Glossary of Terms

3-Month Score Trend

Following 3 months of tracking, we will provide you with the 3-month score trend image for companies that have an Experian Credit Score. This image will be one of three values:

• An uparrow signifies that the average of the two previous scores is lower than the current score. i.e. the overall trend is improving

• A down arrow signifies that the average of the two previous scores is higher than the current score. i.e. the overall trend is declining

• An equals sign signifies that the average of the two previous scores is identical to the current score

Accounts Receivable

Is one of a series of accounting transactions dealing with the billing of customers which owe money to a person, company, or organization for goods and services that have been provided to the customer.

Additional Industry Trade Payment Data by Month from Ansonia

Dominating the factoring, trucking, and logistics industries, Ansonia is quickly becoming known as the best alternative to the big bureaus. Trade payment information from Ansonia is displayed as a monthly aggregation of active accounts. Each row displayed the number of accounts reported, balance, percent current, delinquency, and days beyond terms for the month.

Additional Industry Trade Payment Data by Sector from Ansonia

Trade payment information from Ansonia broken down by industry sector. Each row displayed the number of accounts reported, balance, percent current, delinquency, and days beyond terms for the month.

Additional Payment Experiences

This section lists tradeline experiences not updated within the past three months of the report date and non-standard trade accounts, such as leases and bank loans representing payment information that differs from traditional trade credit accounts. Additional trade experiences are retained for 26 months past the last update provided by an Experian trade supplier.

Aged Trades

If a trade is reported monthly, the trade is considered aged if 105 days pass since last reported. If a trade is reported quarterly, the trade is considered aged if 150 days pass since last reported.

Alerts

An email alert is sent out of key changes to the business profile are detected on your selected company. Changes that will generate an email alert include any of the following or combination of the below:

• Score changes

• Business address changes

• Inquiries posted

• New credit tradelines opened

• Potentially negative information

• Business public records and UCC changes

• Collection posted or satisfied

Average Days Beyond Terms

This section shows you how many days late the company has been paying their bills over a 12 month period. The lower the line of the graph, the sooner the company pays their bills.

Background

The background includes the basic information about a company: address, phone number, etc. It may also include any of the following, based upon availability: sales, number of employees, names and titles of key personnel, years in business, date of incorporation, Filing data provided by, primary business activity, and other demographic data.

Balance Summary

Provides a summary snapshot of account payment behavior for the company, including number of accounts, total balance, recent high credit, highest 100% current credit line, average balance, percent current and delinquent, balance to high credit ratio for the prior six months, and a listing of individual accounts greater than 60 days past due.

Bank Accounts

The number of bank relationships a business entity has.

Bank Report/Corporate Search on File

These flags will let you know if we have conducted a bank report or corporate search and the date on which it was performed. By clicking on the link in the report, you can go directly to the information on file.

Banking, Insurance, and Leasing

This includes any information we have available about commercial financial relationships the company may have with a bank, insurance companies that have issue policies to it, and the details of leases that have been reported.

Banking Section

This section may include information on a company’s access to additional financial capital, such as accounts, loans, and specific banking relationships, as well as bank evaluations (when available) of whether the relations are satisfactory. Content may not represent the full extent of the firm’s banking relationships, nor the primary bank used by the business.

Bankruptcies

Legal process that allows a company or organization to get relief from their debts if they become unmanageable. The information generally includes the date, legal type, legal action, and document number. Bankruptcies typically remain on a company’s report for nine years. The three most common types of bankruptcy in the U.S. are explained below.

• Chapter 7 (Liquidation of Assets)

  Under Chapter 7, the company stops all operations and goes completely out of business. The debtor’s non-exempt assets, if any, are sold by the trustee and the proceeds are distributed to creditors.

• Chapter 11 (Reorganization)

  Under Chapter 11, companies restructure past-due payments while they continue regular operations in order to emerge as profitable. Companies in Chapter 11 continue to provide employees with salaries and benefits and do business with suppliers and customers in a routine manner. The purpose of filing Chapter 11 protection is to reorganize and strengthen the company for the future.

• Chapter 13 (Debt Repayment Plan)

  Chapter 13 allows individuals who have steady incomes to pay all or a portion of their debts under protection and supervision of the court following a payment plan approved by the Bankruptcy Court. The law requires that the payments have a value at least equal to what would have been distributed in a Chapter 7 liquidation case. An important feature of Chapter 13 is that debtors are permitted to keep all their assets while the plan is in effect and after they have successfully completed it. Chapter 13 is available only to borrowers with regular income who have less than $269,250 in unsecured debts (such as credit cards) and less than $807,750 in secured debts (such as mortgages and car loans). Anyone with greater debts usually must declare bankruptcy under Chapters 7 or 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.

BIN

Experian has a unique identification number for each company location in its database. The BIN is 9 characters long. This number can be found in the text of all Experian reports.

Branch

A branch is a secondary location of a business. It has no legal responsibility for its debts, even though bills may be paid from the branch location. It will have the same legal business name as its headquarters, although branches frequently operate under a different trade style. A branch may be located at the same address as the headquarters if it has a unique trade style and unique operations. In such cases, the branch will appear to be a duplicate of the headquarters record.

Bulk Transfer

All assets, or a substantial amount, of the company have been transferred to another party.

Business Contact/Title

Provides up to 5 reported contact names for the business and their titles.

Business Failure Assessment

Combining the Credit Logic Score and the Data Depth Score, this assessment provides the probability of default within the next 12 months. Returning one of the following indicators: Low, Average, Caution, Warning, or High Risk

Business Failure Risk Score (BFRS)

The BFRS predicts the likelihood that a business will cease to do business within the next 12 months.

