Yes, companies have credit scores. Commercial credit bureaus build a file on your business that is separate from your personal credit, score it on their own scales, and sell that information to lenders, vendors, insurers, and anyone else willing to pay. If you have been wondering whether companies have credit scores because you are trying to borrow, win a contract, or set up vendor terms, the short answer is that your business has a credit identity whether you have been managing it or not, and the rules governing it look very little like the consumer credit system most people know.
Who Issues Business Credit Scores
Three organizations dominate commercial credit reporting. Dun & Bradstreet is the only major bureau that focuses exclusively on business credit, which makes it the default reference for many lenders and government agencies. Experian and Equifax, better known for consumer reporting, each operate separate commercial divisions that track business payment behavior, public filings, and financial data independently from their personal credit files.
A fourth score, the FICO Small Business Scoring Service (SBSS), has historically mattered for government-backed lending. The SBSS pulls data from consumer bureaus, business bureaus, and the loan application itself to produce a single score on a 0-to-300 scale. The SBA formerly required a minimum SBSS score of 165 for 7(a) Small Loans, but effective March 1, 2026, the SBA is discontinuing the SBSS requirement entirely.1U.S. Small Business Administration. 7(a) Loan Program Federally regulated lenders will underwrite those loans using their own commercial credit analysis, consistent with how they evaluate non-SBA loans of similar size. Individual lenders may still check SBSS scores, but there is no longer a universal floor.
How Business Credit Differs From Personal Credit
The differences go well beyond the number on the report. Personal credit scores range from 300 to 850 and are tightly regulated by federal law. Most business credit scores use a 0-to-100 or similarly compressed scale, and the protections consumers take for granted do not carry over.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act defines a “consumer” as an individual and limits its protections to reports used for personal, family, or household purposes.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681a – Definitions; Rules of Construction Business credit reports fall outside that definition. The practical consequences are significant. No federal law requires bureaus to give you a free annual copy of your business report. No law limits who can pull a report on your company. The dispute process has fewer mandatory timelines. Competitors, prospective customers, and potential partners can all buy a report on your business without asking you.
The Main Scoring Models
Each bureau uses different models with different ranges, which means your company might look strong on one report and mediocre on another.
Dun and Bradstreet Paydex
The Paydex is the most widely referenced business credit score. It runs from 0 to 100 and measures one thing: how quickly you pay your bills relative to agreed terms. A score of 80 means you pay on time. Scores above 80 indicate early payment. Scores below 80 reflect increasingly late payments, with a 70 meaning roughly 15 days past terms and anything below 50 signaling 30 or more days overdue.3Dun & Bradstreet. Business Credit Scores and Ratings Because the Paydex relies entirely on trade payment data reported to D&B, a company with only one or two reporting vendors may have a volatile score.
D&B also publishes a Failure Score (formerly the Financial Stress Score) that predicts the likelihood a business will seek bankruptcy protection or shut down without paying all creditors within the next 12 months. It draws on financial ratios, public filings, lawsuit data, and demographic factors rather than payment data alone.4Dun & Bradstreet. D&B Failure Score
Experian Business Credit Score
Experian’s flagship commercial score also runs from 0 to 100 and breaks into risk tiers: 0 to 15 is high risk, 16 to 30 is medium risk, 31 to 80 reflects good credit, and 80 to 100 is excellent. The inputs are broader than the Paydex. Experian factors in credit utilization, outstanding balances, collection activity, bankruptcies, liens, time in business, and the company’s Standard Industry Classification code. Experian also publishes a Financial Stability Risk Rating on a 1-to-5 scale estimating the probability of severe financial distress or bankruptcy in the coming year.
Equifax Business Scores
Equifax uses two primary models. The Business Credit Risk Score ranges from 101 to 992, where lower is worse, and predicts the chance of a 90-day delinquency or charge-off within 12 months. The Business Failure Score ranges from 1,000 to 1,610 and estimates the probability of formal or informal bankruptcy in the next year. The unconventional ranges catch owners off guard. A score of 500 sounds fine until you remember the scale starts at 101.
What Actually Moves the Score
Payment history dominates every model. Paying invoices on time or early is the single fastest way to push scores upward, and late payments do more damage than almost any other factor. Several other variables carry real weight.
Credit utilization measures how much of your available credit you are actively using across all lines. High utilization across multiple accounts signals strain, and bureaus respond accordingly. The age of the business matters too. Longer operating histories produce higher scores because they give bureaus more data to work with and suggest stability.
Industry classification is a factor many business owners overlook. Bureaus and lenders use SIC or NAICS codes to categorize your business, and certain codes carry automatic risk premiums. Restaurants, new construction firms, and some retail categories are statistically more likely to fail, which translates into tighter credit limits and sometimes outright denials regardless of your individual payment record. Making sure your company is classified under the most accurate and lender-friendly code that legitimately applies to your operations can make a real difference.
How to Establish a Business Credit Profile
A business credit file does not appear automatically when you start a company. You need to take several specific steps to create an identity bureaus can track separately from your personal finances.
- Get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. Applications are free and the number is issued immediately upon approval through the IRS website.5Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
- Register your entity with your state. Forming an LLC or corporation creates the legal separation between you and the business. State filing fees for an LLC range from roughly $35 to over $500, with some states adding publication or reporting fees on top.
