If you want to know how to build business credit, the short version is to give the business a legal and financial identity of its own, open accounts that report your payments to the business credit bureaus, and pay those accounts early. In practice that means an LLC or corporation, a free EIN, a business bank account, a free D-U-N-S number, matching contact details everywhere, and vendor accounts and a business card that report to Dun & Bradstreet, Experian or Equifax. A first score can appear within a few months of the first reported payment, and a file deep enough for a bank loan usually takes a year or more.
Business credit sits beside your personal credit. Lenders to small businesses still read the owner's personal file, and the Federal Reserve Banks' 2026 Report on Employer Firms found that 59% of firms with debt had secured it with a personal guarantee. The nine steps below build the business file, and the later sections cover how the two files interact and what a stronger file changes when you apply for funding.
How to establish business credit in the first month
The first four steps cost little or nothing and create the identity that every later payment attaches to.
Step 1: Form an LLC or corporation and get an EIN
A sole proprietorship has no legal existence apart from the owner, so its debts are the owner's debts. The SBA's guide to launching a business notes that banks are hesitant to lend to sole proprietorships and that an LLC protects the owner's personal assets in most cases. Register the entity with your state, then get an employer identification number. The IRS issues an EIN online for free, usually right away if the application is approved, and warns that you never have to pay a fee for one. The EIN is the number lenders, banks and bureaus use to tell your business apart from you.
Step 2: Open a business bank account
The same SBA guide says to open a business bank account as soon as the business starts taking in or spending money, and lists what banks commonly ask for: the EIN, the formation documents, any ownership agreement and a business license. Separate accounts protect you and give the business a clean deposit history. That history also counts when you apply, because many funders decide mainly on the business bank statements, as the funding section below explains.
Step 3: Get a D-U-N-S number
Dun & Bradstreet files each business it tracks under a nine-digit D-U-N-S number. According to its page on getting a D-U-N-S number, there is no charge to receive one, standard processing can take up to 30 business days, and a paid expedited option promises the number within eight business days. Search its lookup tool first, because the business may already be in its database. Each location needs its own number.
Step 4: Use the same name, address and phone everywhere
Bureaus match payments to your file by name, address and phone, so a supplier that bills "Smith Plumbing" at a home address and a bank that knows "Smith Plumbing LLC" at a shop address can end up feeding two different files. Pick one legal name, business address and business phone, and use them on the state filing, the IRS record, the bank account and every vendor account. Dun & Bradstreet says at least one of its scores accounts for how complete your company information is, and you can update that information for free.
How to build business credit with accounts that report
A business credit file grows only when someone reports a payment to it, and the next three steps make sure those payments are good ones.
Step 5: Open vendor accounts that report
Trade credit is the classic starting point. A supplier ships the goods and gives you 30 days to pay (net 30), and if that supplier reports, every bill you pay becomes a trade experience on your file. Most suppliers do not report. Experian's business credit FAQ puts it at about 10,000 reporting suppliers out of more than 500,000 that extend credit. Ask each supplier which bureaus it reports to before you open an account. Experian advises putting recurring bills such as utilities and leases in the company's name as well.
Step 6: Use a business credit card lightly
A business credit card is often the easiest reporting account to get, but it only helps the business file if the issuer reports to the business bureaus, so ask before you apply. Experian's score weighs balances outstanding and how much of your available credit you use, which means a card kept near its limit can pull the score down even when every payment is on time. Charge regular expenses, pay the statement in full and keep the balance well below the limit. A personal card used for business costs reports under your name, so it adds nothing to the business file. The Fed survey found that among firms that use a credit card regularly, 58% use only a business card, 8% only a personal card and 34% use both. Our post on a business line of credit vs a credit card covers how cards show up on the owner's personal report.
Step 7: Pay before the due date
Dun & Bradstreet's PAYDEX score turns payment timing into a number from 1 to 100. Its PAYDEX fact sheet sets 80 as prompt payment, 90 as paying ahead of terms and 100 as paying well ahead, while 70 means about 15 days late and 50 about 30 days late. Paying a net 30 bill on day 30 holds you near 80, and paying before the due date is what moves the score above it.
For example, a landscaping company with a $1,200 monthly fuel bill on net 30 terms could schedule the payment for day 15. After six months, the file shows six early payments instead of six on-time ones.
Check your business credit score at all three bureaus
Step 8 is to look at what each bureau holds, because each one keeps its own file and its own business credit score, and a lender may pull any of them. Unlike personal credit, these files are not private. Experian's advice page on business credit scores says anyone can view a business's score for any reason, while a personal report needs the person's permission.
| Bureau | Main score | Range | What a strong reading looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dun & Bradstreet | PAYDEX | 1 to 100 | 80 or higher, which means bills reported to Dun & Bradstreet are paid within terms or earlier |
| Experian | Intelliscore Plus | 1 to 100 | 76 to 100 is Experian's low-risk band; the average business scores 62 |
| Equifax | Payment Index, plus risk scores | Payment Index 1 to 90 or higher | 90 or higher means accounts are paid as agreed; 80 to 89 means 1 to 30 days past due |
Experian's score predicts serious late payment from trade payments, balances, public records and company details such as years on file. Equifax's business credit report guide shows its Payment Index alongside scores that estimate the chance of a business falling 91 or more days behind. Experian needs at least one tradeline or one piece of company information before it produces a score, and a PAYDEX score needs suppliers who report, so a brand new business may find no score at all.
