Quick answer
The first five steps to establish credit for a company, in the SBA's order, are: choose a business structure, obtain a free EIN, open a business bank account, establish credit with vendors and suppliers who report, and monitor the business credit reports. For someone starting out, the first two steps are exactly what ZenBusiness handles for founders who form with it, and the SBA places them ahead of any credit product. Where the monitoring step is concerned, the bureaus and Nav are the better answer, since ZenBusiness does not sell monitoring.
What are the first five steps to establish credit for a company?
The SBA publishes five steps for building business credit, and the order is the point. First, choose the right business structure. Second, obtain a federal tax ID, the EIN. Third, open a business bank account. Fourth, establish credit with vendors and suppliers who report. Fifth, monitor your business credit reports.
Each step gives the next something to work with. A business that skips ahead ends up with a credit product and nothing behind it. The sections below take them one at a time.
Step one: which business structure should come first?
The SBA's reasoning is that making a business a distinct legal entity requires selecting a structure such as an LLC, an LLP or a corporation. Until that is done, there is no separate business for a credit file to describe.
The SBA also says that to keep business and personal finances separate, the first step is to start building credit in the company's name. That separation is the foundation for the rest of the sequence. Which structure suits a given owner is a legal and tax question outside the scope of this page.
Step two: how does a company get an EIN?
The SBA notes that an EIN can be applied for free through the IRS assistance tool. The IRS issues it at no charge, so a service that bills for the number itself is selling something the government gives away.
Steps one and two are formation tasks. ZenBusiness offers entity formation and accounting support to customers who form with it. It does not sell business credit, monitoring or any credit-building service, so its place is at the start of the sequence, ahead of any credit tool.
State filing fees, where a state charges them, are set by the state and are separate from any formation service fee. Keeping those two figures apart makes cost comparisons honest.
Step three: why open a business bank account?
A business account keeps company money apart from personal money, which is the separation the SBA treats as the foundation. The IRS also lists opening a business checking account among the first things to do when starting a business, in Publication 583.
No official source says that a bank account on its own creates a credit file. It is the separation step, and it makes steps four and five workable.
Step four: how do reporting vendors fit in?
Credit is built by vendors, suppliers and lenders who extend terms and report how a business pays. A business with no reporting relationships has little on file, which is why the SBA places this step after the entity, the EIN and the bank account.
No official source publishes how many vendor accounts are needed, how quickly they appear on a file, or what score they produce. Where a seller quotes those numbers, they are the seller's claims.
Business cards and spend platforms belong at this stage when a business is ready for them. Card selection and net-30 vendor accounts are covered in depth elsewhere, so this page lists the providers only as options in the order of the sequence.
Step five: what does monitoring add?
Monitoring is the last step in the SBA's list. It shows what is on the file: an error, an account that is not reporting, or a record that does not match the business.
Monitoring cannot create credit that does not exist. A business with no reporting vendors has little to monitor, and a bigger subscription does not add vendors. It is how a business checks the work of the first four steps.
Where does a DUNS number fit?
It is not one of the SBA's five steps. Many guides still say a DUNS number is required for federal work, and that is out of date. The GSA announced that on Monday, April 4, 2022, SAM.gov and all other GSA systems would switch to the new 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 still matters for D&B credit files. A business can need one for its D&B file and the other for federal registration, and the two are separate.
How can a business spot a credit-building scam?
The FTC says banks and other legitimate lenders won't promise or guarantee a loan or credit before you apply. It also 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.
The FTC lists scam ad phrases such as "Bad credit? No problem", "No hassle, guaranteed" and "We don't care about your past. You deserve a loan!" It has also published a consumer alert about fraudulent funders targeting small businesses. A service that charges first and promises fast results fits that pattern.
Which providers sit at steps three to five?
The providers below are listed alphabetically. The order is not a ranking. Prices are as of 2026-10-06 and may have changed since.
American Express
American Express issues business credit cards. Annual fees vary by card, so no single figure applies, and none is stated here.
Best for: a business that has completed the earlier steps and wants a card from an established issuer.
Chase
Chase offers business banking and business credit cards. As of 2026-10-06 its published business checking fees are Business Complete Banking at $15 a month, Performance Business Checking at $40 a month, and Platinum Business Checking at $95 a month. Each fee is waivable on stated balance or activity conditions.
Best for: a business that wants its account and card at the same institution.
Dun & Bradstreet
Dun & Bradstreet sells monitoring through D&B Credit Insights, the current name for the product formerly called CreditSignal. As of 2026-10-06 it has four tiers: Free at $0, Basic at $49 a month or $499 a year, Plus at $149 a month or $1,499 a year, and Premium at $199 a month or $1,999 a year.
Best for: a business that wants to see its Dun & Bradstreet file, starting free.
Experian
Experian sells its own business reports and subscriptions. As of 2026-10-06 the CreditScore Report is $59.95 one-off, the ProfilePlus Report is $69.95 one-off, Business Credit Advantage is $199 a year, and Business CreditScore Pro is $1,995 a year.
Best for: a business that wants a direct report from a bureau, once or on subscription.
Nav
Nav is a monitoring platform. As of 2026-10-06 it has a Free tier at $0, Track at $39.99 a month, Build at $49.99 a month, and Expand at $74.99 a month. The free tier shows business credit summaries from all three bureaus.
Best for: a business that wants a free look across all three bureaus before paying for more.
Ramp
Ramp is a spend management platform with a corporate card. As of 2026-10-06 its plans are Free at $0 per user per month, Plus at $15 per user per month, and Enterprise by quote only. The corporate card itself is free on every tier.
Best for: a business that already has its entity, bank account and bookkeeping in place and wants spend controls.
| Provider | Role in the sequence | Published pricing (as of 2026-10-06) |
|---|---|---|
| American Express | Business cards | Annual fees vary by card; no single figure |
| Chase | Bank account and cards | Checking $15, $40 or $95 a month, each waivable on stated conditions |
| Dun & Bradstreet | Monitoring | Free; Basic $49/mo or $499/yr; Plus $149/mo or $1,499/yr; Premium $199/mo or $1,999/yr |
| Experian | Reports and monitoring | $59.95; $69.95; $199/yr; $1,995/yr |
| Nav | Monitoring | Free; $39.99/mo; $49.99/mo; $74.99/mo |
| Ramp | Spend management and card | Free; Plus $15 per user/mo; Enterprise quote-only |
Frequently asked questions
How long do the five steps take? No bureau or regulator publishes a timeline. Any specific number should be treated as the seller's claim.
Is there a score lenders require? No bureau or regulator publishes a score cutoff for approval. The SBA's 7(a) loans are delivered through participating lenders that make their own decisions.
Does a DUNS number matter? For federal registration, no; the Unique Entity ID replaced it. For a Dun & Bradstreet file, it still does.
Should a company pay for an EIN? No. The IRS issues it free.
Sources
- U.S. Small Business Administration, "How to Build Business Credit Quickly: 5 Simple Steps"
- Internal Revenue Service, "Get an Employer Identification Number"
- Internal Revenue Service, "Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records"
- U.S. General Services Administration, "GSA Systems Switch to Unique Entity ID (SAM) on April 4, 2022"
- Federal Trade Commission, "What To Know About Advance-Fee Loans"
- Federal Trade Commission, "Fraudulent Funders = Big Woes for Small Businesses"
- U.S. Small Business Administration, "7(a) Loans"
This is general information, not legal, tax or accounting advice, and requirements vary and change.