Where and How to Check Your Business Credit Score

Your credit score is an important factor in lending decisions and plays a major role in how much you pay to borrow money. Small business owners, however, need to know the distinction between their personal credit score and business credit score. Not every company has a credit score, but if your business has borrowed before, there’s a good chance it does. Knowing your company’s business credit score and the factors that may impact it is crucially important if you plan to apply for loans or negotiate contracts.

What Is a Business Credit Score?

A business credit score, or commercial credit score, is like a personal credit score in that it’s a number that represents your company’s credibility as a borrower. It’s one important factor that lenders use to determine your eligibility for financing and the interest rates you’ll pay. Unlike a personal credit score, which is scored on a 300-850 scale, business credit is scored from 0-100, with a higher score indicating a better payment history.

Your company would only have a business credit score if you’ve established some kind of credit, like a traditional loan, a business credit card, or set up vendor accounts. You can improve your credit by paying your debts on time and establishing a history of keeping your accounts in good standing.

How Do I Check My Business Credit Score?

It’s important to have the correct information handy to ensure you’re viewing the most accurate information. While the exact requirements may vary depending on the credit bureau or service provider, you’ll typically need:

• Business name: You’ll need the legal name of the business, exactly as it appears on your registration documents. This ensures you’re accessing the correct credit file.
• Employer Identification Number (EIN): For U.S. businesses, the EIN is a unique identifier similar to a personal Social Security Number, and it’s commonly used in business credit reports.
• Business address: The business’s registered address (including city, state, and country) must match the business’s credit report.
• State registration number: In some cases, providing additional business registration details from your state may help locate or verify your business credit information.
• Business bank account information: Some credit reporting agencies may request your business bank account details to verify financial activity.
• Trade references: For a more thorough credit evaluation, certain agencies may require trade references from suppliers or vendors who can vouch for your payment history​.

By having these key details ready, you’ll ensure that you access the most accurate and up-to-date credit information from any of the major business credit bureaus.

Where Do I Check My Business Credit Score?

You can find your business credit score by checking one of the three main business credit bureaus — Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, or Equifax Business — or through several third-party services. Many banks offer free business credit reports as a perk for customers. If you don’t have access to a free service, each credit bureau offers its own processes.

Dun & Bradstreet

Dun & Bradstreet works exclusively with businesses, rather than consumers. The company offers three Credit Insights programs for businesses to monitor and manage their credit.

• D&B Credit Insights Free: Dun & Bradstreet’s free service allows you to sign up for alerts after changes to your Paydex Score, Delinquency Score, Failure Score, or Supplier Evaluation Risk (SER®). The service also provides payment history summaries and alerts about new inquiries made on your report.
• D&B Credit Insights Basic: Dun & Bradstreet’s first paid tier includes everything in the free tier, plus nonstop monitoring of six D&B scores, ratings, and factors — including your D&B Rating and Maximum Credit Recommendation. You also get access to historical rating trends. Basic costs $49 per month or $499 per year.
• D&B Credit Insights Plus: Dun & Bradstreet’s top tier includes everything from the free and basic plans, plus dark web monitoring, the option to include additional data in your credit file, and the option to compare your ratings to competitors. Plus costs $149 per month or $1,499 per year.

Visit D&B’s website to sign up for any of these accounts. When signing up for any credit agency’s monitoring services, you’ll typically have to provide some basic business information, such as your company’s name, address, and EIN. Additionally, businesses need a D-U-N-S number to access D&B’s services. You can apply for a D-U-N-S number for free, which is used to track your company’s credit activity.

Experian Business

Experian Business offers four paid services to check your business credit score or monitor your business credit report:

• CreditScore Report: A one-time look at your business credit score and business profile for a $39.95 fee.
• ProfilePlus Report: A one-time comprehensive business credit score report that includes information on credit inquiries and tradeline data for a $49.95 fee.
• Business Credit Advantage: An annual plan that offers unlimited business credit score access, credit alerts, ongoing tracking, and more for $189 per year.
• Business CreditScore Pro: The most comprehensive plan allows you to view reports for up to 30 businesses each month for $1,495 per year.

You can sign up for any of these plans at Experian’s website.

Equifax Business

Equifax Business lets you order a single business credit report or a multi-pack of five reports on its website. A single report costs $99.95, but the multi-pack gives you a free extra report for a $399.95 cost. Business reports from Equifax include a company profile, credit summary, details on public records, Equifax business risk scores, and a unique Business Failure Score, which predicts a business’s bankruptcy risk.

Nav

Nav offers a comprehensive credit monitoring service that pulls credit scores from Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax. When you sign up online or through the mobile app, you can get free access to summary reports and credit grades from each bureau, as well as your personal credit score. For more detailed monitoring, Nav’s Business Boost plan includes identity theft protection, FICO SBSS score, and tradeline reporting, which can help build your credit by reporting your Nav payments to credit bureaus​. It’s available for $49.99 per month.

CreditSafe

CreditSafe offers real-time business credit monitoring with a global reach, making it a useful option for businesses with international operations. With CreditSafe, businesses can monitor their own credit profiles and assess potential partners or suppliers. Pricing starts at $69 per month.

What Factors Impact My Business Credit Score?

There are several key factors that determine your business credit score. These include:

• Time in business: A longer business history typically results in a higher credit score, as it demonstrates stability and reliability.
• Assets: The value of your business’s assets can impact your credit score. Lenders may view businesses with substantial assets as lower risk, which can positively influence your score.
• Industry type: Some industries are considered riskier than others, which can affect your business credit score. High-risk industries may face challenges in obtaining favorable credit terms.
• Size of the company: Larger companies with more extensive operations often have better credit scores, as they tend to have more established credit histories and a higher likelihood of meeting their financial obligations.
• Public records: Bankruptcies, tax liens, and judgments can negatively impact your business credit score. Addressing and resolving any public record issues is crucial for improving your score.
• Outstanding debt: High levels of debt, especially relative to your company’s revenue, can lower your business credit score. Aim to maintain a manageable debt load to positively influence your credit rating.
• Payment history: Timely payments to suppliers, vendors, and creditors are crucial for maintaining a good business credit score. Late or missed payments can significantly damage your credit standing.

Why Is Having a Good Business Credit Score Important?

Just like a personal credit score, your business credit score will help you get lower interest rates on loans, better terms on credit cards, and even better insurance premiums. Joe Braier, President and CEO of M&A advisors firm, Lake Country Advisors, states it plainly: “Believe it or not, that gap [between personal and business credit] can represent 2 to 4 less percentage points on a commercial loan rate. In terms of a $1 million loan, this would equate to $20,000 to $40,000 saved on a yearly basis.”

Furthermore, a good credit score will help you get better terms with new vendors or suppliers. Braier says, “Vendors who have a clear view of reliable payment history are more prone to issue better pricing and priority fulfillment for supply when it gets tight.”

A good business credit score demonstrates financial stability and creditworthiness, both to potential lenders and to business partners, before they enter into a working relationship with your company.

Why Is It Important To Monitor My Business Credit Score?

Beyond having a solid idea of what kind of business financing you could qualify for, regular checks are an important security measure. Sudden dips could be an indicator of business identity theft or fraudulent activity. 

Sometimes, reporting agencies make mistakes, such as outdated information or discrepancies. One Consumer Reports study of personal credit reports found that nearly half of the participants found at least one error on their report. Monitoring your credit report will help you catch and rectify mistakes quickly, and provide insight into areas where you can improve, like paying down an outstanding balance on a credit card.