How to Check Your Business Credit Score: A Step-by-Step Guide

You can check your business credit score by visiting one of the three major business credit bureaus — Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, or Equifax — directly, or by using a multi-bureau platform like Nav that shows all your scores in one place. Some options are free; others charge a one-time or subscription fee.

Quick Answer: Where to Check Your Business Credit Score

Not everyone needs the full walkthrough. Here's a fast reference table if you already know the basics and just need to know where to go.

Bureau	Score Name	Free Option	Paid Option
Dun & Bradstreet	PAYDEX	Nav (summary/grade)	D&B Direct
Experian	Intelliscore Plus	Nav (summary/grade)	Experian.com
Equifax	Business Credit Risk Score	Nav (summary/grade)	Equifax Business
FICO	SBSS Score	Limited availability	Nav Prime
Bank of America clients	Two D&B scores	Free via BofA Business Advantage 360	N/A

If you want the full picture — score ranges, what affects your score, and what to do if your business has no score yet — keep reading.

What Is a Business Credit Score?

A business credit score measures how reliably your business pays its financial obligations. Lenders, suppliers, and vendors use it to decide whether to extend credit, what terms to offer, and at what interest rate.

Think of it as your business's financial reputation — separate from yours personally.

How It Differs from a Personal Credit Score

Personal credit scores (like FICO's consumer score) track your individual payment history. Business credit scores track your company's. They use different score ranges, different bureaus, and different calculation methods. They are not interchangeable.

One important difference: personal credit checks require your consent. Business credit scores do not. Any lender, supplier, or even competitor can pull your business credit report without notifying you. That's worth keeping in mind.

Who Can Access Your Business Credit Score

Practically anyone. Banks assessing a loan application, suppliers deciding on net-30 terms, insurance underwriters setting commercial premiums, and even companies vetting a potential vendor relationship — all of them can and do pull business credit reports. In practice, most small business owners are surprised to learn how openly accessible this information is.

Which Bureaus Issue Business Credit Scores?

Four main sources produce business credit scores. Each uses its own model, its own data, and its own score range. They cannot be compared directly across bureaus.

Dun & Bradstreet — PAYDEX Score

The PAYDEX score is one of the most widely used business credit scores, particularly among suppliers and vendors deciding on trade credit terms.

As noted on Wikipedia's entry on PAYDEX, unlike personal credit scores which consider many factors, the PAYDEX is calculated based on a single factor: whether a business pays its suppliers "as agreed" or "better than agreed" — meaning on time or early. It scores from 1 to 100.

PAYDEX Score Range

Score	Risk Level
80–100	Low risk
50–79	Moderate risk
1–49	High risk

One nuance here: paying on time only earns you an 80. To reach 100, you need to pay early. That's a higher bar than most people expect.

Experian — Intelliscore Plus

Experian's Intelliscore Plus also runs from 1 to 100, where a higher score means lower risk. Over 800 variables can factor into this score, including tradelines, public filings, new account activity, and key financial ratios. It's more multi-dimensional than PAYDEX.

Intelliscore Plus Score Range

Score	Risk Level
76–100	Low risk
51–75	Low-moderate risk
26–50	Medium risk
11–25	High risk
1–10	Very high risk

Equifax — Business Credit Risk Score

Equifax issues a Business Credit Risk Score that predicts the likelihood of serious delinquency. The range runs from 101 to 992 — a different scale entirely from D&B and Experian.

Business Credit Risk Score Range

Score	Risk Indication
892–992	Low risk
593–891	Medium risk
101–592	High risk

FICO — Small Business Scoring Service (SBSS)

The FICO SBSS score is a blended score — it pulls from both your business credit history and your personal credit. It ranges from 0 to 300. Historically, it was used by SBA lenders to pre-screen 7(a) Small Loan applications. However, effective March 1, 2026, the SBA eliminated the SBSS score requirement for 7(a) Small Loans.

Individual lenders may still use it internally, but it is no longer a standardized SBA pre-screening tool as of that date.

If you are applying for a small business loan, check with your specific lender on which scores and criteria they currently use in their evaluation process.

