Corporation Credit History

[Jorge]

I had incorporated my company 1 year ago, I remember that I tried to lease a server at dell, like.. hmmmm 6 month ago, and they said that my company do not have a credit history yet.
I would like to know if anybody can tell me if there is an specific time frame until I get it or something similar to that.

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm really unfamiliar with this kind of topics.

[Alex[nl]]

I think it'll take you at least one year. Here in the Netherlands companies are required to send financial data to the chamber of commerce (+ pay taxes ;)) and when that has happened (after each year) other companies are able to check you out better. If you've never did your taxes etc there is not much info they can find about you, hence getting credit is very hard.

Hope this helps :)

[VoxKeysGtr]

I believe that it works much like a personal credit history. I suggest starting with a small business loan from your bank. Good luck! :cool:

[jbiz718]

I would recommend looking at getting a creditcard or even corp utility bills and such.
Beyond that credit does not just appear, you have to establish it.

[Jorge]

The problem with Credit Cards is that they require SSN, and I'm not a USA citizen or resident :(

[VoxKeysGtr]

Where are you incorporated? Your company should have a bank account open in the state of incorporation that can be used to at least apply for a secured loan or credit card of some type to allow you to at least begin establishing your corporation's credit history. :cool:

Also keep in mind that if you have a corporation your company should have a tax id for the federal government that is used in place of the SS#. It's called an EIN or something like that. Ask your lawyer, or whoever set up your corporation for you about this. Good luck! :cool:

[Jorge]

I'm Incorporated in Delaware, also I do have EIN and a bussines checking account.

Thanks for the suggestions :)

[Chicken]

Your EIN is your company's "social security number" so to speak. Remember, your corporation is its own entity, almost like a person, but run by others (what power you have!) :D

[allan]

Make sure your company is registered with DnB -- that should give you a start at a credit history.

[VoxKeysGtr]

Originally posted by allan:

Make sure your company is registered with DnB -- that should give you a start at a credit history.

True, probably the most important step to begin with other than a loan from your local bank. :cool:

[Jorge]

Hello Allan

What do you mean with "DnB"?

[allan]

Dun and Bradstreet: http://www.dnb.com/us/

They are like a credit reporting agency for businesses. Many lenders will give you credit just for having a DnB profile.

[ljprevo]

This is cool to read. I just submitted to get my business incorporated.

Another form of credit is those that are not reported.

For example. I have been a customer for over 2 years at Dialtone, every payment made on time.

These are good for getting a small business loan or possibly a credit card.

Make sure you also have good solid financial statements.

[Dynamix]

Sorry for a stupid question but my father gave me his corp license and I was wondering, how do you write things off? Can you write server leases off?

[allan]

Originally posted by Dynamix:

Sorry for a stupid question but my father gave me his corp license and I was wondering, how do you write things off? Can you write server leases off?

Check with your accountant, they can give you the gory details. According to our accountant, we were only able to write off part of the lease (I'm fuzzy on the details though :)). That being said, there are a lot of other things a business can write off, but you always want to check with your accountant.

[Everyday]

Keep something in mind...for your D & B credit report to show any history you have to use vendors that report to them. We spend a ton of money each month but none of our vendors report to D & B. So our credit history is nothing. Two problems though...

1 - If none of your vendors report, you can pay D & B $375 to call a list of your vendors and get your payment history. Problem here is that each time you need your report updated it will cost $375 for them to call again.

2 - They consider payments like most hosts make to data centers as COD (cash on delivery). COD accounts are not used to create a credit history. So most of everyone's payments can not be used for credit history reporting.

In my personal opinion D & B is a scam. They check companies public info to create a report on on them but they do not properly update the info after its changed. It is up to us to call them and make sure our reports are correct and that they are up to date. now I agree thats ok to a certain degree but they have told me in the past that they do not update certain information automatically. My opinion is that if they can get the initial info, they can update it.

Sorry for my rant :)

[allan]

Originally posted by Everyday:
In my personal opinion D & B is a scam. They check companies public info to create a report on on them but they do not properly update the info after its changed. It is up to us to call them and make sure our reports are correct and that they are up to date. now I agree thats ok to a certain degree but they have told me in the past that they do not update certain information automatically. My opinion is that if they can get the initial info, they can update it.

Sorry for my rant :)

As someone who has been fighting with Equifax for more than 6 months to get them to correct errors on MY credit report I can say that I think all credit reporting systems are a scam -- but it is the only way most people/businesses can get credit.