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The bureaus

Three bureaus, three scores, and none of them is your personal credit score. A business file can exist while your personal file is in poor shape, and the whole point of the ladder is to keep them apart.

Dun & Bradstreet

PAYDEX

Trade payment history keyed to the D-U-N-S number. PAYDEX runs 1–100; 80 means paid-on-terms, above 80 means paid early. Dollar-weighted by tradeline size.

Dun & Bradstreet (dnb.com)

Experian Business

Intelliscore Plus / Business Credit Score (1–100)

Tradelines, public records, collections, and business demographics. Builds a file automatically once vendors report — no application needed.

Experian Business (experian.com/business)

Equifax Business

Business Credit Risk Score + Business Failure Score

Credit utilization, trade payment trends, public records, and company size/age. Reports a payment index alongside risk scores.

Equifax Business (equifax.com/business)

Note what Experian Business does: it builds a file automatically once vendors report — no application needed. You do not open an Experian business file. Your vendors open it for you, which is why step 6 is about vendors that actually report.

This is general business-credit education, not financial, legal, or tax advice. Confirm specifics with a licensed professional and the official sources directly.