Business Failure Risk Score (BFRS) Risk Class

BFRS Risk Class is a less detailed view of the BFRS score, but retains its predictive nature, permitting you to determine the potential for business cessation in the next 12 months.

Business Failure Risk Score Trend Graph

This graph plots the BFRS for up to 9 quarters, plus the current score value. Each quarter’s value is based on the score as calculated at the end of the quarter noted. This trend graph is only available upon subscription to the BFRS.

Business Registrations

Information filed by a corporation or limited liability company with the Secretary of State or other state agency in order to obtain a state charter to do business within that state as a corporation or limited liability company.

Business Summary Section

The Business Summary section displays basic company profile information such as name, tradestyles, address, phone number, parent company name and location, chief executive officer name, sales volume, net worth, number of employees, line of business and the D&B DUNS Number. Use this summary of the full report to get a quick view of the business, and locate areas to investigate more closely.

Cautionary UCC Filing

A Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filing where on the following types of collateral have been pledged:

• Accounts

• Accounts receivable

• Contracts

• Hereafter acquired property

• Inventory

• Leases

• Notes receivable

• Proceeds

Closed

Company has completed the bankruptcy proceeding and is now liquidated.

Collateral

Property pledged as security for a debt.

Collections

Number of open or close collection tradelines (from collection agencies). Open collection tradelines are tradelines for which collection agencies are still collecting. Closed collection tradelines are tradelines that collection agencies have either collected on or abandoned.

Collections Detail

This portion of a report shows the detail associated with collections that have been reported. These collections are collections where others are attempting to collect from the company, not collections where the company is attempting to collect from other parties. The information generally includes the date, amount, and a status based upon the last report of the collection activity.

Collection Filings

Collections may indicate financial stress. Collection data includes filing date, status, amount, and the collection agency name with phone number.

Collections Summary

This portion of the report shows a summary of the actual collections reported. The data is summarized into the status of the collection activity, with the dollar amounts for items in dispute and items collected.

Combined

Account balance for combined tradelines. This is the total dollar balance for all new and continuously reported tradelines.

Commercial Credit Score

The Commercial Credit Score predicts the likelihood of an account becoming severely delinquent within the next 12 months. In this 101-670 scale, there is a direct relation between the score and level of risk. The marginal odds of being good doubles for each 40-point increase. For example, a business that scores a 240, on a marginal basis, is half as risky as a business that scores a 200.

Commercial Credit Score Percentile

The 1 to 100 Commercial Credit Score Percentile is strictly a rank ordering of the Commercial Credit Score universe. It indicates where a company ranks compared to business in the D&B database on a 1 (highest risk) – 100 (lowest risk) scale.

Commercial Credit Score Risk Class

A “Class” of 1-5, which is a segmentation of the scoreable universe into five distinct risk groups where a one (1) represents businesses that have the lowest probability of severe delinquency, and a five (5) represents businesses with the highest probability of severe delinquency. This Class enables a customer to quickly segment their new and existing accounts into various risk segments to determine appropriate marketing or credit policies. Note: Commercial Credit Scores are not calculated for those businesses designated as “Discontinued at This Location”, “Open Bankruptcy”, or “Higher Risk”. These records are automatically assigned a score of zero (0). The table below illustrates the distribution of the Commercial Credit Score Class in the D&B Universe. In addition, this table displayed their associated Percentile Ranking and Score.

Commercial Delinquency Score (CDS)

Predicts the likelihood of severe delinquency, charge-off, or bankruptcy on any account within 12 months; score ranges from 101-662 for CDS.

Commercial Delinquency Score (CDS) Risk Class

CDS Risk Class is a less detailed view of the CDS score, but retains its predictive nature, permitting you to determine potential for delinquency within 12 months; returns a risk classification of 105 for at a glance view of risk level for CDS Risk Class.

Commercial Delinquency Score Trend Graph

This graph plots the CDS for up to 9 quarters, plus the current score value. Each quarter’s value is based on the score as calculated at the end of the quarter noted. Note, this trend graph is only available upon subscription to the CDS.

Continuous

A tradeline which has been reported for more than six months.

Corporate Financial Information

Public company corporate financial information. Not available for all public companies.

Corporate Linkage

The Corporate Linkage section includes the ultimate parent, headquarters, subsidiaries, and branches of the company.

Corporate Registration / Secretary of State

The state’s information on the subject of your inquiry including: charter number, state of incorporation, date, current status, and the name and address of the registered agent.

Credit Guideline Recommendation

Includes a risk score ranging between 0(High Risk) and 100(Low Risk) and a recommendation such as: Acceptable, Limited, Caution, Warning, Serious Risk, and Bankruptcy.

Credit Information Score (CI)

The Credit Information Score measures seven information elements that could appear in every Equifax report. This index helps you to determine if you will get paid. The higher the score, the higher the risk. When Equifax has information on file from the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, the current CI score is not calculated. Instead, it is ‘flagged’ as a 70 to alert customers to consult the ‘Information from the Superintendent of Bankruptcy’ section of the report for the detailed information.

Credit Information (CI) Trend Graph

This graph plots the Credit Information Score for 9 quarters plus shows the current score. It is calculated as of the day you ordered the report. The graph allows you to see at a glance if the risk is decreasing, steady, or increasing.

Credit Logic Score

Ranging from 0 (high risk) to 100 (low risk), the Credit Logic Score is a predictive business credit indicator that helps companies make quick and reliable credit decisions. The score is calculated using the company’s payment trends, public record filings, collections, and business background information from multiple sources. This allows for an exceptional overview of customers and prospects.

Credit Ranking Score

The objective of the Experian Credit Ranking Score (the Intelliscore) is to predict seriously derogatory payment behavior Scores range from 1 to 100, where 1 represents a high risk and 100 represents a low risk.

