Summary
A credit application form is the document a supplier uses to collect a business customer's company details, contacts, bank details, trade references and signed terms before giving net 30. Use the template, check the references, then set a limit.
- Five sections: Company information, contact details, financial details, trade references, and terms and signatures, with a credit check authorization and a personal guarantee in the last one.
- The decision: Trade credit in the US sits under Regulation B, so tell the applicant your decision within a reasonable time and give written reasons if they ask in writing within 60 days.
- After approval: Paidnice gives every customer a 0 to 100 credit score from how they pay you, on every plan. The score moves with how they pay, so you can review the limit you set from the form against it.
A new customer has placed a first order and asked for net 30. You know the company name, a phone number and nothing else. Allianz Trade's guidance for suppliers is to start conservative and consider prepayment on the first orders until you know more. Here is what to ask for, what to check, and what to do once the account is open.
What is a credit application form?
A credit application form is a document a supplier, bank or lender uses to collect a business's company, financial and reference details so it can judge creditworthiness before extending credit.
For a supplier, the form does two jobs. It collects the facts you need to set trade credit terms and a credit limit. It also gets the customer's signature on your terms, a credit check authorization and, where you want one, a personal guarantee.
A business form asks about the company and its owners. A consumer form asks about one person's income and employment, which is a different document. The form is the first step in a credit policy: the policy says who gets terms and how much, and the form collects what the policy needs.
Free: Payment reminder email templatesCopy the reminder emails for before, on and after the due date.What goes on a business credit application form?
A business credit application form asks for company information, contact details, financial details, trade references, and the terms the customer signs, including the credit limit they want and their signed authorization for a credit check.
The five sections, in the order most forms use:
- Company information: legal business name, trading name, entity type (corporation, LLC, partnership, sole proprietor), tax ID or EIN, years in operation.
- Contact details: billing address, shipping address, phone, email, primary contact, and the accounts payable contact who will receive your invoices.
- Financial details: bank name, branch, account number, annual revenue, and a bank reference you have written permission to contact.
- Trade references: two or three current suppliers, with a contact name, phone and email for each.
- Terms and signatures: requested credit limit, payment terms such as net 30, your terms and conditions, a signed credit check authorization and a personal guarantee.
Levelset's guide to credit applications adds two points. Get written permission before you pull a credit report or contact a bank reference. And when there is a personal guarantee, have the principal sign twice: once for the company, and once as an individual with no business title.
Credit application form template you can copy
The credit application form template below has the five sections a supplier needs, free to copy and download, no sign-up. Copy the fields into your own document, or download it as Word or PDF and add your logo and terms.
The downloads are built from this page in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere. Add your logo and your full terms of trade before you send it.
Business credit application form
Please complete every section. Credit terms are given at the supplier's discretion after the references and signatures below have been checked.
| Legal business name | |
|---|---|
| Trading name (if different) | |
| Entity type | Corporation / LLC / Partnership / Sole proprietor |
| Tax ID or EIN (ABN in Australia, company number and VAT number in the UK) | |
| Years in operation | |
| Owners or directors (name, title, home address) |
| Billing address | |
|---|---|
| Shipping address | |
| Phone | |
| Email for invoices and statements | |
| Primary contact (name and role) | |
| Accounts payable contact (name, phone, email) |
| Bank name and branch | |
|---|---|
| Account name and account number (sort code or BSB where used) | |
| Bank contact for a reference | |
| Annual revenue (turnover) | |
| Expected monthly purchases from us |
| Reference 1 | Supplier name, contact, phone, email, account open since, credit limit, terms |
|---|---|
| Reference 2 | Supplier name, contact, phone, email, account open since, credit limit, terms |
| Reference 3 | Supplier name, contact, phone, email, account open since, credit limit, terms |
| Requested credit limit | |
|---|---|
| Payment terms | Net 14 / Net 30 / Other |
| Terms and conditions | I have read and accept the supplier's terms of trade, including late fees and interest on overdue amounts. |
| Credit check authorization | I authorize the supplier to obtain credit reports on the business and on any person who signs the personal guarantee below, and to contact the bank and trade references given. |
| Personal guarantee | I personally and unconditionally guarantee payment of all amounts owed by the business under this account. Signed as an individual, without a business title. |
| Signed for the business | Name, title, signature, date |
| Signed by the guarantor | Name, signature, date |
What each section of the credit application form is for
| Section | Why a supplier asks | What to do with the answer |
|---|---|---|
| Company information | The exact legal name and entity type are what you invoice, search and, if it comes to it, sue. | Match the name to the company register before you open the account. |
| Contact details | Invoices sent to the wrong person are a common cause of late payment. | Load the accounts payable contact into your ledger as the invoice recipient. |
| Financial details | Revenue and bank details show whether the requested limit is in proportion. | Call the bank reference only with written permission. |
| Trade references | Other suppliers know how this customer actually pays. | Ask each one for the limit, the terms and the days to pay. |
| Terms and signatures | A signed form is your authority to check credit and your evidence of the terms. | File the signed copy with the guarantee. NCS Credit advises updating the application every year or when the customer asks for more credit. |
What should you check before you approve a credit application?
