You can get a business credit report by ordering one directly from the three commercial credit bureaus: Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, or Equifax Business. Each sells reports through its own website, and each offers at least some free access when you’re checking your own company’s file. Unlike personal credit, business credit reports are not restricted by federal privacy law, so you can also buy a report on another company, such as a customer or supplier, without that company’s permission.
What You Need Before You Order
Pulling the right file depends on identifying the right business. Have the company’s exact legal name as registered with the state and its current physical address ready. Small differences in spelling or address can match you to a similarly named entity or a subsidiary with its own separate obligations.
The nine-digit Employer Identification Number (EIN) assigned by the IRS is the primary identifier most agencies use to match a search to a file. If the business doesn’t have one, you can apply online through the IRS and receive it immediately at no charge.1Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
A D-U-N-S number — a nine-digit code assigned by Dun & Bradstreet — is the key identifier inside the D&B system and is required if you plan to pursue federal contracts.2HeadStart.gov. Number Guide for Government Contractors and Grantees: DUNS You can request one for free through D&B’s website by entering your business name, address, phone number, legal structure, and industry. The free option takes up to 30 business days; expedited processing is available for a fee and delivers the number within eight business days.3Dun & Bradstreet. Get a D-U-N-S Number
Free Ways to Check Your Own Business Credit
If the file you want to see is your own, start with the free tools. They won’t match a paid report for depth, but they’re enough for a routine check-in.
- Dun & Bradstreet offers a free Credit Insights plan that shows your PAYDEX score, delinquency score, and failure score. The companion D-U-N-S Profile Manager lets you view your company’s credit file and submit updates at no charge.4Dun & Bradstreet. D-U-N-S Profile Manager Puts You in Control
- Experian provides free access to your business credit report and Intelliscore Plus score through its small-business site.
- Third-party dashboards like Nav pull summary data and letter grades from all three bureaus into a single free view.
To use any of the bureau tools, you’ll need to verify that you’re the owner, officer, or director of the business. Verification usually involves answering knowledge-based questions tied to the company or confirming identifying details on file.
Buying a Detailed Report
When you need the full payment history, public records, and risk analysis — or when you’re checking a company other than your own — you’ll pay for a report. The process is the same in both cases: search for the company by name and location on the bureau’s site, select the right entity from the results, choose a report tier, and complete checkout. The report is usually available for immediate download.
Experian charges $49.95 for a basic credit score report and $59.95 for a comprehensive profile with deeper risk analysis.5Experian. Products and Pricing If you need to check multiple companies, Experian’s annual monitoring subscription runs $199 per year and includes unlimited access to updated scores and daily file monitoring with email alerts.
Dun & Bradstreet has shifted toward subscription access, with plans starting at $49 per month for full visibility into your D&B file, including scores, alerts, and monitoring. Equifax Business does not publish per-report pricing; you have to contact their sales team for a quote.
What the Report Will Show
A business credit report opens with the company’s legal name, address, ownership details, number of employees, and annual sales. From there, the content falls into three sections.6U.S. Small Business Administration. What Makes Up a Small Business Credit Report
- Payment history, covering invoice activity, outstanding balances, payment terms, and credit limits across the past several years.
- Public records, including bankruptcies, tax liens, judgments, collections, and UCC filings that indicate secured debts.
- Credit scores and ratings, calculated with each bureau’s own model.
The scoring scales don’t line up. D&B’s PAYDEX runs 1 to 100, with 80 meaning a company pays on time and anything below 70 showing late payments.7Dun & Bradstreet. PAYDEX FAQs Experian’s Intelliscore Plus also runs 1 to 100, but higher means lower risk, with 76 to 100 considered low risk and 1 to 10 high risk.8Experian. Risk Ranking/Recommendation – Intelliscore Plus Equifax uses a Credit Risk Score ranging from 101 to 992 (higher is better) alongside a Payment Index from 1 to 100.
Because each bureau draws from different vendors, lenders, and public records, a report pulled from one may look quite different from a report pulled from another. If the stakes are high — a large credit line, a major contract, a significant supplier relationship — checking all three gives you the fullest picture.
No One Needs Your Permission to Pull It
Business credit works very differently from personal credit. The Fair Credit Reporting Act defines a “consumer” as an individual, not a business entity.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681a – Definitions; Rules of Construction FCRA protections such as the free annual report, the permissible-purpose requirement, and mandated dispute timelines apply to personal files and generally do not extend to commercial reports.10Comptroller of the Currency. Fair Credit Reporting
In practice, that means any person or company with a credit card can buy a report on your business without telling you. You have no federal right to a free annual business credit report, and the dispute process at each bureau is governed by the bureau’s own policies rather than by statute. Checking your own file regularly is the only way to know what prospective lenders and customers are seeing.
Fixing Errors on the Report
If the report has inaccurate information, each bureau runs its own correction process.
Dun & Bradstreet: Log into the free D-U-N-S Profile Manager and use the dispute function to flag incorrect payment experiences. Access is limited to the company’s owner, director, or officer. D&B reviews the dispute and may contact a registered company officer for verification. If the reporting company doesn’t respond or the data can’t be independently confirmed, the item may stay on the file.4Dun & Bradstreet. D-U-N-S Profile Manager Puts You in Control
Experian Business: If you have a current copy of your report, use the “Submit Data Dispute” button at the bottom of it to open an online form. You can also email the report with a note requesting an investigation to BusinessDisputes@Experian.com. Experian generally completes investigations within 30 days, though complex cases take longer. Routine updates to the business name, address, or executive information can be made directly through Experian’s business portal by an authenticated officer.11Experian. How to Correct or Dispute Information on Your Business Credit Report
Equifax Business: Disputes go through the Equifax business support team by email through the business support page. The team typically responds within 24 hours to begin the process.12Equifax. Business Support
Whichever bureau you’re working with, keep copies of your correspondence and any supporting documentation. No federal statute sets a resolution deadline for business credit disputes, so a paper trail is your best protection if the process stalls.