Business Background Check Cost for Vetting a New Client

You are about to send a proposal or start work for a company you found through a referral, a form fill or a cold inbound. Before you put weeks of labor on credit, you want to know the business is real and pays. The price of finding out varies by a factor of four depending on where you buy the answer.

How much does a business background check cost?

A business background check costs from about $60 to $190 per company if you buy a bureau report, and less per client if you use a monthly plan. The bureaus price per report, so ten clients a month means ten purchases. The figures below are list prices we checked on the sellers' own sites. Confirm current prices before you buy.

What does it cost per client?

Divide the price by the number of clients you check. At 10 new clients a month, Experian CreditScore costs $599.50 and a Dun and Bradstreet snapshot from $1,399.90. ClientVetter Starter is $49, or $4.90 a client at 10 checks and $1.96 at the full 25. At 100 checks a month, the Team plan at $129 includes 120 checks and five seats. Agency is $299 for 400 checks with API access.

What do you get for the money?

A bureau report gives you lender-reported payment history and a credit score where the company has a file. Many small private companies have a thin file or none. A ClientVetter check reads state registry standing, domain age, website and mail records, sanctions screening, public disputes and member non-payment reports with the evidence and the company's reply, then returns a 0 to 100 score, sourced reasons and suggested payment terms. It does not include a bureau credit limit or trade payment data. The two answer different questions. See the full comparison of company credit reports and client risk reports.

Can you check a business for free?

You can confirm that a company is registered by searching the secretary of state site, and our secretary of state search guide shows how. That tells you the entity exists and its status, but it says nothing about disputes, sanctions or whether it pays. Free searches cover the first step. A paid check covers the rest and saves the time of searching five sites by hand.

When is a bureau report worth the extra cost?

Pay for a bureau report when the deal is large, you extend real trade credit for months, or a lender or insurer asks for it. For most project work, a client check on every prospect plus a bureau report on the occasional big deal costs less than a bureau report on everyone. Compare the Dun and Bradstreet alternative, the Creditsafe alternative and the Equifax alternative to see what each bureau sells.

What do you do with the result?

Use it to set terms. A clean result supports standard net-30 billing. A weak or unclear one is a reason to ask for a deposit, bill by milestone or shorten the invoice cycle. Once the terms are agreed, a tool for writing the proposal from the client brief turns the decision into a document quickly. The pricing page lists every plan, and business background checks explains each part of the report.