Online Class: Business Credit 101

Business Credit 101 provides potential and current business owners with the necessary knowledge to successfully use credit within their business.
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  • 13
    Lessons
  • 19
    Exams &
    Assignments
  • 1,394
    Students
    have taken this course
  • 3
    Hours
    average time
  • 0.3
    CEUs
 
 

Course Description

Business Credit 101 provides potential and current business owners with the necessary knowledge to successfully use credit within their business. There are many reasons why business operators rely on credit to maximize their business potential, but it is necessary to have an insight into the business credit arena to ensure that business credit is used effectively.

This course takes you through the basics of business credit giving you an opportunity to understand what business credit is, how to obtain business credit, the best type of business credit and even explores the taxation aspects of business credit. Business Credit 101 will provide aspiring and current business owners the necessary knowledge to effectively manage their business credit and financial needs.
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Course Motivation

What Is Business Credit?

To operate a business now, it is important to have a regular cash flow supported by financial income. Often that income must come from more than one source to guarantee financial solvency in circumstances when income from business either is absent or delayed.
 
To put it another way, if you are running a business and the profits from that business are not immediately in place, you will need to find other sources for income. This usually comes in the form of a loan from an external source, generally a business bank or financial institution, that is paid back over time. Just as an individual can borrow money to serve a need or enable an acquisition, known as personal credit, a business can do the same. This is business credit. 

It is now an accepted approach for most businesses that are looking to increase their market share to obtain business credit. In large part, this is done at the outset of a business, when the business owner looks to give the company a jump start in its market by borrowing capital that can be used to pay for staff, source goods, premises, or any other necessity in order to get things moving.
 
Once a company is up and running, the hope is that its financial needs will be served by its income from business, meaning the people using the service. However, while the company is in its infancy, it is easy to be crushed by the competition. To serve the necessary costs of a young business, credit is often an unavoidable necessity.
 
Of course, there is inevitably some risk to taking out a credit-based financing option. The success of such an option depends very much on the business becoming profitable. Like all loans, a business loan needs to be paid off in full at some point, and in monthly installments in most cases. These repayments will generally be made out of the profit of the company.
 
Interest-free credit is a rare luxury, so you will end up paying back more than you borrowed; but the idea here is that the credit acts as a financial stabilizer for the company while it gets up and running. Then, when you have been doing business for long enough, with a markup on your initial layout, you will be able to make the repayments and still have enough money coming in to keep the business solvent.

It is not just on starting up that a business will require or request credit. Companies often take out a loan at other times. One example is when a business is experiencing a cash-flow crisis and not making enough money from product sales or service users to keep operating at the usual level. In such cases, a loan can provide a kind of financial bridge. This has been seen in recent times in its most extreme form with the financial stimulus plans being rolled out by governments across the world. Banks and other businesses were at risk of failing, and the governments released money in order to allow these companies to keep operating until things improved. Once again, the importance of business credit is to allow companies to remain operative while things are difficult.

A company cannot go on applying for business credit indefinitely, of course. By its very nature, business credit needs to be a temporary solution. It is no substitute for operating at a profit because, simply put, if you are not making money, then you will not be able to pay back the loan that you have received.
 
For a company, then, business credit will be required from time to time in order to enable the company to operate off its own profits. If it becomes clear that the company will not do this and cannot pay off even the initial credit, then the company will end up bankrupt, unable to meet its debts, and unable to continue operating. This is a demonstration of the risk of business credit and the fact that it should be taken out only when needed to either keep the company solvent or enable it to operate at a higher level that ensures the company's ability to make payments on its business credit plans regularly and in full.

Business credit is usually received in the form of a loan. There are different kinds of loans, but the most common one, and the first a company will pick up in its lifetime, is a start-up loan intended to provide money for supplies, wages, and other costs that will later be covered by business profits. Later on, a company can take out a working capital loan that enables it to meet costs in the short term in order to continue operating. Working capital loans can be unsecured if the applicant has a good credit rating and is likely to be able to pay the money back without difficulty, or secured, whereby the company needs to offer assets to the bank in order to provide security against a default. 

