To run a credit check on a company, collect its full legal name and federal tax ID, then buy a report from a commercial business credit bureau such as Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, or Equifax. Single reports run roughly $50 to $200 depending on depth, and some bureaus publish free basic summaries. You do not need the company’s permission, and the company will not be notified.
You Don’t Need the Company’s Permission
The Fair Credit Reporting Act restricts who can pull a personal credit report and requires a “permissible purpose.” Those rules cover individuals. Under federal law, a “consumer” is a person, and a “consumer report” covers information used to evaluate someone’s eligibility for personal credit, insurance, or employment, not commercial transactions.1GovInfo. 15 USC 1681a – Definitions The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has said FCRA’s user requirements apply only to credit or insurance for personal, family, or household purposes.2Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Consumer Laws and Regulations – FCRA
In practice: any vendor, investor, landlord, or potential partner can pull a report on any business, without consent, without notice, and without stating a reason.
What to Gather Before You Search
Start with the company’s full legal name as registered with the state, not a marketing name. If the business also operates under a “doing business as” name, note both, since credit activity can be filed under either. Include the physical headquarters address; it helps when several businesses share similar names.
The most precise identifier is the nine-digit Employer Identification Number (EIN), the federal tax ID assigned to the business. You can often find it on invoices, procurement documents, or a W-9 the company has already shared. For publicly traded companies, EINs appear in SEC filings searchable through EDGAR.3SEC.gov. EDGAR Full Text Search You can also ask the company’s accounting department; most businesses share their EIN freely, since it isn’t sensitive the way a Social Security number is.
If you plan to use Dun & Bradstreet, the D-U-N-S Number speeds the search. That’s a separate nine-digit identifier D&B assigns to individual business locations. The company may know its own, or you can look it up through D&B’s free tool.4Dun & Bradstreet. What Is a D-U-N-S Number
Where to Order a Report
Three bureaus dominate business credit, and their reports don’t look identical because they draw on different data sources and use different scoring models. Pulling from more than one is the most reliable way to see the full picture.
Dun & Bradstreet
D&B focuses heavily on trade payment data, meaning how the company pays its suppliers. Its signature metric is the PAYDEX Score, a 1-to-100 rating of payment behavior. A free tier through Credit Insights shows basic score ranges and company information. The Basic plan is $49 per month or $499 per year and unlocks full scores, historical rating trends, and alerts for judgments and UCC filings. The Plus plan is $149 per month or $1,499 per year and adds peer comparisons and the ability to submit supplemental documentation.5Dun & Bradstreet. Business Credit Scores and Ratings
Experian Business
Experian blends trade payment data with public record filings and collection activity. Its main score, Intelliscore Plus, runs 1 to 100, with higher scores meaning lower risk. Experian sells individual reports without a subscription. A CreditScore Report is $49.95 and includes the core score, payment trends, and account histories. A ProfilePlus Report is $59.95 and adds inquiry details and fuller tradeline data. Business Credit Advantage, an ongoing monitoring subscription for a single business, is $199 per year. If you need to vet many companies, Business Credit Score Pro starts at $1,495 per year and covers up to 30 reports per month.6Experian. Products and Pricing – Business Credit Reports and Scores
Equifax Business
Equifax draws heavily from the Small Business Financial Exchange, a data-sharing consortium of lenders, so its reports emphasize bank loans, business credit cards, and lease payment history.7Equifax Inc. Investor Relations. Equifax Designated Small Business Financial Exchange Certified Vendor That makes an Equifax report especially useful when your concern is how the business handles institutional debt rather than vendor invoices. You can order a single report through the website, but pricing requires contacting customer service.8Equifax. Small Businesses Benefit from Renewed Equifax-SBFE Partnership
Smaller providers cover niche needs. Creditsafe reaches over 200 countries and can be a better fit for international suppliers. Industry-specific bureaus also exist; Equifax acquired Ansonia, which focuses on transportation and logistics credit data.
After payment, most platforms deliver the report as an immediate PDF or an interactive dashboard. Creating an account lets you store reports and set up monitoring alerts.
Reading the Report
A business credit report packs several layers into one document. The format varies by bureau, but most share the same components.
The Credit Score
Each bureau uses its own scoring model. PAYDEX runs 1 to 100 and reflects payment promptness: 80 means the business consistently pays on time, above 80 means it pays early, 50 to 79 signals moderate risk, and below 50 indicates a high likelihood of late payments.5Dun & Bradstreet. Business Credit Scores and Ratings Intelliscore Plus also uses a 1-to-100 scale, but 76 and above is low risk and 1 to 10 is the highest risk.9Experian. Risk Ranking and Recommendation – Intelliscore Plus The numbers don’t translate across bureaus. A PAYDEX of 75 sits in moderate-risk territory; an Intelliscore of 75 is nearly low-risk.
Trade Payment History
This is the core of most reports: a line-by-line record of how the company pays vendors. Each tradeline shows the credit limit, current balance, terms, and whether invoices were paid on time, late, or remain outstanding. It tells you more than the score alone, because you can see whether late payments are isolated or a pattern.
Credit Limit Recommendation
Reports usually include a suggested maximum credit amount the bureau considers safe to extend, based on the company’s size, industry, and debt capacity. It’s a benchmark for setting your own terms, not a guarantee.
Public Record Filings
Reports flag tax liens, civil judgments, collection accounts, and bankruptcy filings, each with a filing date and dollar amount. These items linger longer than most people expect: bankruptcies stay on the report for nine years and nine months, and judgments, tax liens, and collections each stay for six years and nine months.10Experian. How Long Data Stays on a Business Credit Report
Verifying Through Public Records
Credit reports summarize many filings, but going straight to government records can surface details a report leaves out.
Secretary of State Records
Every state maintains a business entity database through the Secretary of State or equivalent agency. Searching it confirms whether the company is currently registered and in good standing, meaning it has filed its annual reports and paid its fees. A status of “dissolved,” “suspended,” or “revoked” means the business has lost its legal authority to operate in that state, which is a serious warning. Most states offer free online searches. A formal Certificate of Good Standing typically costs $5 to $25.
UCC Filings
Uniform Commercial Code filings are records lenders file with state offices to publicly declare a security interest in a borrower’s assets.11Uniform Law Commission. Uniform Commercial Code A UCC-1 financing statement identifies the specific collateral securing a loan, such as equipment, inventory, or accounts receivable.12NASS. UCC Filings Multiple UCC filings against a company’s major assets tell you its property is heavily leveraged and may not be available as collateral for your own dealings. Most Secretary of State offices offer online UCC searches, often free or for a small fee.
If You Find an Error
Federal consumer credit protections don’t cover business reports, so the dispute process is set by each bureau, not by law. The Federal Trade Commission has intervened in at least one case. A 2022 order required Dun & Bradstreet to either delete disputed information or reinvestigate it, remove data found to be inaccurate or unverifiable, keep it from being re-added, inform the business of the results, and provide free access to the corrected report.13Federal Trade Commission. In Response to FTC Charges, Dun and Bradstreet to Clean Small Business Credit Reporting Process
Experian offers a more direct path. You submit a dispute using the online form linked at the bottom of the report, or email the report with a written explanation to the business disputes team. Experian forwards the dispute to the original data source and generally finishes its investigation within 30 days, though complex cases can take longer. If corrections are made, Experian sends a free updated report.14Experian. How to Correct or Dispute Information on Your Business Credit Report
Whichever bureau holds the error, keep documentation: canceled checks, lien release letters, corrected invoices. Clear proof speeds resolution and cuts the chance the bureau dismisses the dispute without a full investigation.