Getting Suppliers To Report Credit

If a particular supplier doesn’t show up on your business credit reports, it probably means that they are not reporting your payment history. Not all suppliers and vendors report credit, and some that do, fail to do it consistently.

If you’re building business credit, every bit of positive reporting will help your cause. You may want to send a letter to your suppliers asking them to report.
A simple letter is usually sufficient:

“Dear [vendor],
I have been a customer of yours for {time}, and recently noticed that you haven’t reported my payment history to any of the business credit bureaus.
The purpose of this letter is to request that you do so, as this will help to strengthen my business credit profile, and will be better for both of our businesses in the long run. The three business credit bureaus are Experian, Equifax, and Dun & Bradstreet. I hope you will consider reporting my company’s payment history to one or all three of these business credit bureaus.
As a customer, I would appreciate getting “credit” for the responsible manner in which I handle my accounts.
Sincerely, [name]”

Some smaller suppliers or vendors may not be able to. Other larger ones may have intended to report your payment history but the process could have failed for one reason or another. In any case, it doesn’t hurt to ask.
Some recommend only using suppliers and vendors who report business credit. I wouldn’t go that far. Non- reporting accounts have a place in your business finances too. But especially when you are starting out, the reporting accounts