You can check your business credit score directly from the commercial credit bureaus or via Nav, a service that offers a free business credit grade for basic credit health.

Checking your business score regularly is key to tracking your progress as you work to build your business credit history. It can also give you the information you need to address potential issues as they arise so they don’t damage your credit score any further.

​​How to Check Your Business Credit Score

Unlike your personal credit score, which is private information that lenders can access only if you give them permission, business credit scores are available for anyone to view. 

Lenders, partners, vendors, and potential investors can all pay to access your business credit scores to determine how well you manage your finances.

As a result, it’s important to know how to check your own business credit score and monitor it regularly as you work to build it. 

You can check your business credit score by going directly through the commercial credit bureaus, such as Experian, Dun & Bradstreet, and Equifax. These agencies charge a one-time fee or an ongoing charge, depending on the bureau. 

You can also get a business credit grade for free through Nav, an online company that provides business credit monitoring. 

Depending on where you go to check your business credit score, you’ll likely see each bureau’s proprietary scores. For example, Dun & Bradstreet offers the PAYDEX Score, while Equifax provides the Equifax Business Credit Risk Score and the Equifax Business Failure Score.

Although each score considers various factors differently, they can all give you a good idea of your overall credit health.

Nav

Nav is a business credit monitoring service that provides a lot of different features for small business owners.

When you sign up for a free account, Nav provides you with a business credit grade based on your credit reports with Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax — if there’s information available, that is. 

If your business is new or you haven’t completed the requirements to get a credit score with one or more of the commercial credit bureaus, you may not have a grade.

Nav also provides a personal VantageScore credit score based on information found in your Experian credit report. The VantageScore offers a good idea of your overall personal credit health, but it’s not used by most lenders in credit decisions.

You can also get free financing recommendations if you provide some information about your company’s financials, discounts on top business services, and more.

If you want full access to your actual credit scores with the top three commercial credit bureaus, you can upgrade to a Business Manager account, which costs $29.99 per month. 

Higher tiers, which cost $39.99 per month and $49.99 per month, respectively, provide you with access to more benefits, such as identity theft protection, tradeline reporting, and more.

If you want access to your FICO Small Business Scoring Service score, which is what is used to prescreen SBA loans, the top membership tier is necessary.

Experian

If you only want to view your Intelliscore Plus credit score, you can pay a one-time fee to view your credit score and credit report once, or you can sign up for an annual membership to monitor your business credit score regularly.

For one report and score, the cost of $39.95 and the subscription, called Business Credit Advantage, will cost you $189 per year — that’s worth it if you plan to review your business credit score and report more than four times per year, or if you want help monitoring your score.

Other benefits that come with the annual subscription include:

• Trade payment detail
• Inquiry detail
• Uniform Commercial Code detail
• Corporate financial information
• Score improvement tips
• Alert and monitoring
• Dispute resolution status alerts
• Business identity monitoring
• Business valuation report

Your Intelliscore Plus score ranges from 1 to 100. Anything between 76 and 100 puts you in the class with the lowest risk. 

Dun & Bradstreet PAYDEX Score

The PAYDEX Score is specific to Dun & Bradstreet, and you’ll need to apply for a DUNS number first to obtain one. Additionally, you’ll need at least two tradelines with at least three credit experiences each. 

In other words, you need two or more credit accounts with at least three payments reported to Dun & Bradstreet. Since not all vendors and creditors report to the agency, you’ll either need to use only creditors that do report or have enough tradelines to have at least two reporting.

For just $15 per month, you can get access to five of your credit scores with Dun & Bradstreet:

• PAYDEX Score
• Delinquency Predictor Score
• Financial Stress Score
• Supplier Evaluation Risk Rating
• D&B Rating

You’ll also get alerts when your business file is requested by another party.

If you want more information, though, an upgrade to CreditMonitor for $39.99 per month will give you additional explanations about your scores and the factors that are influencing them. You’ll also get a benchmark for your industry to get an idea of how well you’re performing.

The CreditBuilder Plus subscription, which costs $149 per month, allows you to submit your own payment history on up to 12 tradelines to establish an even better foundation for your business credit history. You’ll also get credit score benchmarks based on eight of your peers.

Finally, the CreditBuilder Premium membership, which will run you $199 per month, will provide benchmarking based on 25 peers and doesn’t limit how many tradelines you can submit on your own. You’ll also get trade reference reports and ten business information reports.

The PAYDEX Score ranges from 1 to 100. A score of 80 to 100 means that you pay your bills on time. However, if you want a score of 90, you must pay 20 days in advance of your due dates, and a 100 score signifies that you pay 30 days early.

Equifax

Unlike the other commercial credit bureaus so far, Equifax doesn’t provide a membership option. For a single business credit report, the cost is $99.95. 

However, if you plan to check your Equifax credit report and scores regularly, you could purchase a multipack and get five reports for $399.95 — that gives you one for free.

With your Equifax business credit report, you’ll get your Equifax Business Risk Credit Score and your Equifax Business Failure Score. The former ranges from 101 to 992, and the latter ranges from 1000 to 1610.

You’ll also get the following:

• A company profile with basic information.
• A summary of your accounts with lenders, suppliers, and more.
• Public records, such as judgments, liens, and bankruptcies, for your company.
• A 12-month payment trend compared to an industry benchmark.
• Additional company information, such as alternate names, owner and guarantor names, and more.

PayNet

PayNet, which is owned by Equifax, offers a credit score based on its proprietary database of small business loans, lines of credit, and commercial leases.

The MasterScore ranges from 550 to 740, and the higher your score is, the better. In addition to your relationship with credit, the MasterScore also incorporates how long you’ve been in business and your industry segment.

Unlike traditional credit scores, which consider a handful of factors, the MasterScore contains 587 total variables, 135 of which are unique to the credit scoring model.

The score was primarily designed for the alternative lending space. Unfortunately, the provider doesn’t share information publicly about how much it costs to view your PayNet MasterScore. You’ll need to contact the company directly to get more information.

FAQs

What credit score is needed for a business loan?

Different lenders have their own criteria for determining creditworthiness, and in many cases, you may be able to rely on your personal credit to get financing if your business credit score isn’t where it should be.

However, the higher your business credit score, the better your chances of obtaining financing with favorable terms. Contact lenders directly to get more information on lending requirements.

How can you check your business score for free?

While you can’t technically check your business credit score for free, you can get a free business credit grade if you register your business with Nav. The grade can give you a good idea of how healthy your credit score is with Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax.

However, if your business credit history is still relatively new or you haven’t met the requirements to get a credit score with one of the commercial credit bureaus, you may not yet have a grade.

If you want access to your actual business credit scores, you’ll need to pay a one-time fee or a membership subscription fee, depending on which score you want and the provider.

What is a good credit score for business credit?

Most of the top business credit scores range from 1 to 100, but what’s considered a good score can vary by scoring model. With a PAYDEX Score, for instance, you’ll want a score of 80 or higher to show that you pay your bills on time.

With the Intelliscore Plus from Experian, however, a score of 76 or higher indicates that you’re a low credit risk to new lenders.

Depending on which score you’re looking at, check for a rubric to show you what the different score ranges mean. You’ll also want to review your options for improving your score so you can get access to better business financing.

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