Credit Rating and Risk Score

This section delivers a credit rating and risk score from Ansonia. The credit rating displays the average monthly balance and days beyond terms for the account. The risk score ranges from 0 (high risk) to 100 (low risk), based on Ansonia trade payment data.

Credit Reference Summary

This section summarizes the credit references that are reported on the business file. The cumulative summary is provided for the periods of 90 days, 13 months, and all references. All references standard is 60 months. Also, the Payment Index (PI) score is provided based on the indicated period, the number of credit references included, and the high credit as reported for any accounts listed within the noted period. The total owing, current, period 1, period 2, and period 3 are included.

Credit Score

A numerical indicator of a businesses credit risk. Scores vary based on the algorithm used, information present, by bureau, etc.

Credit Summary

This is a summary of the key factors relating to creditworthiness of a company.

Credit Utilization Summary

The Credit Utilization by Category table provides a breakdown of recent high credit, balance, and utilization percentage by industry. The Credit Lines/High Credits table shows available credit and utilization in six credit line size categories.

Current

Tradelines where the payment has been made within terms are called “Current”.

D&B PAYDEX

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

D&B Payment Habits by Industry

The D&B Payment Summary reflects payment information in D&B’s file for the prior 12 months. It provides you with details on how prompt the subject company is about paying vendors, broken up by industry. For each industry, you are shown how many trade lines were received, the total dollar amount for that industry, highest credit amount, and the percent of those lines that are being paid promptly or beyond terms.

D&B Lawsuits

The D&B Lawsuits contain the public records on lawsuits filed against a company, as listed in the D&B database. Includes information on:

• Status

• Docket Number

• Plaintiff

• Defendant

• Cause

• Amount

• Where Filed

• Date Status Attained

• Date Filed

D&B Rating

The D&B Rating provides a quick and clear indication of the credit-worthiness of an organization, which helps you to identify profitable opportunities for growth, and risks that could affect bad debt and cash flow. It is a multi-dimensional risk assessment tool that is comprised of two parts, the Financial Strength Indicator and the Risk Indicator.

D&B Viability Rating

Dun & Bradstreet’s Viability Rating delivers an assessment of the probability of the company remaining in business within the next twelve months. The viability rating is composed of four parts:

• Viability Score

  By comparing the targeted company to all other businesses in the U.S., the viability score assess the probability that a company will no longer be in business within the next 12 months.

• Portfolio Comparison

  Refines the search of the targeted company to similar businesses within the D&B “model segment” classification.

• Data Depth Indicator

  Ranging from A to G (minimal data), the indicator represents the amount of predictive data available for the company.

• Company Profile

  Given available data, the company description includes financial data available, number of trade payments, company size, and years in business.

Data Depth Score

Indicates the volume of predictive data that is available on a company. Ranking on a scale from 0-9, where 9 indicates the greatest level of predictive data with all three national bureaus reporting. Factors that could affect this score are years in business, number of trade lines, and number of bureaus included in the report.

DBT (Days Beyond Terms)

DBT or “Days Beyond Terms” is a dollar-weighted average number of days beyond the due date that a business pays its bills based on trade lines that have been updated in the previous 3 months. DBT is calculated at the number of days past the terms given, so a DBT of 5 means that a customer is paying, on average, at 5 days after the due date.

DBT Averaging

Days Beyond Terms (DBT) Averaging for all U.S. businesses:

• 80% of U.S. businesses have a DBT of 0-15 days

• 11% of U.S. businesses have a DBT of 16-50 days

• 5% of U.S. businesses have a DBT of 51-90 days

• 4% of U.S. businesses have a DBT over 90 days

DBT New

Days Beyond Terms (DBT) New is the number of days past the date when payment was due for newly reported tradelines.

DBT Trends

The 6-Month and Quarterly DBT (Days Beyond Terms) Trends graphs allow you to identify any changes in payment habits over the last 6 months or last 5 quarters and compare the company’s payment history with the industry average. This will allow you to identify any seasonal trends in a company’s ability to meet its payment obligations in addition to identifying, improving, or deteriorating payment trends.

Debt

A sum of money owed from one person to another, including the right of the creditor to receive and enforce payment.

Derogatory Item Summary

Provides a quick check for derogatory items reported in the last 24 months, including counts for bankruptcy filings, judgments, liens, collections, charge-offs, and NSF checks.

Discharged

Company has completed the bankruptcy proceeding.

Dismissed

The legal action was closed by the presiding judge.

Division

A division is an operating unit of a business entity with a specific divisional name performing a specific activity normally different than the activity performed at the headquarters. A division is different than a branch in that the division is operated like a separate and unique entity, it may have divisional officers; however, it is not legally a separate entity.

DUNS Number (Data Universal Numbering System)

A non-indicative, nine-digit number assigned to each business location in the D&B database having a unique, separate, and distinct operation, and is maintained solely by D&B. The DUNS Number is used by industries and organizations around the world as a global standard for business identification and tracking.

Domestic Ultimate DUNS Number

The DUNS Number belonging to the highest-level family member within a specific country.

EDGAR Financials

The most complete and up-to-date financials on publicly traded companies. Includes: Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flow, and Financial Ratios. These sections provide you with the last four years of financial information on the target company.

Employs

Total number of employees, and if noted, at this location.

Executive Search

A built-in capability to search through the bureau databases using a company executive's name, instead of the company name, that returns a list of all companies that particular executive is associated with or tied to.

