Developed in association with leading edge software organisation, InfoBridge Software, the new service gives instant access to the most comprehensive and high quality UK company credit rating information from Experian.

Available within QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Accountant or QuickBooks Premier software, the integrated software, links to Experian's database of credit information reports on UK limited and non-limited companies to provide a credit score and limit - in one simple and seamless process. This can be used to help set safe trading limits for each customer or supplier, helping to minimise exposure to risk and bad debt.

Small businesses experience serious problems from customers not paying their bills or suppliers, which can result in they themselves going out of business. According to a study published last year by the Credit Management Research Centre (CMRC) at Leeds University Business School, UK SMEs each write off an average of £14,000 in bad debts every year (Source: CMRC). A separate study by BACS estimates that more than a half of SMEs suffer from delayed customer or supplier payments and the total owed in late payments is £16 billion (source: BACS).

Richard Bee, UK managing director, Intuit said: "Our customers were telling us that in today's market, assessing the creditworthiness of new and even existing clients is fundamental to protect their businesses. They want an easy-to-use solution that gives them greater reassurance and can work within QuickBooks. Our new service developed in association with Experian and InfoBridge empowers small businesses with instant access to gain exactly the knowledge that they need to make more profitable business decisions."

Chris Reed, head of alliances and partnerships within Experian's Information Solutions division, said: "The risk of exposure to business failures, bad debt and late payment can be significantly reduced through the use of credit reports. By teaming up with Intuit UK, we are able toto bring the benefits of credit reports to the wider QuickBooks audience, enabling them to take advantage of being pre-warned of difficulties, helping them to reduce their exposure to risk."

Michael Cumby, CEO of InfoBridge Software, said: "We are extremely excited that our technology enables small businesses to have the same competitive advantage in making forward looking business decisions that has been utilised by large organisations for many years. Integrating quality credit information with one of the most widely used software packages for small businesses makes perfect sense to us."