What Factors Affect Your Business Credit Score?

Payment history carries the most weight across all bureaus. But it's not the only thing being evaluated. Here's a practical breakdown:

Factor	Why It Matters	Bureaus It Affects
Payment history	Core indicator of financial reliability	All bureaus
Age of credit history	Older accounts signal stability	All bureaus
Debt and utilization	High balances signal financial strain	Experian, Equifax
Industry risk	Some industries are statistically higher risk	All bureaus
Company size	Larger companies may be seen as more stable	D&B, Experian
Public records (liens, judgments, bankruptcies)	Negative records lower scores sharply	All bureaus
Number of active tradelines	Thin credit files generate weaker or no scores	D&B especially

What's often overlooked is the industry risk factor. Two businesses with identical payment histories can have different scores simply because one operates in a sector historically associated with higher default rates.

Step-by-Step: How to Check Your Business Credit Score

Step 1 — Confirm Your Business Has a DUNS Number

If you want a D&B PAYDEX score, your business needs a D-U-N-S number first. This is a free, unique identifier assigned by Dun & Bradstreet. Without it, D&B has no way to track your business's payment activity. You can request one at no cost directly through the D&B website.

Step 2 — Gather Your Business Information

Before checking any bureau, have the following ready:

Legal business name
Business address
EIN (Employer Identification Number)
D-U-N-S number (for D&B)
Business phone number

Mismatched details across bureaus are a common cause of incomplete or inaccurate reports. Consistency matters.

Step 3 — Decide: Check Each Bureau Directly or Use a Multi-Bureau Platform

Both approaches work. Checking directly gives you the most detailed, official report from each bureau. Using a platform like Nav lets you see summaries from all three in one dashboard, which is more practical for regular monitoring.

Step 4 — Check Each Bureau Individually

Dun & Bradstreet: Visit dnb.com and search using your D-U-N-S number or business name
Experian: Visit experian.com/business and search by company name or address
Equifax: Visit equifax.com/business and search by business name

Paid reports give you the full score and detailed tradeline history. Free options (where available) typically provide a summary or grade.

Step 5 — Check All Bureaus in One Place

Platforms like Nav aggregate business credit data from Experian, Equifax, and D&B into a single dashboard. Free accounts show summaries and score ranges. Paid tiers unlock full scores and monitoring alerts.

As reported by CNBC, free services do exist for checking your business credit score, but they typically won't give you the full picture — paid options are usually needed for complete report access.

Bank of America business clients can also access two D&B scores for free through Business Advantage 360 — though this is limited to eligible account holders only.

Step 6 — Review Your Report for Errors

Once you have your report, go through it carefully. Check that tradelines are accurate, that public records are correct, and that your business information matches across bureaus. Errors are more common than most people assume — and they can drag down your score quietly for months before you notice.

Free vs. Paid Ways to Check Your Business Credit Score

Option	Cost	Bureaus Covered	What You Get
Nav (free tier)	Free	Experian, Equifax, D&B	Score summaries + letter grade
BofA Business Advantage 360	Free (eligible clients only)	D&B	Two D&B scores
Experian CreditScore Report	$59.95 one-time	Experian	Full report + score
Experian Business Credit Advantage	$199/year	Experian	Monitoring + unlimited access
Nav Prime	Paid subscription	All 3 + FICO SBSS	Full scores + alerts
D&B Direct	Paid	D&B	Full PAYDEX report

In practice, most small business owners start with Nav's free tier to get a general sense of where they stand, then move to paid options when they're preparing for a loan application or vendor negotiation.

How to Check Another Business's Credit Score

You might not always be checking your own score. Businesses routinely check the credit of suppliers, customers, or potential partners before entering into credit agreements.

When and Why You Might Check a Vendor or Customer's Score

If you're planning to extend net-30 or net-60 payment terms to another business, checking their credit first is standard risk management. It tells you how likely they are to pay on time — and whether you need to adjust your terms or request upfront payment instead.

How to Run a Business Credit Check on Another Company

The process is largely the same. Use Experian's business portal, D&B's site, or a platform like Nav — search by the company's legal name and location. Because business credit scores are publicly accessible, no consent is required from the company you're checking.