Family Linkage

Family Linkage contains the Ultimate Parent, Parent/headquarters, Subsidiaries, and Branch/Alternative locations for those locations that have these relationships. Reports on Branch/Alternative Locations are not available because this information is typically merged into the parent report. Use it to:

• Identify relationships within a corporate family

• Gain a better understanding of the business structure and overall corporate responsibility

• Assess risk with a complete perspective on the entire corporate organization

Fictitious Business Name

Most companies and individuals select a fictional name for their businesses. For example, “John Smith Automotive” is not a fictitious business name as long as the owner is named John Smith, but “Main Street Automotive” is. Companies record Fictitious Business Name (FBN) – also referred to as Doing Business As (DBA), Trade Name or Assumed Name – filings with the appropriate county recorder, county clerk, or county business licensing office.

File Alert

Provides an alert displaying the most recent date on data received from the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, such as a bankruptcy or lien.

File Established

Shows the number of years Experian has been collecting data on this company. This date may be different from the Business Establish Date. The Business Establish Date is when the company first started doing business. For example, the business may have been established in 01/95, but the business was not established on the Experian file until 6/95. The earliest possible Established Date is 1977.

File Number/Subject Number

This is the number assigned by Equifax to the business file.

Finance Section

The Finance Section includes balance sheets, financial income statements, and management estimates or projections when available. If provided, up to three years of comparative summaries may be displayed here. This data can help you to assess:

• A company’s ability to meet current debt by comparing all liquid assets to current debt, or all liquid assets plus inventory to current debt.

• The amount of capital provided by creditors compared to capital invested by the owners.

• The amount of sales compared to total assets of the company.

Commentary on absence of financial information may also appear in this section, for example, “A financial statement was declined by management.” An explanation of the financial information may also be provided and include narrative indicating the source of the data (i.e. “Submitted by ...”), as well as an explanation of certain financial statement items. The company may also add other comments in this section, such as “Current cash is low because a recent expansion was financed with cash rather than loans.”

Financial Condition

Provides an overview of a company’s financial statement with a designation of – Strong, Good, Fair, and Unbalanced. Financial Condition is calculated by reviewing up to 11 financial ratios and comparing them to industry averages for each of the company’s lines of business.

Financial Stress

D&B defines a financially stressed company as one that:

• Ceased operations following assignedment of bankruptcy

• Ceased operations with loss to creditors

• Voluntarily withdrew from business operation leaving unpaid obligations

• Is in receivership, reorganization, or has made an arrangement for the benefit of creditors.

Note: Voluntary discontinuance involving no loss to creditors is not defines as financially stressed.

Financial Stress Risk Class

A “Class” of 1-5, which is a segmentation of the scoreable universe into five distinct risk groups where a one (1) represents businesses that have the lowest probability of financial stress, and a five (5) represents businesses with the highest probability of financial stress. This Class enables a customer to quickly segments their new and existing accounts into various risk segments to determine appropriate marketing or credit policies. Note: Financial Stress Scores are not calculated for those businesses designated as “Discontinued at This Location”, “Open Bankruptcy”, or “Higher Risk”. These records are automatically assigned a score of zero (0). The table below illustrates the distribution of the Financial Stress Class in the D&B database. The associated Financial Stress Score Percentile and Financial Stress Score are also displayed.

Financial Stress Score

The 1,001 to 1,875 score is the raw output of the Financial Stress Scoring Model scorecards. 1, 001 represents highest risk and 1,875 represents lowest risk of business failure. Each Financial Stress Score within the range has a related probability of business failure within a 12-month period. This score is also often referred to as the Raw Score.

Financial Stress Score Percentile

The 1 to 100 Financial Stress Percentile is strictly a rank ordering of the Financial Stress Score universe. It indicates where a company ranks compared to businesses in the D&B database on a 1 (highest risk) – 100 (lowest risk) scale.

Financial Strength Indicator

An alphanumeric indicator reflects company size based on net worth, equity, or number of employees, depending on information available in D&B’s database.

Financial Strength Indicators

If the company’s financials are reported to Dun & Bradstreet, the Financial Strength Indicators reflect the company size on tangible net worth computed by D&B.

If the company’s financials are not reported to D&B, the Financial Strength Indicator is calculated using the estimated number of employees at the company.

The 1R and 2R rating categories reflect company size based on the total number of employees for the business. They are assigned to business files that do not have a current financial statement. Certain lines of business, primarily banks, insurance companies, and government entities, do not lend themselves to a classification or assignment based on their net worth. Instead, these businesses are assigned an Employee Range (ER) symbol based on the total number of people employed by the business. No other significance should be attached to this symbol. The following table provides guidance on how to read this form of Rating:

At times, D&B may not be able to place a company in one of the above classifications. Below are other codes that are used:

Financing

Designated as:

• Secured – A portion or all of the following assets have been pledged as collateral; inventory and/or accounts receivable, capital stock in the company, or capital stock the company owns in a subsidiary.

• Unsecured – In addition to any of the ‘Secured’ provisions, there are also unsecured loans outstanding which may be guaranteed or co-signed by a third party, but are not collateralized by specific assets.

This offers a quick picture of credit already extended to the company, and if assets are available to be pledged to you as a creditor. See the Public Filings, Banking, and Finance sections for details.

Firmographics

Company information - this includes information such as:

• Company Type

• Number of Employees

• Annual Sales volume

• Years in Business

• Date of Incorporation

• State of Incorporation

• Tax ID

• SIC Codes

Fraud Flags

A flag that appears on the report when the following occur:

• The mailing address is residential, a postal delivery facility, or unknown

• The name and address do not match the U.S.P.S. files

• The phone number belongs to a cell phone

• The phone number area code does not align with the company mailing zip code

• The phone number is not registered to the company

• The company has been in business for less than one year

• There is no corporate registration on file

• The company has zero trade payment experiences

• Days beyond terms is over 25

• Data Depth Score is 3 or under

• Balance to high credit ratio is 75% or higher

• OFAC flag indicated

Global Ultimate DUNS Number

The DUNS Number belonging to a business’ worldwide ultimate parent company.

