you have other locations? If so, where are they located? how many employees
7. What is the main phone number?
8. Where is the main address of the company located?
9. How many square feet is the business location?
10. What type of structure is the building that your business operates? Brick, 2 story office building, sprinklers, etc…
The above questions build the foundation of the D&B file, not the Paydex score or D&B rating. However, responses are very important to the general file and are verified in person or by phone.
Your phone number must be a landline at the location of your business address. It is possible to do a reverse lookup to validate your information, cell phone or some other number elsewhere. Try doing a reverse search on 411.com to see what name appears for your numbers.
Make sure all of the above information adds up to the same business location, otherwise this could cost you when someone is looking to finance your business.
By establishing a clear management record.
Additional questions would be about the management and percentage ownership of the business. You don’t have to give full details if you don’t want to, however you won’t get a full rating for the business, the management history would be rated unclear. If you provide owners and ownership history, you get one step closer to a D&B rating, not a paydex score.
When establishing the financial history of the company:
The next series of questions could be as follows:
1. When does your fiscal year end? Not all businesses end on December 31.
2. Do you have your annual tax returns or financial statements? No!
3. Could you give me estimated financial numbers if you don’t have financial statements prepared by your accountant?
4. What is your estimated annual income?
5. What are your estimated assets? Do you have a breakdown of assets?
6. What are your estimated monthly or annual liabilities? Or annual expense
Based on this information, is net worth estimated? You have just provided an estimated financial picture of the business. If you provided an FYE financial compilation or an audited financial statement from the accountant, they would have a full fiscal year-end report.
Now they have a true picture of the company’s financial situation. If you don’t know how to read a financial statement, I wouldn’t give you this information unless you ask your accountant.
This information could have a positive or negative effect on your business. Again, this is not required to get the Paydex score. You need three years of financial numbers to forecast the trend of your business. Be careful what you give, it becomes a matter of public record for anyone who wants to buy a D&B report as I mentioned in
Obtaining financing:
Part 1. Get Corporate Credit Who is Dun & Bradstreet Credit Service?
Part 3: How to establish a business Paydex score? I need this for home equity lines of credit
Part 4: -How to add business lines to your business to corporate credit capital lines of credit
Part 5: Will my home equity or corporate credit lines affect my personal credit?
more to follow
Have a lousy day and all the success for your business dreams
wm cole smith
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