The Benefits of Having a Business Credit Card

Whether you have a home business that you work alone or you have a larger company with several employees, a business credit card can be a valuable asset. It's a way to keep your business and personal expenses separate - vital for bookkeeping and taxes! But there are more benefits as well.

You probably have a credit score of your own. Your business needs one too. Having a credit card for your business allows it to build up a score.

A business credit card greatly simplifies how you spend for your business. You won't have to rely on writing out checks in advance for everything, and you can authorize trusted employees to make necessary purchases on the business credit card. While these obviously need to be well tracked, it saves you the hassle of coping with checks.

The benefit to your bookkeeping is quite clear. When you receive your statement, all purchases are there to be verified. Many credit cards offer special reporting for businesses, so that you can keep better track of your spending. Having the credit card record gives your accountant one more tool to work with.

You can also benefit from the rewards your business credit card may offer. You can earn travel, points and so forth, just as with other credit cards. While these may not be worthwhile if you carry a balance, if you pay off every month you have a definite benefit. Just make sure that you know the balance between what you would be paying in interest with and without rewards.

Company credit cards are not just for big companies. Big companies use them because they are convenient and make bookkeeping and spending easier, so that less time is wasted. Credit card companies do not require that your company be huge.

You will want to know that for a small business, your personal credit and your business credit can become intertwined. If your business has no credit history, all the company can do is look at your personal credit history to decide if your business is deserving of credit. Through the years this link may or may not become more important. If you're a one-person business, how else are they going to be guaranteed repayment, if not by you personally?

Do not let your concerns about using a business credit card keep you from investigating them. While there is a bit of extra work in keeping up with the payments, the time you save in tracking your business spending should more than make up for this.