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The PAYDEX Score Explained Without the Hype

By the GoHarvest editorial team · Updated · 2 min read · Building business credit

Short answer

PAYDEX is Dun & Bradstreet's 1–100 index of how promptly a business pays the suppliers that report to D&B. An index of 80 means bills are paid on terms; above 80 means early; below 80 means late. D&B says a score appears once three approved accounts are reporting.

Key points

  • PAYDEX looks only at trade payment data, not revenue, bank balances or loans that don't report to D&B.
  • Paying on the due date earns about 80. Higher scores require paying before terms.
  • A supplier that doesn't report to D&B does nothing for your PAYDEX, however promptly you pay it.
  • D&B says 80 or above is generally considered good.

PAYDEX gets more attention than any other business score, partly because it's simple and partly because a whole industry sells programs promising an "80 PAYDEX fast." Here's what the score actually is.

What it measures

PAYDEX is Dun & Bradstreet's index of payment performance. It runs from 1 to 100, with higher meaning better, and it relies solely on trade data: the payment experiences suppliers report to D&B. Your revenue, your bank balance and your personal credit are not part of it.

D&B's own documentation gives the anchor point: an index of 80 reflects prompt payment, and anything greater than 80 reflects payment before the agreed terms. Scores below 80 mean payments arriving after terms. D&B measures lateness in "days beyond terms": if an invoice is due in 30 days and you pay in 35, that's five days beyond terms.

How you get one

D&B says a business gets a PAYDEX once it has three approved accounts reporting. Until then the score is blank, which is different from a bad score: a lender sees "no data," not "late payer."

Reading the number

PAYDEX What it says
Above 80 On balance, the business pays before terms
80 On balance, the business pays on terms
Below 80 On balance, the business pays after terms; lower means later
Blank Not enough reported trade experiences yet

D&B describes 80 or above as generally good. Several commercial sites publish a full table mapping each score to a number of days late; D&B's public pages we checked confirm the 80 anchor and the direction, so we've left the finer mapping out rather than repeat figures we couldn't verify at the source.

What moves it

Up: more reporting suppliers, paid on or before terms, over time. Because the index summarizes your payment experiences, one small account paid early can't do much if a bigger account is paid late.

Down: late payments reported by suppliers, especially on larger invoices; disputed invoices a supplier reports as late.

Nothing at all: suppliers that don't report to D&B, bank loans that don't report, personal cards used for business, and your business revenue.

Is a high PAYDEX worth chasing?

It helps with suppliers and with anyone who checks D&B before extending terms. For loans, it's one input among many, and many lenders never look at it. Treat a good PAYDEX as a side effect of paying suppliers well, and keep the bigger factors in view: cash flow, time in business, clean financial statements and the owner's credit. Our readiness checklist puts those in order.

Sources

  1. Dun & Bradstreet Direct documentation: predictive analytics (PAYDEX)
  2. Dun & Bradstreet: Understanding business credit scores and ratings
  3. Dun & Bradstreet: Slow pay and late payments (days beyond terms)

Checked November 9, 2026. Program rules and scoring models change; the source is the authority.

Questions people ask

Does paying early really raise PAYDEX above 80?

That's how D&B defines it: an index above 80 reflects payment before the agreed terms. Whether paying early is worth it depends on your cash; giving up cash to nudge a score rarely makes sense unless the supplier also offers an early-payment discount.

Can I pay to have accounts added to my D&B file?

D&B sells services, including ways for businesses to add trade references. Paid services don't change how the score is calculated, and a lender that cares will look at the actual accounts. Real supplier relationships paid on time are the durable route.

My PAYDEX dropped although I paid everything. Why?

Common reasons: a supplier reported a payment as late because of an invoice dispute, a new account reported with a different due date, or older on-time payments aged out. Check which account changed, then raise it with that supplier and with D&B.

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