What Is a Good Business Credit Score?

There's no single universal "good" threshold — it depends on the bureau and the context. Here's a general reference:

Bureau	Score Range	"Good" Threshold
D&B PAYDEX	1–100	80 or above
Experian Intelliscore Plus	1–100	76 or above
Equifax Business Credit Risk	101–992	892 or above
FICO SBSS	0–300	160+ (lender-dependent)

A low score doesn't just make loans harder to get. Vendors may offer shorter payment windows, insurers may charge higher premiums, and some suppliers may require deposits upfront.

What If Your Business Has No Credit Score Yet?

New businesses often have no score at all. That's not the same as a bad score — but it does create friction when trying to get financing or favorable trade terms.

Why New Businesses May Not Have a Score

Bureaus need data to generate a score. If your business hasn't opened any trade accounts, taken on credit, or had vendors report payment activity, there's simply nothing to score. D&B also requires at least a few active tradelines before it will generate a PAYDEX score.

How to Get a DUNS Number

Go directly to dnb.com and register your business. The process is free and typically takes a few business days. Once you have a DUNS number, D&B can begin tracking your business's payment activity.

First Steps to Establish Business Credit

Register your business as a legal entity (LLC, corporation, etc.) with its own EIN
Open a dedicated business bank account
Apply for a business credit card or a small business line of credit
Work with vendors that report payment activity to business credit bureaus
Pay all accounts on time — or early when possible

It generally takes six months to a year of consistent payment activity before a meaningful business credit score is established. That timeline varies depending on how many accounts you open and how frequently those vendors report.

How to Improve Your Business Credit Score

Pay on Time — or Early

This is the most straightforward lever. Payment history is the dominant factor across all bureaus. For D&B specifically, paying early (rather than just on time) is the only way to reach a perfect PAYDEX score of 100.

Open and Maintain Active Trade Lines

A thin credit file — one or two accounts — produces a weaker score than a file with several active, well-managed accounts. Aim for at least three open tradelines that report to the bureaus. Not all vendors report automatically, so it's worth asking suppliers whether they do.

Keep Debt Levels Manageable

High outstanding balances relative to your credit limits signal financial stress, particularly to Experian and Equifax. Keeping utilization low — even if you have access to significant credit — generally supports a stronger score.

Dispute Errors on Your Business Credit Report

Each bureau has a formal dispute process. If you find inaccurate tradelines, incorrect public records, or outdated information, filing a dispute is both your right and your practical best interest. Errors left uncorrected continue affecting your score until they're removed.

Monitor Your Reports Regularly

Business credit reports can change without notification. New accounts can appear, errors can surface, and inquiries from lenders or suppliers happen constantly. Setting up monitoring — either through a bureau's own service or a third-party platform — gives you visibility before a problem affects a loan decision or supplier negotiation.

Conclusion

Checking your business credit score is a straightforward process once you know which bureaus to use and what options are available. Start with a free summary, understand which score matters most for your situation, and make a habit of reviewing your reports for accuracy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I check my business credit score for free?

Yes. Platforms like Nav offer free business credit summaries from Experian, Equifax, and D&B. Bank of America business clients can also access two D&B scores for free through Business Advantage 360. Full detailed reports typically require a paid option.

Does checking my own business credit score affect it?

No. Checking your own business credit score is a soft inquiry and does not negatively impact your score at any bureau.

Can someone check my business credit score without my permission?

Yes. Unlike personal credit, business credit scores are publicly accessible. Lenders, suppliers, insurers, and other companies can pull your business credit report without notifying you or getting your consent.

How long does it take to build a business credit score?

Most businesses need at least six months to a year of consistent payment activity across multiple tradelines before a meaningful score is established. The exact timeline depends on how many accounts you open and whether your vendors report to the bureaus.

Is my personal credit score linked to my business credit score?

They are separate scores. However, the FICO SBSS score blends both personal and business credit data. Some lenders also review your personal credit when evaluating a small business loan application, particularly for newer businesses with thin credit files.