Headquarters

A headquarters is a business location that has branches or divisions reporting to it and is legally responsible for those branches or divisions. If the headquarters is more than 50% owned by another corporation, it will also be a subsidiary. If it owns more than 50% of another corporation, then it is also a parent.

History

Designated as:

• Clear – indicates that certain minimal information necessary for D&B rating consideration is contained in the report. It also means the report is free of negative information which could cause the selection of other History captions or designation as a potential higher-risk case.

• Incomplete – indicates that D&B’s file does not contain sufficient information about the background of the business and its significant principals to fully assess risk.

• Management – indicates that D&B’s file contains certain unfavorable current or historical information on one or more significant principals associated with this company.

• Business – indicates that D&B’s file contains certain unfavorable current or historical information on this company

History Section

This section typically includes details on the company’s history, including:

• Incorporation details, par value of shares, and ownership information

• Background information on management, such as the educational and career history of the company principals

• Related companies, including identification of parent, affiliates, subsidiaries and/or branches worldwide

The History Section may also include corporate registration details, which are invaluable when you need to:

• Verify the existence of a registered organization

• Confirm legal information, such as a company’s organizational structure, date and state of incorporation

• Research possible fraud by reviewing names of principals and business standing within a state

Business registrations have taken on added importance with revisions to UCC Article 9. Creditors will now be held responsible for the validity and accuracy of UCC statements they file with the Secretary of State. Failure to meet these new requirements may jeopardize legally recognized rights to collateral in secured financing agreements. Minimize your exposure under this new legislation by using Registration details in the History Section to validate your UCC Filings.

HQ/Parent DUNS Number

The DUNS Number belonging to a business’ immediate headquarters or parent.

Inactive Business

A business is considered inactive if it meets any one of the following criteria:

• Is out of business

• Has an undeliverable mailing address

• Is delisted (i.e. the customer has requested D&B to exclude its information from our database).

Incorporation Number/Effective Date

This is the date of the original filing of incorporation documents, along with the incorporation number assigned.

Industry Classification

In most cases, the Experian report contain both the SIC Code and the NAICS Code for that business.

• SIC Code

  The Standard Industrial Classification is a United State government system for classifying industries by a four-digit code.

• NAICS

  The North American Industry Classification System is also a system for classifying industries, but has a greater level of detail than what is achieved under the SIC classification system. The NAICS system uses 4-8 digits to represent the individual industries.

Industry DBT

The number of Days Beyond Terms (DBT) for businesses in the same industry.

Inquiries

Inquiries are the number of companies making inquiries on the subject company in the last 9 months.

Intelliscore Plus

Experian's premier business credit score, the Intelliscore Plus predicts the likelihood that a business's payment performance will become seriously delinquent (90+ DBT) within the next 12 months.

Involuntary

Company’s creditors initiated the bankruptcy proceeding.

Judgment Amount

The total judgment balance amount. Experian reports on judgments released within the past five years.

Judgments

The final resolution of a suit; the official court decision regarding the parties’ rights and obligation, including whether the plaintiff is entitled to relief defined in the suit. Includes Case number, filing date, cause of action, reported date, total assets and liabilities, disposition status, and court information.

Key Facts

Key facts are the basic information about a company: address, phone number, etc. It may also include any of the following based on availability: sales, number of employees, name and titles of key personnel, years in business, date of incorporation, filing data provided by, primary business activity, and other demographic data.

Largest Write Off Amount/Date

This represents the largest single amount written off and the date on which this occured, as reported.

Legal Filings and Collections

The Legal Filings section provides a summary of the filings (tax liens, judgments, bankruptcies) and collections that will be shown in detail later in the report.

Legal Suits

Identifies the number of lawsuits, sometimes called statements of claim or writs, totalm amount of the lawsuits, date of the last item reports, and any comments on file.

Lien

A claim or encumbrance which one party holds against the property of another party until a debt or obligation is satisfied.

Limited Payment Data

Company does not have enough payment history to generate a report which includes a credit score, or to provide a meaningful prediction of future payment trends.

Marketability Code

Indicates whether or not a record meets D&B’s standards for direct mail and marketing applications. See Marketable Record.

Marketable Record

In general, a record that meets the following criteria is considered marketable:

• Has been updated within the last 24 months

• Contains a complete business name, valid physical or mailing address, and valid Standard Industry Classification (SIC) Code

• Is believed to be in business

• Is not delisted (i.e. the company has not requested D&B to exclude its information from its database)

Monitoring Alerts

Monitoring Alerts are included, free, with most of our Comprehensive business credit reports, including all of the Advantage series reports. Every time you order one of these reports, we will monitor the subject company for the next 12 months at no additional charge. Monitoring keeps you abreast of any changes that may occur to your customer’s credit profile so you can take quick action to reduce risk or capitalize on new revenue opportunities. The monitoring service, powered by Experian in the U.S. provides alerts when the following key changes are made to your customer’s credit report.

• Change in Days Beyond Terms (DBT)

  Days Beyond Terms is the average number of days the company pays its bills past the invoice due date. A significant change in DBT is a strong indicator of a change in a company’s ability to pay promptly. An increase in DBT is an early indicator of financial stress and potential future delinquency. A decrease in DBT demonstrates increased ability to pay, which may indicate an opportunity for increasing a credit line or approaching the customer to make additional sales offers. An alert is sent when the DBT has increased or decreased by five days.

• Percent Current Change

  The percent current is calculated by aggregating the total balances and past due balances of all accounts. If the aggregate percentage of past due balances increase or decreases by more than 5%, an alert is generated.

