Most business owners have looked at their personal credit report at some point — you know what a FICO score means and roughly what affects it. Business credit reports work on different principles, use different scoring models, and include data that personal reports don’t. If you’re building business credit or preparing for financing, being able to read your own report is a foundational skill.
This walkthrough covers what’s in a Dun & Bradstreet and Experian Business report, what each score means, what lenders actually look at, and how to fix errors.
Dun & Bradstreet Business Report
D&B is the most widely used business credit bureau, particularly among suppliers evaluating trade credit decisions. Access your report through dnb.com — basic reports are available through D&B’s business credit services, and a free overview is available once you claim your listing.
PAYDEX Score (1–100)
The PAYDEX score is D&B’s primary business payment performance metric. It measures how promptly your business pays its bills compared to the agreed-upon terms.
- 100: Payments consistently made 30+ days early
- 80: Payments made exactly on time
- 70: Payments made 15 days late on average
- 50: Payments made 30 days late
- Below 50: Payments significantly late
A PAYDEX of 80+ is generally considered good. Lenders extending business trade credit typically want to see 80+. To reach 100, you need to pay invoices before the due date — even a few days early counts.
Important: PAYDEX only reflects what’s been reported to D&B by your vendors. If your vendors don’t report, your PAYDEX doesn’t exist or is based on limited data. This is why establishing accounts with reporting vendors (Uline, Quill, Grainger, etc.) is essential early in the credit-building process.
Delinquency Predictor Score
This score — on a 1–5 scale — predicts the likelihood that your business will pay severely delinquently or go bankrupt in the next 12 months. Lower is better (1 = lowest risk). It considers your payment history, financial data, business age, and industry risk factors.
Failure Score
Predicts the likelihood of business failure (bankruptcy, cessation of operations) within the next 12 months. Also on a 1–5 scale. D&B pulls this from payment data, public filings, and financial information.
Trade Payment Information
The core of the report: a list of your reported trade lines. For each account you’ll see:
- The reporting vendor (or “Supplier” in D&B terminology)
- The highest credit amount extended
- Current outstanding balance
- Payment pattern — typically expressed as days beyond terms (0 = pays on time; 15 = pays 15 days late)
- Number of payment experiences reported
This section is where you want to see multiple active trade lines with 0-days-beyond-terms payment patterns. If any line shows late payment history, it’s pulling your PAYDEX down.
Company Profile
Basic business information: legal name, DBA names, address, phone, D-U-N-S number, SIC code (industry), business structure, years in business, number of employees. Verify that all of this is accurate — errors in your business profile can cause your report to be confused with other businesses or cause applications to be flagged for address mismatches.
Public Records
Any judgments, liens, bankruptcies, or suits against your business. These have a severe negative impact on business credit and lender confidence. If there are public records listed, address them immediately.
Experian Business Credit Report
Access Experian Business reports through Experian’s business credit portal or through Nav.
Intelliscore Plus (1–100)
Experian’s primary score. Unlike PAYDEX (which is purely payment history), Intelliscore Plus is a predictive risk score incorporating payment history, credit utilization, company demographics, public records, and payment trends over time.
- 76–100: Low risk
- 51–75: Low to medium risk
- 26–50: Medium to high risk
- 1–25: High risk
Experian also provides a FSR (Financial Stability Risk) score that predicts credit default risk. Both scores matter for credit decisions.
Trade Payment Summary
Similar to D&B — a list of reported trade lines with payment history. Experian may show data from different vendors than D&B, since not all vendors report to both bureaus. This is why building trade lines with vendors that report to multiple bureaus strengthens your overall credit profile.
Credit Inquiries
Unlike personal credit, business credit inquiries don’t automatically hurt your score — businesses can check their own credit or have their credit pulled by vendors without the same penalty structure as personal credit hard inquiries. Still worth monitoring for unusual activity.
What Lenders Actually Look At
Different lenders weight different data differently. General patterns:
- Trade creditors (net-30 vendors): Primarily look at PAYDEX and payment history. They want to know you pay your bills on time before extending more credit.
- Business credit cards: Mix of personal and business credit. Major issuers (Chase, Amex, Capital One) pull personal credit and business credit. A strong business profile can offset a weaker personal profile to some degree.
- Small business loans and lines of credit: Most traditional lenders look at both business credit and personal credit, plus bank statements, revenue history, and time in business.
- SBA loans: SBA looks at overall creditworthiness including personal credit (typically 650+ minimum), business financials, and collateral. Business credit is a supporting factor, not the sole determinant.
How to Dispute Errors
Business credit errors are more common than most people realize — incorrect payment history, wrong company information, accounts that don’t belong to your business, or outdated negative information that should have aged off.
Disputing D&B Errors
Contact D&B directly through their business update portal. For significant errors or disputes about payment history, contact their customer resolution team directly. Disputes are typically resolved within 30 days.
Disputing Experian Business Errors
Submit disputes through Experian’s business credit dispute portal. For payment history disputes, you may need to provide documentation from the vendor confirming the actual payment dates.
Review your business credit reports quarterly. Errors can sit undetected for months and affect financing decisions without your knowledge. Regular monitoring is the only way to catch and correct them before they cost you.
