A 60-day late payment stays in the trade data behind your Dun & Bradstreet PAYDEX score while the supplier's report of it is less than 24 months old, according to a PAYDEX FAQ that D&B posts on its documentation site, and Experian's business credit FAQ keeps trade data for 36 months after the last report date. The score impact is heaviest while that late experience is a big share of the dollars on file, and it shrinks as on-time payments report around it. Neither bureau's pages that we read on November 2, 2026 give a point drop or a recovery date, so be wary of anyone who promises you one.
How long does a 60-day late payment stay on your business credit report?
It depends on the bureau, and the two we checked start the clock differently.
| Bureau and record | How long it counts or stays |
|---|---|
| D&B trade experience in PAYDEX | Reported date within the last 24 months, and date of last sale within the last 36 months |
| D&B 3-month PAYDEX | Trades reported in the last 3 months |
| Experian trade data | 36 months after the last report date |
| Experian collections | 6 years and 9 months after the last report date |
| Experian judgments and tax liens | 7 years after the filing date |
| Experian bankruptcies | 10 years after the filing date |
D&B's PAYDEX FAQ says that for a trade reference to be used in the PAYDEX calculation, "the reported date of the trade experience must be within the last 24-month period and the date of last sale must be within the last 36 months." Its example follows a slow account reported in April 2009. The customer paid the $10,000 balance in May, the experience still showed "SLOW 30-90" with nothing owing, and D&B said it would stay "until April 2011 for use in the Paydex calculation." The file is dated 2017 and some of its figures are as of 2010, so confirm the method with D&B before relying on it.
Experian's periods come from its business credit FAQ, read on November 2, 2026. Read literally, an account a supplier keeps reporting stays on file while it's reported and for 36 months after the last report. We found nothing on that page about how one late month inside a still-reporting account shows over time, so ask Experian if it matters.
How D&B weighs a 30, 60 or 90 day late payment in PAYDEX
D&B's PAYDEX page calls the score "a dollar-weighted indicator intended to reflect a business's past payment performance," scored between 1 and 100. D&B's PAYDEX FAQ says a PAYDEX of 80 means payments "have generally been made within terms," that the score uses up to 874 trade experiences, and that D&B won't calculate one with fewer than three experiences or fewer than two suppliers reporting.
D&B multiplies each payment class's share of total dollars by that class's index weight and adds the results.
| Payment class | Index weight | That PAYDEX on D&B's chart |
|---|---|---|
| Prompt | 80 | Prompt |
| Slow to 15 days | 70 | 15 days beyond terms |
| Slow to 30 days | 50 | 30 days beyond terms |
| Slow to 60 days | 40 | 60 days beyond terms |
| Slow to 90 days | 30 | 90 days beyond terms |
| Bad debt | 0 | Under 20 is over 120 days beyond terms |
Two rules matter for a single late month. A slow experience with no days reported counts as "slow to 30." And when a supplier reports a compound manner such as prompt to slow 60, D&B splits it into two experiences for PAYDEX, each carrying half the dollars.
Worked example: one 60-day late month aging out of PAYDEX
These assumptions are ours. Four suppliers report, each dollar figure is that experience's high credit, everything except supplier C is prompt, the prompt experiences stay in date, and supplier C's experience isn't updated after it reports. We use the three steps in D&B's PAYDEX FAQ, unrounded, though its own examples drop fractions, so a real PAYDEX is a whole number.
Suppliers A, B and D report $32,000 of prompt payment, and supplier C reports an $8,000 account paid 60 days beyond terms. That's $40,000 in total, so supplier C is 20% of the mix: 80% × 80 = 64 points, plus 20% × 40 = 8 points, for a PAYDEX of 72.