• Severely Delinquent Accounts

  If any single account of the company becomes 60 days past due, based on DBT, an alert is sent. If an account goes 90 days past due, another alert is delivered. Accounts with balances lower than $500 will not generate delinquency alerts.

• Legal Events

  An alert will be sent any time a company records a Bankruptcy filing. Filings of Judgments and Liens of greater than $500 will also trigger alerts.

• Collections

  If one of the company’s accounts has been turned over to a Collection Agency, an alert is sent. Collections for balances lower than $500 do not trigger alerts.

• Derogatory Comments

  If any of the company’s creditors report a derogatory comment along with their trade line, an alert will be generated through the monitoring service. Among the comments that are considered derogatory for alert triggering are: Collections, Write-offs, NSF Checks, Cash On Delivery, Cash in Advance, and more.

Monthly Payment Trends

The Monthly Payment Trends table provides a detailed view of the company’s payment history over the last six months, including DBT, balance, percent current, delinquency, and industry benchmarks.

Most Severe Status/Date

Shows the most severe account status reported and the date it was reported.

MultiMax Credit Guideline

The MultiMax is a credit guideline based on the company’s credit history, Credit Logic Score, trade balances, and high credits.

NAICS

This is the 6-digit number assigned to the business based on industry classification. Displays up to 6 NAICS codes.

Negative Payment Information

Negative Payments consist of unsatisfactory, bad debt, suit-filed, non-sufficient funds, credit refused, placed for collection or repossession trade experiences.

Newly Reported

A tradeline which has been reported for the first time in the last six months.

Non-Scored Business

Experian has not collected enough information on this location to offer a report. This typically occurs with companies that have little to no credit information in the Experian database.

Notes Receivable

A loan made by a company which is evidenced by a promissory note.

Number of Charged-off Accounts

Number of accounts reported with an overall status of charged-off.

Number of Inquiries on File

This is the number of times a report on this business has been requested from Equifax in the past 2 years. The report dates, and inquirers are detailed in the Inquiries section.

Number of Accounts Reporting

Provides the details on the number of accounts or credit references that are being reported on, within the business file.

Number/Amount of Delinquencies

Displays the total number of delinquent accounts and the amount that is delinquent, as reported on this file.

OFAC Alert

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries, terrorists, international narcotic traffickers, and any other threats to the national security, foreign policy, or the economy of the United States. OFAC provides a list of companies with offenders or threats. Vetting customers and vendors against this list is crucial for all companies.

Open Account

Credit extended by a business to a customer.

Operations Section

This section provides background information on the business operations of a company. This may include the identity of a parent company, the number of accounts, geographic scope of the business, typical selling terms, and whether the firm owns or leases its facilities. The names and locations of branch operations and subsidiaries may also be identified in this section.

Other Known Tradestyles

Displays up to 10 additional names by which the business may be known.

Other Legal Information

Provides the number of court matters that are important to the business but are not normally considered derogatory and do not affect the business’ credit score, such as notice of discontinuance and settlement out of court. Other information could include Garnishments or Seizures of assets.

Out of balance

A company which has many more expenditures than revenue.

Parent

A parent is a coporation that owns more than 50 percent of another corporation. The parent company may also be a subsidiary of another corporation. If the parent also has branches/divisions, then it is also a headquarters. Parents can have both direct and indirect subsidiaries, indirect subsidiaries being those that have another company in between the subsidiary and the parent.

PAYDEX Score

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, which higher scores indicating better payment performance.

PAYDEX Score Chart

Use this chart to help you interpret the PAYDEX Score.

Payment Categories, Other

Miscellaneous indicators of a firm’s payment habits, including the highest dollar amounts owed, the highest dollar amounts past due, number and dollar value of cash payments, and placed for collection experiences.

Payment Details Section

The Payment Detail Section displays a listing of recent payments reported to D&B. Each line, up to 80, provides the most recent information secured through company trade tapes and other D&B data collection methods. It’s important to note that an unusually large number of transactions during a single month or time period may indicate a seasonal purchasing pattern. The following manners of payment appear most frequently in this section:

• Antic (Anticipated) – payments are received prior to date of invoice

• Disc (Discount) – payments are received within trade discount period

• Ppt (Prompt) – payments are received within terms granted

• 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.

Payment Index (PI)

The Payment Index (PI) is a numeric measure of the businesses payment habits, and is calculated strictly on the distribution of the total owing amounts across the aging periods in the 90 days immediately preceding the day the report was ordered.  The Payment Index ranges from 0 to 99. The closer the company scores to zero, the better it is paying the creditors reporting. A zero score would indicate all reporting creditors are paid within terms. A score of 99 indicates that creditors are being paid in the third period past due or longer. This index is similar to days beyond terms.

Payment Index Trend Graph

This graph plots the Payment Index for 9 quarters, plus shows the current score. The graph allows you to see at a glance if the business pays bills slowly, steady, or is improving.

Payment Summary by Industry

An overview of how a firm pays suppliers in up to 10 lines of business where it has recorded the highest number of credit transactions. This information can help you evaluate how quickly you can expect to be paid, based on a company’s payment history with your industry peers.

Payment Summary Section

This section highlights how quickly a company is likely to pay its bills in the future by reviewing its payment patterns with other vendors in the past, as reported to D&B. Payment performance is outlined relative to aging, dollar amounts, and industry groupings. Specific information includes the PAYDEX Score, Payment Summary by Industry, and Other Payment Categories.

Payment Trend Indicator

A method of predicting how quickly future payments will be made based upon historical payment information.

