Credit ratings apply to companies, organizations and government entities. Your credit score as a person is your credit rating. Because credit ratings are a big deal for companies and large organizations they are determined by regulated credit rating agencies and the process of gaining a credit rating takes management time and effort and a substantial fee that the company pays to get the credit rating. The credit rating of a company is a way of expressing its credit worthiness, in other words if a company were to borrow money the credit rating would give an indication of the certainty or lack thereof that the company repays the debt. Credit ratings range from triple A which is referred to as investment grade to D or triple D which is referred to as junk. There are three main credit rating agencies, Fitch, Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s.