| Point in time (assumed) | Prompt dollars | Slow-60 dollars | Slow-60 share | PAYDEX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Late experience reports | $32,000 | $8,000 | 20% | 72 |
| New prompt trade adds $20,000 | $52,000 | $8,000 | 13.33% | 74.67 |
| Another $20,000 of prompt trade | $72,000 | $8,000 | 10% | 76 |
| C's reported date passes 24 months | $72,000 | $0 | 0% | 80 |
The second row is 86.67% × 80 = 69.33 plus 13.33% × 40 = 5.33, for 74.67. With the same starting mix, deeper delinquency costs more:
| Supplier C's $8,000 reported as | Points from C | PAYDEX |
|---|---|---|
| Slow to 30 days (weight 50) | 10 | 74 |
| Slow to 60 days (weight 40) | 8 | 72 |
| Slow to 90 days (weight 30) | 6 | 70 |
| Prompt to slow 60, split in half | 8 + 4 = 12 | 76 |
| Bad debt (weight 0) | 0 | 64 |
A slow payment on a small account moves PAYDEX less than one on your largest account. In D&B's example, paying the balance left the slow rating in place, so in our table only new on-time experiences and time move the number. If your report shows a 3-month PAYDEX, it uses only trades reported in the last 3 months, so it can reflect newer payments well before the 24-month figure does.
What Experian's Intelliscore Plus looks at over time
Experian's FAQ names its business credit score Intelliscore Plus, says scores "range from a low of 1 to a high of 100," and says the model "looks at over 140 modeling variables." Its factors include "an increased trend in slow payment of obligations" and "the number of trade experiences, balances outstanding, payment habits, credit utilization, and trends over time," plus public records, inquiries and business demographics.
Experian's report can show payment status in days beyond terms. The FAQ's example is a company that is "60 DBT (days beyond terms)" with a telecom supplier, which may appear as "TELECOM ... 60DBT" because supplier names are masked. We found no Experian weighting key like D&B's, so we can't calculate an Intelliscore Plus change, and D&B's PAYDEX chart doesn't carry over to Experian's scale. Our reading of the factor list is that one 60-day late month weighs more on a thin file or at the start of a slowing trend.
Does the FCRA's seven-year rule apply to a business credit file?
In a July 2011 staff report, 40 Years of Experience with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, FTC staff wrote that "reports about corporations, associations, and other collective entities are not reports about a consumer, and thus are not consumer reports subject to the FCRA." The same report says a consumer reporting agency's report on a consumer's personal credit, given to a business credit grantor, is a "consumer report" whatever it's used for.
If a business debt also lands on your personal credit report, which depends on the account and the creditor, the FCRA's limits apply there. Under 15 U.S.C. 1681c, consumer reporting agencies can't report accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss that antedate the report by more than seven years, and a catch-all clause sets seven years for other adverse items apart from criminal convictions. The FTC staff report reads that clause to let a delinquent account that was never placed for collection or charged off be reported for seven years from the start of the delinquency. The statute lists exceptions, including a credit transaction involving, or reasonably expected to involve, $150,000 or more. See personal vs business credit for loans for how lenders use each file.
How to correct an inaccurate late payment
Both bureaus take disputes and verify before changing anything. Neither page we read offers a way to remove a late payment that was reported correctly.
- Experian: owners or officers can use "Submit data dispute" at the bottom of their online report or email BusinessDisputes@experian.com. The FAQ says an investigation is generally completed within 30 days, though complex cases may take longer, and the agent "is only authorized to make changes that are verified by supporting documents."
- D&B: D-U-N-S Profile Manager is free for a U.S.-based, non-public company, for its owner, director or officer. D&B says you "can dispute payment experiences that appear in your business credit report" and that it "cannot guarantee that requested updates will be accepted."
Our suggested file, which neither bureau prescribes: the invoice with its terms (Net 30, Net 60 and so on), proof of the date you paid, any credit memo or written extension that changed the due date, and a note naming the entry as it appears, including Experian's masked label.
If the late payment was real, keep that account current and get your on-time suppliers reporting. D&B's PAYDEX page says "Payment experiences that go unreported cannot be considered." Our guide on how to build business credit covers adding trade references.
What lenders do when a late payment is on file
Lenders differ in which bureau they pull, whether they pull a business report at all, and how much one late experience counts next to the owner's personal credit, bank statements and revenue. We found no published industry cutoff for PAYDEX or Intelliscore Plus, so treat any number you hear as one lender's policy. Our guide to the credit score for a business loan goes further.
Be ready to explain the late payment briefly, with a document behind it. If you're comparing business lines of credit or term loans, EQ Funding routes one application to lenders who compete for it, and each lender reviews your credit and repayment ability and sets its own terms.