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As a business one of the most important things to know is your Paydex score. Your company's paydex score is the business equivalent to your personal FICO score, or personal credit score. Knowing what this number is and having the secrets to increasing your Paydex score can mean acquiring the financing needed to start or grow your business and make the difference in achieve your business goals. On the flip side, not managing your Paydex score can cost your business.

The exact definition from Dunn & Bradstreet, or D&B is: The D&B PAYDEX* Score is D&B's unique dollar-weighted numerical indicator of how a firm paid its bills over the past year, based on trade experiences reported to D&B by various vendors. The D&B PAYDEX Score ranges from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating better payment performance.

The higher the score the better. Now, how do you increase your Paydex score or establish a score if you don*t have one yet. First, know what you are doing.

1 * Know what your payment pattern means

If you are under the impression you should have the highest Paydex score because you pay before the due date, you are wrong.

The highest scores are given to Companies who pay the bill PRIOR to the invoice being sent. This payment pattern is considered an anticipatory payment pattern. The company anticipates the payment is due and pays it ahead of time. This is the highest responsibility a company can display and will earn high points for your company.

2 * Understand what the Paydex score means

So, your business has a paydex score of 75. What does the paydex score mean? Is this good or bad? Well, for this example a 75 Paydex score would be the equivalent of a FICO score of about 700 or above. This is a good Paydex score.

You can use this D&B key to help you interpret the PAYDEX Score.

Key to the D&B PAYDEX* Score

PAYDEX SCOREPAYMENT100Anticipate * Payment detail may state: payments are received prior to date of invoice (Anticipated)90Discount - Payment detail may state: payments are received within trade discount period (Discount) 80Prompt - Payment detail may state: payments are received within terms granted (Prompt) 7015 Days Beyond Terms6022 Days Beyond Terms5030 Days Beyond Terms4060 Days Beyond Terms3090 Days Beyond Terms20120 Days BeyondUNUnavailableThe payment details section may include the following comments on your payment patterns:

Antic - payments are received prior to date of invoice (Anticipated).

Disc - payments are received within trade discount period (Discount).

Ppt - payments are received within terms granted (Prompt).

Slow - payments are beyond vendor's terms. For example, "Slow 30" means payments are 30 days past due.

Ppt-Slow - some invoices are paid within terms, others are paid beyond terms.

(#) -indicates that no manner of payment was provided; the number merely reflects the line where it appears in the listing. For example, (004) means it is the fourth experience listed.

Payment Commentary - such as "Cash in Advance," "Account in Dispute," "Credit Refused," or "Placed for Collection" may also display next to trade details. "Placed for Collection" means the account was forwarded to a third party for collection action during the past year.

It may also indicate comments like, "seasonal purchasing pattern" if many transactions are recorded in a certain period of time, routinely, during a specific time of year.

You can view a sample Paydex report at www.dnb.com

3 * GAIN CREDIT - THERE ARE CREDITORS THAT DO NOT REQUIRE A PERSONAL GUARANTEE or PAYDEX SCORE!

There are creditors that will grant lines of credit to businesses without a personal guarantee or a paydex score. This is a great way to establish credit for your business. Gaining a small line of credit with these types of vendors and making anticipatory payments will increase your Paydex score or establish a strong score for your business.

The website www.extremebusinessmakeover.com provides you with a program to build your Paydex score within 90-120 days and will tell you which creditors will grant you a line of credit with no Paydex score required AND no personal guarantee. This program has assisted many companies in not only increasing their Paydex score but gaining substantial lines of credit.

You should know that less than 3% of businesses that attempt to receive funding on their own ever do! If you apply at multiple places without pre-qualifying, you may damage your credit and will destroy your chances of receiving funding from the sources that would have done your deal. It would be in your best interest to consult a company like extremebusinesscreditmakeover.com prior to attempting to gain credit lines.

4 * Manage Your Business Credit Responsibly

If you own your own business you are probably not 18 years old anymore and should know how important maintaining good credit is. A strong Paydex score can give you the credit lines you need to increase your marketing effort, buy the needed equipment, get the supplies required to land big clients, and could be the difference in your companies success.

With all that at stake it is of the utmost importance to manage your credit with the highest level of responsibility.

If you are not in a place to make the required payment at least by the due date, then DO NOT MAKE THE PURCHASE ON THE CREDIT LINE.

It would be careless to abuse this credit line since can be such a key to your long term success.

Armed with this information you are on your way to increasing your Paydex score and gaining the credit you need to make your business thrive!

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