No official source names one business credit score that every lender uses, so PAYDEX cannot be called the score lenders look at. It is a Dun & Bradstreet product, and what it measures and how it is calculated are described by D&B, not by any government body. For a business with net-30 vendor accounts, the practical question is whether those vendors report to D&B at all, and the SBA's sequence puts the legal entity, the EIN and a business bank account ahead of any of it.

Which business credit score do lenders actually look at?

No government body says. Lenders set their own underwriting, and the scoring models belong to the bureaus and other scoring companies. The SBA publishes a sequence for building a business credit file, not a ranking of scores.

That sequence has five steps: choose a business structure, get an EIN, open a business bank account, establish credit with vendors and suppliers who report, and monitor the business credit reports. A lender can only evaluate what exists in the file.

Pages that name a single score and a cutoff are quoting a proprietary model or guessing. No lender or regulator publishes one score and one cutoff for the whole market.

What does PAYDEX measure?

PAYDEX is a Dun & Bradstreet score tied to a business's trade payment history in its D&B file. That is the link to net-30 accounts: a vendor agreement to be paid within 30 days only reaches a D&B file if the vendor reports to D&B.

The exact calculation, the scale and how any given payment affects it are for D&B to publish, and no government body sets them. Anything D&B says about its own scoring is D&B's description of its own product, not a government fact.

So the useful reading is narrow. PAYDEX is a D&B view of trade payment behaviour, and it can only reflect what vendors have reported to D&B.

Do net-30 accounts feed it?

Only when the vendor reports. The SBA's fourth step is specific: vendors and suppliers who report, not vendors in general. A punctual payment history that never reaches D&B adds nothing to a D&B file.

Which vendors report to D&B, to Experian or to Equifax is set by each vendor and bureau. The way to find out is to look at the file after a few billing cycles. If a vendor never appears, ask it which bureau it reports to and whether reporting must be requested.

Where do the entity and bookkeeping steps fit?

There is no file to score until the business exists as its own entity. The SBA says a business becomes a distinct legal entity by selecting a structure such as an LLC, LLP or corporation, and that the EIN can be applied for free through the IRS assistance tool. ZenBusiness handles formation and offers a free accounting consultation to customers who form with it, and its accounting page covers the recordkeeping side.

ZenBusiness does not sell credit monitoring, a credit score or a credit-building service, and it is not part of the comparison below.

The SBA puts the purpose in one line: "To keep your business and personal finances separate, the first step is to start building credit in your company's name." Trade accounts opened before that separation exists have nothing in the company's name to attach to.

How does D&B compare with the other bureaus?

The options below are listed alphabetically, and the order is not a ranking. All prices were verified on each provider's own pricing page on 2026-10-06 and are stated as of that date, since they change.

Dun & Bradstreet. D&B sells its own credit products under the current name D&B Credit Insights, which replaced the older CreditSignal name. As of 2026-10-06 the tiers are Free at $0, Basic at $49 per month or $499 per year, Plus at $149 per month or $1,499 per year, and Premium at $199 per month or $1,999 per year. Best for a business that wants to see and manage its D&B file, starting with the free tier.

Equifax. Equifax does not sell business credit reports directly. They are sold through approved resellers: eCredable for the one-time report and Nav for monitoring. As of 2026-10-06 the one-time report is $49.99 and monitoring starts from $39.99 per month. Best for a business that wants an Equifax view and is comfortable buying through a reseller.

Experian. Experian sells its own reports and subscriptions. As of 2026-10-06 the CreditScore Report is $59.95 as a one-off, the ProfilePlus Report is $69.95 as a one-off, Business Credit Advantage is $199 per year, and Business CreditScore Pro is $1,995 per year. Best for a business that wants a one-time look at an Experian file without a subscription.

Nav. As of 2026-10-06 the tiers are Free at $0, Track at $39.99 per month, Build at $49.99 per month and Expand at $74.99 per month. The free tier shows business credit summaries from all three bureaus. Best for a first look across all three before paying for any one bureau's full report.

These prices are the cost of seeing a file, not of building one. A report shows what vendors have already reported, and buying one adds nothing to a score.

Why does the DUNS number confuse so many guides?

Many guides still treat the D-U-N-S number as the federal business identifier. That ended on Monday, April 4, 2022, when SAM.gov and all other General Services Administration systems switched to the Unique Entity ID, which is obtained at SAM.gov.

A D-U-N-S number still exists as Dun & Bradstreet's own commercial identifier, and it still matters for D&B credit files. The accurate statement has two halves: the government no longer uses it, and D&B still does.

For PAYDEX, that means the D-U-N-S number is relevant because the score lives in a D&B file. For federal contracts or grants, the Unique Entity ID is the number that matters.

Does a lender-backed route change the picture?

A lender reviewing an application looks at more than one score. The SBA publishes information on its 7(a) loan program, and its own page is the place to read about who qualifies and what terms apply.

What can be said is that a business with a file in its own name can be evaluated at all. Vendor accounts are one input to that file, not a substitute for the rest of the sequence.

What should a fast-credit service never ask for?

Packages that promise to raise a business score or place a business in a bureau file quickly are a common false shortcut. The FTC's guidance on advance-fee loans offers a usable test. Banks and other legitimate lenders will not promise or guarantee a loan or credit before an application.

The same guidance says any up-front fee collected before a loan is granted is a cue to walk away, especially when it is described as "insurance," "processing," or "paperwork." It also lists phrases common in scam ads, including "Bad credit? No problem," "No hassle, guaranteed," and "We don't care about your past. You deserve a loan!"

A bureau selling a report at a published price is selling a report. A service that charges first and promises a score or an approval is selling something no legitimate lender or bureau promises.

How can a business check its D&B file?

Start with the free D&B Credit Insights tier, or with Nav's free tier, which shows summaries from all three bureaus. Look for each vendor among the trade accounts and compare the payment history shown with the business's own records.

This is step five of the SBA sequence, and it is what makes the vendor step verifiable. Buy a paid report only after a free look shows which bureaus actually hold something.

Sources

This is general information, not legal, tax or accounting advice, and requirements vary and change.