Business Credit Bureaus: How Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax Score Your Company

The three major business credit bureaus in the United States are Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, and Equifax Business — three separate companies that each build their own file on your business, pull data from different sources, and produce different scores on different scales. There is no single "business credit score." A supplier might check your D&B PAYDEX (a 1–100 payment-history score), a bank might pull Experian's Intelliscore, and a leasing company might rely on Equifax — and all three can show a different picture of the same company on the same day. That fragmentation is the single most important thing an owner needs to understand: you are not managing one report, you are managing three files that don't talk to each other, and most small vendors report to none of them.

This guide breaks down what each bureau actually measures, who feeds them data, how lenders use the reports, and — critically — what to do about funding when your business file is thin, new, or dragged down by a slow-paying customer, since that is where most owners get stuck.

The three bureaus at a glance — and why the scores never match

Each bureau is a private company competing for the same lenders' business, so each built its own model. Understanding what makes each one tick tells you which report a given creditor is likely to trust.

Dun & Bradstreet

The oldest and most widely used for trade and supplier decisions. Its flagship is the PAYDEX score (1–100), which measures payment timeliness against vendors who report. An 80 means you pay exactly on the due date; scores above 80 mean you pay early. D&B also publishes a Delinquency Predictor and a Failure Score. To have a D&B file at all, you need a D-U-N-S Number — free to request, and required for many federal contracts and grant registrations.

Experian Business

Best known for Intelliscore Plus, a 1–100 statistical model that blends trade payment data, public records (liens, judgments, bankruptcies), and business demographics to predict serious delinquency in the next 12 months. Experian builds a file automatically once it collects enough data — you do not apply for one.

Equifax Business

Reports a Business Credit Risk Score and a Business Failure Score, and is often pulled for equipment leasing and by financial institutions that already use Equifax on the consumer side. It draws on trade credit, public records, and — distinctively — some financial and utility data.

The scales are different, the source data is different, and the weighting is different. A clean PAYDEX tells a supplier you pay bills on time; it says nothing about whether you have a tax lien that Experian and Equifax are both flagging. Treat the three as three separate audiences.

Who actually reports to the bureaus (and why your file may be nearly empty)

This is the trap that surprises most owners. Unlike consumer credit — where nearly every lender, card, and auto loan reports to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion monthly — business credit reporting is voluntary and patchy. A supplier who extends you net-30 terms may report to D&B, to one other bureau, or to none. Landlords, most utilities, and many small vendors report to nobody.

The practical result: you can pay every bill early for three years and still have a thin file, simply because your vendors don't report. Building business credit on purpose usually means:

• Getting a D-U-N-S Number so a D&B file can exist.
• Opening net-30 trade accounts with suppliers who are known to report (office supplies, packaging, fuel cards, some wholesale distributors).
• Using a business credit card that reports to the business bureaus — not all do, and some report only to consumer bureaus, or only when you fall behind.
• Paying early, not just on time, since PAYDEX rewards early payment above an 80.

Building a strong file is a months-to-years project. It does not help the owner who needs working capital this week — which is why the funding path below matters so much for thin-file businesses.

How lenders and suppliers actually use bureau data

Who pulls which report — and how much they lean on it — depends entirely on the decision being made:

• Suppliers deciding trade terms lean on D&B PAYDEX. A strong PAYDEX is what gets you net-30 or net-60 instead of cash-on-delivery.
• Banks and SBA lenders pull business bureau data but weight the owner's personal FICO heavily, plus tax returns and financials. For a young company, the personal guarantee and personal credit usually carry the decision.
• Equipment leasing companies often pull Equifax or Experian business scores alongside personal credit.
• Revenue-based and MCA marketplace funders care least about bureau scores. Their approval turns on bank-deposit history and revenue — the actual cash moving through your account — not on whether your vendors reported to D&B.

The takeaway: the thinner your business file and the younger your company, the more the decision shifts toward personal credit and cash flow. Knowing which lever a given funder pulls tells you where to apply. For a fuller picture of qualification levers, see our business loan requirements guide and our overview of revenue-based financing.

Example: how the same business looks to three bureaus and a revenue-based funder

The figures below are illustrative — for example only — to show how one company can present very differently depending on who's looking.

Notice the pattern: the first two businesses would struggle at a bank because of a thin file and a low or short personal-credit history — but their bank deposits are steady, which is exactly what a revenue-based funder underwrites on. The bureau file is close to irrelevant to that decision.

Decision framework: when to build bureau credit vs. when to fund on revenue

Building business credit and getting funded now are two different projects on two different clocks. Match the tool to the situation.

Focus on building bureau credit when

• You have time and no urgent cash need — you're playing a 6–24 month game.
• You want trade terms from suppliers (net-30/60), which live and die on PAYDEX.
• You're pursuing government contracts or grants that require a D-U-N-S Number and a clean file.
• You want to eventually qualify for bank or SBA financing at the lowest cost of capital.

Fund on revenue (revenue-based / MCA marketplace) works best when

• You need working capital in about 24–48 hours, not months.
• Your business file is thin or new but your bank deposits are steady.
• Your personal FICO is 500+ but not bank-grade.
• You need at least ~$10,000 and can service repayment from ongoing cash flow.

Avoid revenue-based funding when

• Your revenue is seasonal or erratic and near-term deposits can't comfortably support daily/weekly remittance.
• You qualify for a bank or SBA loan and can wait for it — that will almost always be cheaper capital.
• You're taking capital to cover a structural loss rather than fund a revenue-producing use — no financing fixes an unprofitable model.

These paths are not mutually exclusive. Many owners take revenue-based funding to handle an immediate need while simultaneously building bureau credit in the background for cheaper future options. No responsible funder can ever call approval guaranteed — anyone who does is a red flag.

How to check, monitor, and fix errors on your business reports

Because the files are separate, you have to check all three; a clean D&B report says nothing about what Experian or Equifax is holding. Practical steps:

• Get your D-U-N-S Number (free) and review your D&B file first, since it's the most widely pulled for trade.
• Pull each bureau's report — each sells monitoring products, and you can request your own file from each.
• Look for the common errors: accounts that aren't yours, a lien or judgment already satisfied but still listed, wrong company size or SIC code, a merged file from a similarly named business, or trade lines reporting the wrong payment status.
• Dispute through each bureau's own process. Unlike personal credit — governed by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act — business credit disputes run through each bureau's individual procedure, so you file separately with whichever bureau has the error.

Fixing a wrongly reported late payment or a stale lien can move a score meaningfully, and it's the highest-return credit work most owners never do. Just don't expect a correction to help a funding request that's due this week — it's a longer play.

The bottom line for an owner who needs capital now

If your business credit file is strong and established, use it: pursue bank, SBA, and supplier terms where the bureau data earns you the lowest cost of capital. If your file is thin, new, or you simply can't wait, don't let an empty D&B report stop you — the file is not the only door.

Revenue-based and MCA marketplace funding is built for exactly the gap the bureaus create. Approval leans on your bank-deposit history and revenue rather than a bureau score, typically needs a FICO of 500+, starts around $10,000, and can fund in roughly 24–48 hours. It's repaid from ongoing cash flow, so the qualifying question is simple: is money moving steadily through your account? If yes, a thin bureau file rarely stands in the way. Build your business credit for the long game — and fund the business you're running today on the strength of its cash flow.