How to Improve Your Equifax Business Credit Score: A Guide

Highlights: 

• Regularly reviewing your business credit report to understand what lenders and partners see, and actively managing your financial reputation can help you establish and maintain a strong business credit profile.
• Reviewing your Equifax Business Credit Report proactively and regularly can help you make smarter risk management decisions for your business.

In our previous two blogs, we covered what a business credit report is and why your business needs one to make smart financial decisions. But understanding your business credit report is only the first step. To continue making strategic decisions for your business, it’s important that you actively manage and improve the credit profile of your business. 

We’ll answer some of the top questions about how to establish, monitor, and improve your business credit score.

How can I establish and improve my Equifax business credit score?

Improving credit scores, whether personal or business, takes time. Establishing and maintaining a strong business credit profile is about being proactive. This means regularly reviewing your business credit report to understand what lenders and partners see, and actively managing your financial reputation.

Some positive actions that can assist in building a strong business credit profile are: 

• Paying debts on time: Consistent and timely payments to financial institutions, vendors, and suppliers helps keep your score strong.
• Resolving past dues and filings: Clearing any disputes on past payments, and resolving possible collection and legal activity. 
• Asking suppliers to report on your business: Ask your suppliers to report your business data to credit bureaus whenever they grant your business a line of credit. The positive payment behaviour contributes to a strong business credit score.
• Managing your business’ credit utilization: A low credit utilization rate can help your business get better financing terms. Conversely, a high utilization rate can suggest financial risk to creditors and negatively impact your score. While not always possible, the recommended rate to aim for is generally below 30%.

What factors can affect my business credit score?

Just as positive financial actions build your credit, certain activities can negatively impact it. A key step in protecting the financial reputation of your business is understanding what to avoid. Here are a few things that can potentially hurt your business credit profile:

• Poor payment habits: Late or missed payments to financial institutions, suppliers, or vendors can lower your score.
• Collection and legal filings: Accounts being sent to a collection agency, or legal filings like liens, judgments, and bankruptcies will be noted on your report.
• Excessive inquiries: When businesses are actively seeking credit, it is noted on the report. While not always negative, a high number of inquiries can suggest financial instability and may impact your score.

How long do late payments or bankruptcies affect a business credit report?

Late payments and bankruptcies stay on a business credit report for different lengths of time. The time limits vary based on the rules of the credit bureau. This means that negative information may be reported for as long as the credit bureau chooses, but usually falls within certain periods on a case-by-case basis. It is important to note that while legal items can negatively affect your credit score, their impact lessens over time. 
In Equifax Canada’s case: 

• Late/missed payments: These generally remain on a business credit report for up to seven years from the date of the first delinquency. However, on some business credit reports, late payments are reported as “days beyond terms” (DBT) and can impact a credit score for up to five years.
• Bankruptcy: The length of time a bankruptcy stays on a business credit report varies and can be anywhere between 5 years to indefinitely, depending on the credit bureau. 

How can I better monitor my business credit? 

Proactively managing the financial reputation of your business is key to long-term success. The best way to do this is to monitor your credit on a regular basis. Here’s how reviewing your business credit report helps you stay informed and in control:

• Understand what’s being reported: Regularly purchasing and reviewing your business credit report allows you to understand exactly what is being reported about your business.
• See what lenders see: The report gives you the same comprehensive insights that lenders and partners use to evaluate your business’s creditworthiness.
• Make strategic decisions: By staying informed, you can make smarter, more accurate risk management and strategic decisions about your business’s financial future.

Equifax Business Credit Report includes:

• Predictive Risk Scores to predict the health of your business over the next 12  months,
• Payment Index to show how timely you pay creditors, and 
• Credit Index to assess your overall business risk. 

Monitoring your business credit report helps you take control and stay ahead of the curve, ensuring you’re always prepared for opportunities that require a strong credit profile. 

How do I fix incomplete information or dispute inaccurate information on my Equifax Business Credit Report?

It is important to ensure your suppliers are accurately reporting your on-time payment history. If you find your report has incomplete information, a key step is to contact your suppliers and ensure they report your data to Equifax. This is because your report is built from a variety of data sources, including information from industry credit groups and suppliers. Having complete and accurate data helps create a comprehensive picture of your business’s financial health.
Beyond managing and monitoring your credit, you can dispute inaccurate information on your business credit report. Proactively and regularly reviewing your report allows you to catch and dispute inaccuracies, which helps protect your business from potential financial harm.

If you see information that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete, you can email the Equifax Commercial Disclosure department here. 

Take control of your business: Order your Equifax Business Credit Report today to make more informed credit choices.

Want to see what the Equifax Business Credit Report looks like? View a sample report. 

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[This article is published by Equifax Canada Co.® 2025. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of Equifax Canada Co. This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal or business advice.]