Business Reports - FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Business Reports & Business Credit Reports

1. What is the difference between business credit reports & tenant credit or employment credit reports?

   Legally, the difference between a business credit report and a tenant or employment report is that business credit reports are not considered “consumer reports,” and do not report information on individuals, therefore, they are not governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
   
   Business reports will report some information on the business owner (primarily only their status as the owner, and any other additional principal(s) or key person(s) within the company). A business report’s focus is reporting information about the company. In the case of business credit reports, this includes information about that company’s commercial tradelines.

   
   
   

2. Do business reports require the authorization of the company to run?

   No. Since business reports are not consumer reports business reports can be ordered and completed without a consumer’s authorization.
   




3. What information do I need to provide when ordering a business report?

   The following information is REQUIRED when ordering a business report:

   • Business Name

   • Business Address (Street address, City, State, Zip Code)

   
   

   The following information would be VERY HELPFUL when ordering a business report:

   • Business Telephone Number

   • BDA (Doing Business As - if applicable)

   • P.O.Box (if applicable)

   
   
   

4. What is the difference between a Business Summary, a Commercial Intelliscore, and a Business Profile?

   The difference lies primarily in the level of detail given in the report. The Business Summary provides a credit report and legal snapshot of the business, with no dollar figures.
   
   The Commercial Intelliscore provides the same credit report and legal snapshots, plus dollar amounts of the total tradelines developed and days beyond terms (DBT) that the company has gone past the payment due dates on their invoice agreements.
   
   The Business Profile provides all of this information, plus detailed tradeline and debt information, and detailed legal filing information.
   
   A unique feature of the Commercial Intelliscore is the Intelliscore Plus, a rating number similar to a credit score, ranking the company against other businesses within the same industry, based on its tradeline information. This report is the best for clients clients that want a quick yes or no “at-a-glance.”

   
   
   

5. I had a List of Similars emailed to me, what is it and what do I have to do with it?

   When a business cannot be located within Experian’s database with an exact match to the information provided to us, or there are too many businesses with similar names and addresses to the company, we will send you a list of businesses with similar names and/or addresses. Upon receipt of this list, please pick the businesses that you want a report on or notify AAA Credit Screening Services if none of the businesses are a match to the company you need a report on. This can be done via email reply, fax, or phone call. If none of the businesses on the List of Similars match the company you are looking for and there are no other DBAs that you wish for AAA Credit Screening to search for the company under, the price of your report will be lowered to a lesser search charge.

   
   
   

6. Why didn’t the company I ordered a screening on show up in the database? Does this mean that it is not a real business?

   Occasionally, businesses will not appear in Experian’s extensive database. It could be caused by a few reasons:

   
   
   

   • 1st - The address you provided may not be the same address that Experian has on file for that business. Try to reach out to your applicant and ask if they have alternative addresses that the business has had in the past seven years.

     
     

   • 2nd - The business may be recorded in the database under another name, such as a DBA. Please make sure that you have provided any and all DBAs to AAA Credit Screening Services so all names can be searched.

     
     

   • 3rd - The business may be new and does not yet have a credit record on Experian’s files. While the scope of businesses that are captured in our business credit reports is very wide, some businesses that were established in the past year may not have an established credit history reported to any credit bureau. In this case, a business license search can be run as an alternative report to help establish legitimacy, along with an individual tenant credit report (for commercial tenant credit checks) on the principal(s) of the company.

     
     

   For more information, click on Business Credit Reports.

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