- Obtain a D-U-N-S Number. This free nine-digit identifier from Dun & Bradstreet is how D&B tracks your company. Many government agencies and large corporations require one before approving a vendor or contractor.6Dun & Bradstreet. Get a D-U-N-S Online
- Open a business bank account using the company’s legal name and EIN. Banks require a verifiable physical address under federal Know Your Customer rules, so a P.O. Box or virtual office address often will not work.
- Use a consistent physical address. Credit bureaus, banks, and many state registration offices prefer or require a street address. Experian recommends using the address that appears on your state incorporation or business license filings, and keeping it consistent across all records.
Building the File Through Vendor Tradelines
Having an EIN and a D-U-N-S Number creates the file, but the file stays empty until someone reports payment data to a bureau. That is where tradelines come in. A tradeline is a credit account that a vendor reports to one or more commercial credit bureaus, and not every vendor reports.
The most common starting point is opening net-30 accounts with suppliers who do report. Net-30 means you receive goods or services now and pay the invoice within 30 days. Office supply companies, shipping and packaging distributors, and industrial suppliers are among the vendors most likely to extend net-30 terms to newer businesses and report payments to Experian, Equifax, or D&B. On-time or early payments then build your commercial history.
The catch is that some well-known vendors do not report at all. Amazon’s Pay by Invoice program, for example, offers net-30 terms but does not report to any business credit bureau. Confirm reporting before opening an account specifically to build credit. Three to five reporting tradelines give bureaus enough data to generate meaningful scores, and consistency matters more than volume.
What a Business Credit Report Contains
A business credit report is more than a number. It is a detailed profile of the company’s financial and legal history, and anyone reviewing it gets a surprisingly comprehensive picture.
Reports typically include UCC-1 financing statements, the public filings lenders make to declare a security interest in a company’s assets. An equipment loan or a line of credit secured by inventory almost certainly produced one. These filings are not inherently negative; they simply indicate collateralized debt. Reports also list tax liens, civil judgments, and bankruptcy filings, all of which can severely damage a company’s ability to secure credit.
Beyond legal filings, reports contain operational data like employee count, annual revenue, and years in business. If the company has voluntarily shared financial statements with a bureau, those are summarized as well.
Negative items stick around longer than many owners expect. On Experian’s commercial reports, bankruptcies remain for nine years and nine months, while judgments and tax liens remain for six years and nine months.7Experian. How Long Does Data Stay on Your Business Credit Report Because the FCRA does not govern business reports, there is no federal mechanism to force earlier removal of accurate negative information.
How to See Your Own Report and Fix Errors
No federal law entitles business owners to a free annual report, so accessing your commercial credit data usually costs money. Experian sells single business credit reports starting at $59.95, with annual monitoring subscriptions running $199 per year.8Experian. Business Credit Report – Run a Free Company Search Equifax reports are available through third-party resellers, typically ranging from about $24 to $41 per report.
Dun & Bradstreet is the exception. Through its D-U-N-S Profile Manager, U.S.-based businesses can view information in their credit file for free and request updates to company data like address, employee count, and annual revenue.9Dun & Bradstreet. About the D-U-N-S Profile Manager The same portal is where you dispute incorrect late payment data on your D&B file.
Because these reports are open to anyone who pays, regular monitoring is worth the cost. Errors in your file, including a misreported late payment, an outdated lien that has been released, or data mixed in from a different company with a similar name, can quietly damage your creditworthiness without you ever noticing.
When you do find a problem, each bureau runs its own dispute process. Experian accepts disputes through an online form at the bottom of the report, or by email with a written explanation. Investigations are generally completed within 30 days, though complex cases take longer, and if changes are made you receive a complimentary updated report.10Experian. How to Correct or Dispute Information on Your Business Credit Report Gather supporting documentation before you start: cancelled checks, lien release certificates, or corrected invoices from the vendor. The burden of proof falls on you, and unlike the consumer process the bureau has no statutory obligation to investigate within a fixed window.
Where Business Credit Still Touches Personal Credit
One of the most common misconceptions about business credit is that it stays completely separate from the owner’s personal finances. In practice, the line blurs in two important ways.
Personal Guarantees
Most small business loans and credit cards require the owner to sign a personal guarantee. If the business cannot pay, the owner is personally liable. For SBA-guaranteed loans, a personal guarantee from every owner with at least a 20 percent stake is standard and generally non-negotiable. If the business defaults on guaranteed debt and the matter goes to collections or results in a judgment, that activity can appear on the owner’s personal credit report regardless of whose name was on the original account.
Business Credit Card Reporting
Several major card issuers report business card activity to personal credit bureaus under certain conditions. American Express, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo report negative information like late payments. Chase and U.S. Bank report accounts only when they become seriously delinquent. Capital One reports most business card activity to personal bureaus by default, with a few card products limited to negative-only reporting. Even issuers that do not routinely report to consumer bureaus will generally do so if the debt ends up in collections, because the personal guarantee makes it the owner’s debt at that point.
Treat business credit obligations as if they will show up on your personal credit report, because under the wrong circumstances they will. Keeping business accounts current protects both profiles at the same time.