Checking your own business report does not hurt the score. Experian treats it as a soft inquiry that lenders cannot see. Equifax sells its business report through approved resellers, and the other two sell theirs directly. If something is wrong, dispute it with the bureau and list every current and former business name and address. Experian says a dispute takes about a month, or longer in complex cases, so look well before you plan to apply.
Watch UCC filings, liens and public records
Step 9 is to watch the public side of the file. When a lender or funder takes a security interest in business assets, it usually files a UCC-1 financing statement with the state, and that filing is public. Bureaus pick up filings, liens and judgments from government records, and Experian's FAQ lists how long each stays on a business report:
- Bankruptcies stay for 10 years after the filing date.
- Judgments and tax liens stay for 7 years after the filing date.
- Collections stay for 6 years and 9 months after the last report date.
- UCC filings stay for 5 years after the last filing date.
- Trade payment data stays for 36 months after the last report date.
A UCC filing is normal when you borrow, but an old one left open after a loan is paid off can make a business look more indebted than it is. When you pay something off, ask the lender to file a termination, and search your state's UCC records once a year to confirm it was filed. Our guide to what a UCC lien means and how to clear it walks through the termination process.
How long it takes to build business credit
No bureau promises a timeline, but the reporting rules make the pace fairly predictable. The D-U-N-S number alone can take up to 30 business days, and suppliers in Dun & Bradstreet's trade program report monthly or quarterly, so a bill paid in March may not reach your file until April or June.
Here is a realistic example for a business that starts from nothing and follows the steps above:
- In month 1, the business forms the LLC, gets the EIN, opens the bank account and applies for a D-U-N-S number.
- In months 2 to 4, it opens three or four reporting vendor accounts and a business card, and the first reported payments start to appear.
- In months 4 to 9, scores begin to show up at one or more bureaus.
- After 12 months, a year of reported history is closer to what banks and long-term lenders want to see.
Nothing speeds up the payment history itself. Trade data counts for 36 months at Experian, and Dun & Bradstreet uses trade experiences reported within the last 24 months, so the habit has to continue after the first score appears. If you are earlier than that, our post on startup business loans covers funding options for newer businesses.
Your personal credit still matters
For most small businesses, lenders read the owner's personal credit alongside the business file, and many ask for a personal guarantee, which makes you personally liable if the business cannot pay. The Fed's survey treats the two scores as interchangeable when it measures risk. It rates a firm's credit risk by its business score or the owner's personal score, whichever the firm uses to get financing, and counts a firm as low risk with a business score of 80 to 100 or a personal score of 720 or higher.
The two files are scored separately. Experian says a business score has no effect on your personal score and a personal score has no effect on the business one. What does connect them is the guarantee, because a business debt you guarantee can reach your personal report if the business stops paying, and some business cards report to the personal bureaus too. The CFPB explains that you can get your personal credit reports free every week from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion at AnnualCreditReport.com.
How business credit changes the funding you can get
A stronger business file opens more doors, but how much it counts depends on the product. Most funders in our network prequalify from bank statements and a soft credit pull, which does not affect your score. A funder may run a hard pull in final underwriting, and you know before it happens.
- Revenue-based financing, from $5,000 to $2,000,000, is decided mainly on four months of business bank statements, so credit is one input among several. Our post on what credit score you need for a merchant cash advance goes through it band by band, and our post on whether a merchant cash advance affects your credit explains what funders report and what they do not.
- A business line of credit of up to $2,000,000 still starts with revenue, but credit counts for more, and a stronger file tends to bring more offers and larger limits.
- Equipment financing of up to $500,000 weighs credit too, though the equipment secures the deal, which softens the credit requirement.
- SBA-equivalent and bank loans through our partners weigh credit the most. These long-term lenders want a solid personal and business credit history along with tax returns, time in business and collateral, and the process takes weeks.
The funders we work with generally look for about a year in business and about $20,000 a month in deposits. If you are not there yet, apply anyway. Some funders work with newer or smaller businesses, and we will tell you what is realistic. Our post on small business loan requirements shows what each type of lender asks for. We cannot promise that any product reports to the business bureaus, since that depends on the funder, so ask each funder before you sign if building the file is part of your goal.
One application through Today Capital Group goes to the funders in our network with four months of bank statements, and offers come back side by side so you can compare them with us before you sign anything. There is nothing to pay to apply or to see offers. To talk it through first, call (818) 351-0225.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to build business credit?
Expect a few months before a first business credit score appears and a year or more before the file is deep enough for a bank or long-term lender, because suppliers report monthly or quarterly.
What is a good business credit score?
A PAYDEX score of 80 or higher means a business pays its reported bills within terms, an Experian Intelliscore Plus score of 76 to 100 falls in Experian's low-risk band against an average of 62, and an Equifax Payment Index of 90 or higher means accounts are paid as agreed.
Does business credit affect personal credit?
The scores are calculated separately, and Experian says neither one affects the other, but a personal guarantee links them, because a guaranteed business debt that goes unpaid can end up on your personal report and some business cards report to the personal bureaus.
Do I need a D-U-N-S number to build business credit?
Dun & Bradstreet says no business is required to have one, but it files each business it tracks under a D-U-N-S number, and a PAYDEX score cannot exist without that file, so claiming the free number is the simplest way to make sure supplier payments reported to Dun & Bradstreet land in the right place.
Can a business get funding before it has business credit?
Yes, because revenue-based financing is decided mainly on business bank statements and the owner's credit, so a business with steady deposits can often get offers before any bureau has a business score.
