Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) ratings are like a good housekeeping sign of approval for businesses. D&B is probably the best known business reporting agency in the world and its ratings are coveted by businesses and examined closely by financial institutions and investors who want to know the financial health of any business. The D&B rating is prepared by an exhaustive examination of financial records, statements and dealings of the business with its customers, clients, investors and shareholders. The D&B rating offers companies an opportunity to build their business credit, mitigate credit risks from other businesses, and ultimately improve their cash flow as well as the ability to enhance profit. D&B offers a number of other tools in addition to the basic D&B rating which allows businesses and financial institutions to make good decisions based on data and not just on guess work.

The D&B Rating measures a company’s business credit rating against others in the same field as well as companies operating in different countries and different continents. The rating provides data on the net worth or equity of the business and then sorts these companies by the number of employees to reflect the overall creditworthiness of the business. It also measures both financial stability and the company's payment record, public filings, trade payments, business age, and other factors in order to produce the most comprehensive report on a company's creditworthiness that exists anywhere in the world.

Other subsidiary products that augment the D&B rating are the Paydex Score, the Financial Stress Score and the Commercial Credit Score. The Paydex Score is a report and score that evaluates the payment record of a business to its suppliers and vendors. The Financial Stress Score makes a prediction on the possibility of a company having to file for bankruptcy during the next year. The Commercial Stress Score evaluates the likelihood of a company making a late or delinquent payment during the next twelve months.

All of these additional information products still play second fiddle however to the D&B rating. This one rating can not only assist or prevent a business from receiving a business loan or an extension to a line of credit but can also cause investors to vanish or panic, suppliers to cease shipments & or vendors to refuse to stock products. In other words, keeping a good D&B rating is essential to the successful operation of any business. Many businesses, large and small have risen and fallen based on the D&B rating. Smart companies keep one eye on their balance sheet and the other on maintaining a good D&B rating.