There also are loans that can be secured against the product that they were borrowed to buy, meaning that if the company fails to meet repayments, the equipment falls into the hands of the lending institution, which may demand its sale and/or ask to be paid the money that the equipment has made for the company. The same principle applies to a commercial real estate loanto buy business premises. This type of loan works in very much the same way as a mortgage to buy a house.

The above are just a few examples of the kinds of credit a business can apply for out of a very wide range of options. Many of the rest will be covered in later units of this course, contributing to a wider and more complete understanding of what kind of business credit suits a given situation.

  • Completely Online
  • Self-Paced
  • Printable Lessons
  • Full HD Video  
  • 6 Months to Complete
  • 24/7 Availability
  • Start Anytime
  • PC & Mac Compatible
  • Android & iOS Friendly
  • Accredited CEUs
Universal Class is an IACET Accredited Provider
 

Course Lessons

Average Lesson Rating:
4.6 / 5 Stars (Average Rating)
"Extraordinarily Helpful"
(1,209 votes)

Lesson 1: What is Business Credit?

To operate a business now, it is important to have a regular cash flow supported by financial income, often from more than one source to guarantee financial solvency in cases where income from business either is absent or delayed. 11 Total Points
  • Lesson 1 Video
  • Lesson discussions: Business Credit; Reasons for Taking this Course
  • Complete Assignment: An Introduction
  • Assessment: Quiz for Lesson 1 - What is Business Credit?

Lesson 2: Credit Bureaus

If a bank or lender is to remain operative, it needs to apply a form of quality control in the loans and other credit that it extends to its customers. 10 Total Points
  • Lesson 2 Video
  • Assessment: Quiz for Lesson 2 - Credit Bureaus

Lesson 3: How To Establish Business Credit

To get a decent income stream from credit sources, it is important to establish a business credit record. 12 Total Points
  • Lesson 3 Video
  • Complete: Lesson 3 Assignment: Keeping Business and Personal Separate
  • Assessment: Quiz for Lesson 3 - How To Establish Business Credit

Lesson 4: Limited Liability Companies and Corporations – Protecting Your Personal Credit Rating & Assets

Lesson 4: Limited Liability Companies and Corporations and Protecting Your Personal Credit Rating and Assets. 10 Total Points
  • Lesson 4 Video
  • Assessment: Quiz for Lesson 4 - Limited Liability Companies and Corporations – Protecting Your Personal Cr

Lesson 5: Company Registration Requirements To Establish Business Credit

Any company seeking to build a credit record for itself should take steps to build for itself a credit identity. 9 Total Points
  • Lesson 5 Video
  • Assessment: Quiz for Lesson 5 - Company Registration Requirements To Establish Business Credit

Lesson 6: Business Credit Requirements

When setting up a new company, or extending your present one, it is almost a guaranteed fact that you will need to rely on credit to get where you want to go. 9 Total Points
  • Lesson 6 Video
  • Assessment: Quiz for Lesson 6 - Business Credit Requirements

Lesson 7: Business Credit Administration Ensuring Business Credit Approval

Being able to keep your business solvent is at the end of the day the most important thing for a business owner. 10 Total Points
  • Lesson 7 Video
  • Assessment: Quiz for Lesson 7 - Business Credit Administration Ensuring Business Credit Approval

Lesson 8: Preparing a Business Plan

Between the point where you are a potential businessperson and where you are an actual businessperson, there is a lot of ground to cover if you want the business to succeed. 9 Total Points
  • Lesson 8 Video
  • Lesson discussions: Business Plan
  • Assessment: Quiz for Lesson 8 - Preparing Business Plan

Lesson 9: Business Credit Without Personal Guarantees

The undeniable fact is that you will only get so far just using the profits of your business. 12 Total Points
  • Lesson 9 Video
  • Complete: Lesson 9 Assignment
  • Assessment: Quiz for Lesson 9 - Business Credit Without Personal Guarantees