Predicted DBT

The prediction is a forecast of the DBT for 60 days into the future. It is based on the trend in DBT, the type of industry of the business, derogatory public record information, collection accounts, number of inquiries, Years in business/on file, and other factors. The background color of the predicted DBT is based upon observed norms of all U.S. businesses:

• Green for all entries 15 days or less

• Yellow for all entries between 16 and 50 days

• Orange for all entries between 51 and 90 days

• Red for all entries beyond 90 days

Predictive Scoring

Predictive Scoring is the process of using historical information to predict future outcomes. It involves identifying the risks inherent in a future decision by examining the relationship between historical information and the future event. In essence, it is an objective and statistically derived counterpart to subjective, intuitive assessments. The objective of a score is to report the risk involved in a given decision. Predictive Scoring allows you to rank accounts based on the probability of an event occurring. Predictive Scoring represents a statistical probability, not a guarantee.

Previously Known As

Due to a name change or merger, the primary name of the company has been changed to the current name shown. The previous name is also displayed.

Primary SIC

Represents a company’s activity with the largest percentage of sales revenue. See Standard Industrial Classification (SIC).

Proceeds

The income arising from land or other property.

Public Filings Section

This section informs you of past and present legal activities that could impact a company’s financial stability and operations. Public filings can include bankruptcies, lawsuits, liens, judgments, and Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) statements, which contain details on assets pledged as collateral in secured financing agreements. Public record information is collected from multiple sources in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In addition, D&B covers all federal bankruptcy courts and tracks nearly all business-related failures filed in the U.S.

Quarterly Payment Trends

The Quarterly Payment Trends table provides a detailed view of the company’s payment history over the last five quarters, including DBT, balance, percent current, delinquency, and industry benchmarks.

Rating Key

The D&B Rating can help you quickly assess a firm’s size and composite credit appraisal, based on information in a company’s interim or fiscal balance sheet and an overall evaluation of the firm’s creditworthiness. The “5A” to “HH” Rating Classifications reflect company size based on worth or equity as computed by D&B. Company size can be an effective indicator of credit capacity. These Ratings are assigned to businesses that have supplied D&B with a current financial statement.

The Composite Credit Appraisal is a number, 1 through 4, that makes up the second half of the company’s rating and reflects D&B’s overall assessment of that firm’s creditworthiness. The Composite Credit Appraisal is based on D&B analysis of company payments, financial information, public records, business age, and other important factors (when available).

Note: a “2” is the highest Composite Credit Appraisal a company not supplying D&B with current financial information can receive.

The “1R” and “2R” Rating categories reflect company size based on the total number of employees for the business. They are assigned to company files that do not contain a current financial statement.

ER (Employee Range) Ratings apply to certain lines of business that do not lend themselves to classification under the D&B Rating system. Instead, we assign these types of businesses an Employee Range symbol based on the number of people employed. No other significance should be attached to this symbol.

For example, a rating of “ER7” means there are between five and nine employees in the company. “ERN” should not be interpreted negatively. It simply means we do not have information indicating how many people are employed at this firm. The D&B Rating field in a report may also display the following designations when certain conditions are present:

• The “- -“ Symbol – this represents the absence of a D&B Rating and should not be interpreted as indicating that credit should be denied. It means that the information available to D&B does not permit us to classify the company within our Rating Key and that further inquiry should be made before reaching a credit decision. Some reasons for using the “- -“ Symbol include: deficit net worth, bankruptcy proceedings, lack of sufficient payment information, or incomplete history indicator.

• DS (DUNS Support) – This indicates that the information available to D&B does not permit us to classify the company within our Rating Key. When ordering these reports, an investigation can be performed and results sent to you at your request for an additional fee.

• INV (Investigation Being Conducted) – When an “INV” appears, it means an investigation is being conducted on this business to get the most current details.

• NQ (Not Quoted) – This is generally assigned when a business has been confirmed as no longer active at the location, or when D&B is unable to confirm active operations. It may also appear on some branch reports, when the branch is located in the same city as the headquarters

Recent High Credit

Recent High Credit shows the highest account balance with the reporting firm in the last twelve months.

Reference Number

Identifies the report based on the number submitted by a user.

Reference Record

A record that does not meet D&B’s standards for direct mail and marketing applications, and, therefore, is not classified a Marketable Record. Any one of the following conditions would classify the record as a Reference Record:

• Has not been updated within the last 24 months

• Does not contain a complete business name, valid physical or mailing address, or valid Standard Industry Classification (SIC) code

• Is not believed to be in business

• Has been delisted (I.e. the company has requested D&B to exclude its information from their database.

Report Date

Provides the date when the inquiry was made as recorded by Equifax.

Report Unavailable

A listing of “Unavailable” means that Experian has created a basic listing for your company in its database but does not currently have additional credit or payment information to create a report. As Experian collects data, the report will become available with the updated information.

Requestor ID

Displays the User ID of the person requesting the report.

Returned Checks

Provides the number of checks returned as reported by contributing creditors, total amount of checks returned, date of the last item reported, and an indicator of any comments on file.

Risk Indicator

A number between 1 and 4 makes up the second half of the Rating and reflects an overall assessment of creditworthiness, based on payments, financial stability, public filings, etc.

Risk Indicators

This is calculated by taking into account key items within the reports which are used to predict the likelihood of a business failure.

• Example: D&B Rating 2A 4

  The example rating shows a company with a Financial Strength of $750,000 to $1 million, based on net worth; with a significant level of risk.

Risk Trend Numbers

Represents the total amount outstanding to the creditors reporting in a particular quarter. It is a consolidated aging of the accounts.

Sales

Provides a snapshot of a company’s financial size in terms of sales/revenue volue. “Projected” indicates an estimated sales volume provided by management. “F” means figures were taken from an income statement. See the Finance Section for details.