Before you approve a credit application, call the trade references, check the legal name against the company register, pull a bureau report if you use one, and set a first limit in proportion to the expected monthly spend.
Three checks cover most of the risk:
- References. Ask each trade reference when the account opened, the limit, and how many days the customer takes to pay. For a business too new to have a credit history, Dun & Bradstreet suggests asking for owner information from a personal credit bureau, which the signed guarantee makes lawful.
- A bureau report, if you have one. A report on the business entity shows filings, judgments and how it pays other suppliers. The 5 Cs of credit set out what to look for.
- A first limit you can live with. Allianz Trade's rule of thumb is average monthly sales times one or two billing cycles, and its own examples are $20,000 a month on net 30 for a $20,000 to $40,000 limit, and $40,000 a month on net 30 for $40,000 to $60,000, depending on risk. Dun & Bradstreet describes 10% of net worth as a conservative method. How to set a credit limit walks through both.
Then write the limit, the terms and the review date into your ledger. Allianz Trade suggests a review every 6 or 12 months, or quarterly for a high-risk account. If the customer has bought from you before, their own record with you outweighs every reference on the form: see how to check a customer's payment record.
The terms line on the form is a lever. In Paidnice data, the same customer pays a 14-day invoice 9 days sooner than a 30-day invoice, with no rise in unpaid invoices (22,761 customers). Offer net 14 as the default and net 30 on request.
Do you have to tell a business customer you declined their credit application?
In the US, a supplier that declines a trade credit application must notify the applicant within a reasonable time, and must give specific written reasons if the applicant asks in writing within 60 days.
That is the trade credit track in Regulation B under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 12 CFR 1002.9(a)(3)(ii). Notice can be oral or written. Reasons, when requested, must be specific: the same rule says "failed to achieve a qualifying score on the creditor's credit scoring system" is not enough. So decide fast, answer in writing, and keep the reason on file.
The personal guarantee makes a check on the owner lawful. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act a consumer report needs a permissible purpose. An FTC staff opinion finds one where the individual has accepted personal liability for the business debt. The banking agencies' view quoted in it is that an officer who has not guaranteed the debt gives none. Pull a personal report only on guarantors, with their written authorization.
In Australia, the OAIC says a credit provider may use a person's consumer credit report to assess commercial credit, or to assess them as a guarantor, only where that person has consented to the disclosure for that purpose. Put a written consent line on the form for any sole trader, partner, director or guarantor, and name the purpose: assessing credit, the guarantee, and collecting overdue amounts.
How does Paidnice score the customer after you approve them?
Paidnice gives every customer a 0 to 100 credit score built from how they pay you, on every plan. The score moves with how they pay, so you can review the limit you set from the application against it.
- Every contact starts at 100 and loses points for paying late and for the current overdue position. Bands run from Excellent (80) down to High risk (0), and you can tune the penalties.
- You can set a credit limit for each customer in Paidnice, and going over it can trigger an escalation, so a person reviews the account before more credit goes out.
- Bureau checks through Creditsafe are available on the Custom plan, for the entity report at the start.
- The score sits on the customer's page next to their invoices and activity, so the review you promised yourself at 6 or 12 months starts from live data.
Paidnice customers see half as many late invoices in the first 30 days. See the credit scoring page for how the score is built and what it looks like on a customer.
The application is self-reported and one day old by the time you file it. A customer's own payment record with you is stronger evidence, and the credit score is how the limit keeps up with it after the account opens.
Questions about credit application forms
Ask for company, contact, financial and reference details, get a signed authorization and guarantee, check the references, and set a first limit you can raise later.
What do you need for a credit application?
The company's registered name, its entity type, tax ID, addresses and contacts, bank details, annual revenue, two or three trade references, the credit limit and terms requested, and signatures on the terms, the credit check authorization and the personal guarantee.
Who fills out the credit application form?
The customer completes it, usually the owner or the finance contact, and an owner or director signs it. The supplier checks the answers and decides the terms and the limit.
How long does a credit application take?
A trade credit decision should take a few days. The time goes into calling references and running any bureau report. Regulation B sets no fixed number of days for trade credit: it asks a US supplier to notify the applicant within a reasonable time.
Does a business credit application affect my credit score?
A trade application is about the business. A supplier may pull the owner's personal report only with a permissible purpose, which the FTC staff opinion ties to a signed personal guarantee, and with the owner's written authorization.
What happens when a customer goes over the limit on the form?
Stop new orders on credit until the account is back inside the limit or overdue invoices are paid. When to put a customer on credit hold covers the triggers and the wording.
How do you complete a business credit application?
Fill in the five sections: company information, contact details, bank and financial details, two or three trade references, and the credit limit and terms you want. An owner or director then signs the terms, the credit check authorization and the personal guarantee.
About the editorial team
Denym started Paidnice in 2022 after customers paying late left his own business short on payroll. He has led it to $1 billion collected on time across more than 1 million invoices, and writes about credit control, late fees and getting paid on Xero and QuickBooks.
App of the Year