Lesson 10: Managing Business Debt

In business you will have times that require some funding to see you through, and to secure this funding there may be a need to take out lines of credit. It becomes less a matter of avoiding business debt because such a thing is more or less impos 10 Total Points
  • Lesson 10 Video
  • Complete: Lesson 10 Activity: Managing Business Debt
  • Assessment: Quiz for Lesson 10 - Managing Business Debt

Lesson 11: Maintaining an Active Business Credit Profile

A bit of ambition is important in the world of business, and this ambition often characterizes itself in being prepared to take out lines of credit that might be necessary to keep a business going, or desirable in order to improve a business. 10 Total Points
  • Lesson 11 Video
  • Assessment: Quiz for Lesson 11 - Maintaining An Active Business Credit Profile

Lesson 12 - Taxation And Business Credit

In business, because a business can be handed over from one person to the next upon their death, the only thing that taxes 12 Total Points
  • Lesson 12 Video
  • Lesson discussions: EIN
  • Complete: Lesson 12 Assignment
  • Assessment: Quiz for Lesson 12 - Taxation And Business Credit

Lesson 13: Business Credit Pitfalls

Several business credit pitfalls are discussed. 73 Total Points
  • Lesson 13 Video
  • Lesson discussions: Let us know what you think of this course; Program Evaluation Follow-up Survey (End of Course); Course Comments
  • Assessment: Quiz for Lesson 13 - Business Credit Pitfalls
  • Assessment: The Final Exam
197
Total Course Points
 

Learning Outcomes

By successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
  • Define what business credit is and why it is important to the success of any business.
  • Describe the credit bureaus for business credit.
  • Describe the procedures involved in establishing business credit.
  • Describe the legal business entities that best avoid personal financial liability.
  • Describe the requirements to establish business credit.
  • Describe the methods used to better ensure business credit approval.
  • Describe the procedures to develop a business plan.
  • Describe different types of business credit available for your business.
  • Describe common techniques to manage company debt.
  • Describe the implications of taxes on business credit.
  • Demonstrate mastery of lesson content at levels of 70% or higher.
 

Additional Course Information

Online CEU Certificate
  • Document Your Lifelong Learning Achievements
  • Earn an Official Certificate Documenting Course Hours and CEUs
  • Verify Your Certificate with a Unique Serial Number Online
  • View and Share Your Certificate Online or Download/Print as PDF
  • Display Your Certificate on Your Resume and Promote Your Achievements Using Social Media
Document Your CEUs on Your Resume
 
Course Title: Business Credit 101
Course Number: 8900053
Lessons Rating: 4.6 / 5 Stars (1,209 votes)
Languages: English - United States, Canada and other English speaking countries
Availability: This course is online and available in all 50 states including: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Texas.
Last Updated: October 2022
Course Type: Self-Paced, Online Class
CEU Value: 0.3 IACET CEUs (Continuing Education Units)
CE Accreditation: Universal Class, Inc. has been accredited as an Authorized Provider by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET).
Grading Policy: Earn a final grade of 70% or higher to receive an online/downloadable CEU Certification documenting CEUs earned.
Assessment Method: Lesson assignments and review exams
Instructor: John Chouinard
Syllabus: View Syllabus
Course Fee: $95.00 U.S. dollars

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Student Testimonials

  • "I think this course was Awesome. It supplied so much information I didn't know before. It helped me in understanding what methods I should and should not do. I would definitely recommend Universal Class!" -- Sherry M.
  • "Mr. John Chouinard is an Outstanding instructor. He is very encouraging, engaging, and present as an instructor. He makes the material come alive!" -- Dl L.
  • "I enjoyed this course immensely! Thank you for providing this! It helped so much!" -- Jami D.
  • "The content provided for this lesson was well articulated and thus easy to understand." -- Anna N.
  • "I enjoyed this course and the feedback I got from the instructor. Thank you." -- Kareen L.

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