If you have shied away from business credit cards because you equate them with personal credit cards and all of the associated risks, you may want to reconsider. While it is true that the misuse of business credit cards can lead to inappropriate and out of control business debt, with responsible use, business credit cards can benefit your business.

Let's take a look at five benefits of business credit cards for building business credit.

1. One main reason why business credit cards might be right for your business is that they can be an effective way to build business credit. If you pay your business credit card bills on time, they can contribute to a positive credit rating. In addition to prompt payment, you also want to keep the ratio of your debt to credit limit low. Your goal should be to use no more than your half of your credit limit. If your business is relatively new, the responsible use of business credit cards might be one of your first steps in building business credit. Even if your business is established and you find your credit rating not quite measuring up, business credit cards might be the step toward an improved score.
2. Recordkeeping is an under appreciated benefit of business credit cards. Every charge you make on your business credit card is recorded and reported back to you in your monthly statement. And often these statements can then be downloaded and imported into your accounting software. Not only is this time-saving, but it can help improve overall accuracy since you do not have to manually enter the data. In addition to monthly statements, you can reference quarterly and annual summaries of your business credit card activity. This can give you much needed insight about your business's expenses. These summaries quickly show you how much you have spent and for what. This means that you can then more accurately prepare your budget and complete your tax returns.
3. Planning for the unexpected may seem contradictory, but this is yet another good reason to have business credit cards. Every now and then every business will be confronted with some unexpected expense. Usually, these unexpected expenses can be handled without putting a strain on the cash flow. Sometimes, however, a business credit card can provide a little cushion between the time the expense is incurred and the time it needs to be paid. It is important to remember, however, that even these charges need to be taken care of in a timely manner or you might jeopardize your business credit rating.
4. If you don't have a business credit card, you might be tempted to use your personal credit card for miscellaneous and unexpected expenses. Of course, this is not a good idea, so another chief benefit of having business credit cards is that they will help keep your business and personal credit separate.
5. Finally, there are the rewards. These rewards will vary from card to card, but some typical ones are discounts and rebates. Why pay more when you can don't have to? By using your business credit cards you can sometimes get from a 3 to 5 percent discount on your purchases, so it just makes good business sense to use the card. As always, you must remember to pay on time, or the benefit will be lost to interest.

If you pay your business credit card bills on time and keep a close watch on your credit limits, you might find that business credit cards can actually save you money and can improve your efficiency. So if you have hesitated to use business credit cards, you might want to take another look at your options and consider the benefits.