Single Location

A single location is the only location of a business, therefore it has no branches or subsidiaries reporting to it. If it is more than 50% owned by another corporation, it will also be a subsidiary.

Special Events Section

Special Events alert you to any recent developments D&B learns about that may impact your potential relationship with a firm, such as bankruptcy filings, changes in ownership, acquisitions, and other events. Information reported in this section may also include announcements on the release of earnings reports. Special Events may help explain unusual company trends. For example, a change in ownership could have an impact on manner of payment or decreased production may reflect an unexpected interruption in factory operations (i.e. labor strike, fire).

Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)

SIC is a standardized numbering system developed by the Federal Government that classifies business establishments according to the industries they belong to. It is particularly helpful when you’re looking to segment markets, analyze customer relationship, and conduct general business research. SIC codes divide all major economic activity into ten major divisions. Businesses are then further classified within each division. The first two digits in the code represent a company’s major industry affiliation and ints subdivision. For example, the first two digits in “Manufacturing”, one of the major SIC divisions, range from 20 to 39. The remaining digits break down the divisions into specific activities and “sub-industries”. If more than one SIC Code is listed, the first one is the company’s primary line of business, with others comprising at least 10% of the company’s revenue. A maximum of six SICs will be listed for a company.

Started (Control Date)

Indicates the year the company was started or present management took control.

Statement Update Section

This section includes information D&B has obtained directly from the company since our last full interview with the principals of the business. It may include pertinent information such as updated financial data, commentary on recent business trends or operating details.

Subsidiary

A subsidiary is a corporation that is more than 50% owned by another corporation, and will have a different legal business name from its parent company. A subsidiary must be either a single location, a headquarters, or a parent. A subsidiary may have branches and/or subsidiaries of its own.

Suit

A proceeding filed by a plaintiff(s) against a defendant(s) in a court of law, in which the plaintiff(s) seeks monetary or non-monetary relief.

Summary Analysis Section

This section displays the current D&B Rating, when it was assigned, and why. Additional content may include rating changes that have occurred during the past year so you can spot trends and evaluate the stability of a firm over time.

Supplier Risk Score

A predictive indicator of business disruption or potential of failure, ranging from 1(low risk) to 10(high risk). The higher the risk score, there is an increased probability of business disruption or failure. The lower the risk score, the less likely there is of business disruiption or failure.

Tax Liens

Filed by the city, county state, and federal government, liens show unpaid tax obligations. Tax Liens are a legal document to create a security interest in property for the payment of tax debt.

Tax Lien Amount

The total tax lien balance amount.

Tax Lien Count

Number of tax liens filed. This does not include tax liens satisfied. Therefore, the tax lien may be satisfied but you cannot tell or “match” the satisfied tax lien.

Total Balance Amount

Sum of all balances. This includes all tradelines – Regular, New, Aged, and Other.

Total Current Credit Exposure

Sums total outstanding balance or available credit on open and closed accounts to indicate the maximum credit exposure associated with the accounts in presented.

Total Outstanding

Total oustanding amount to all creditors, as reported to Equifax.

Trade Account

A tradeline that has no aging.

Trade Payments

Trade Payments offers detailed payment information provided by the subject company’s suppliers, banks, leasing companies, etc. The information is industry specific and may include payment terms, recent high credit limit, current balance, and aging. Each trade line represents an individual supplier’s perspective on how the company meets its financial obligations. The information will help identify payment trends in specific industries.

Trade Payment Detail

These are tables of accounts, showing the details of the company’s payment history over time by tradeline. This is sometimes referred to as ‘Tradeline data’. Please note: Actual tradeline company names are not displayed, but rather supplier category names will appear. For example, if a company is 60 DBT with ‘Acme Cell Communications’, the entry may appear as “Telecom … 60DBT”.

Trade Summary

The Trade Summary shows non-financial account information from the prior 24 months including credit active date, total exposure, number of charge-offs, total past due, most severe status, number of open accounts, number of closed accounts, total balance, balance due, and balance at risk.

Tradeline

A tradeline is a reported line of credit. Tradeline payment experiences can be used to recognize early, on-time, and/or late payment patterns. Tradeline payment experiences are listed by Supplier Category (e.g. “Credit Card”, “Airlines”, “Office Equipment”, etc.) Generally, the more tradelines reporting, the more informative the payment analysis.

UCC Filings

Companies that extend secured loans to other businesses file Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) documents with the appropriate secretary of state office to protect their interest in the asset. Under a UCC filing, the business pledges assets as collateral for a loan, lease, or line of credit. Collateral can be items such as: accounts, accounts receivables, contracts, property, inventory, leases, notes receivable, and proceeds. The information in the report generally includes the date, filing number, jurisdiction, company or financial institution making the loan, and collateral activity.

UCC Summary

This is a summary of the last 2 years of UCC filing information. It does not show detail, but does show the filing activity.

UCC Total

Number of tradelines with Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filings. Includes original, continuation, addition, and supplemental filings.

Update

Information obtained since our last full interview with the business principals. May contain such pertinent information as updated financial data, business trends, or updated operating details.

Verify Match

The company name and address displayed on the product purchase page is the actual name on the report that is in our reports database. Sometimes the system uses slightly different names on the reports than it does when showing the initial list of possible matches. In most cases these match exactly, but if they do not then please use the “Help/Contact Us” feature of our site to verify that this is the proper company before making your purchase.

Voluntary

Company initiated the bankruptcy proceeding

Worth

The net worth of the business. “E” indicates figures are estimates provided by the owners, partners, or officers of the company. “F” means figures were taken from a financial statement. This element offers another view of the company’s financial size. See the Finance Section for details.

Zero Balance Trades

Number of tradelines with balance = 0. This includes all tradelines – Regular, New, Aged, and Other.