First and foremost, a background check is a way to gather information for a wide array of purposes. Background checks provide important pieces of information on others such as their legal name, address of residence, business address, occupation and so much more. Each background check company will perform checks based on their own criteria; therefore you should determine that the company will provide you with all that you need before obtaining a background check on an individual from that company. However, most companies will offer reports which consist of a variety of pieces of information which makes the background check complete and inclusive overall.