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Business health check: U.S. businesses are paying bills more slowly
Because business health is critical to the nation’s economic recovery, Experian’s Business Benchmark Report provides a monthly look at how businesses are faring in the United States. The report tracks key indicators of business health and provides agencies of all sizes with critical insight to make informed decisions and allocate funding and resources to those areas most in need.

According to Experian’s latest findings, U.S. businesses are paying their bills more slowly — on average 6.45 days beyond the due date. The national average number of days that businesses paid their bills beyond contracted terms increased by 2 percent in July. When compared with six months prior, the average payment beyond contracted terms increased by 3.3 percent, indicating a decline in overall payment behavior.

Small businesses without any employees (nonemployer firms) experienced the most significant monthly decline in payment behavior, with a 2 percent increase in the number of days bills were paid beyond terms. Over the course of six months, nonemployer businesses and very large businesses have shown the greatest deterioration in timely payments, respectively paying bills 5.67 and 8.12 days late on average in July.

According to the report, all industry groups and most states showed a monthly increase in the number of days that businesses paid their bills beyond contracted terms. Manufacturing and Utilities experienced the biggest increase, while New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, California and Texas were the only states with the largest metropolitan areas that stayed well below the national average.    

To download the most recent report or to view an interactive representation of this data and other key indicators of business health broken down by state, business size and industry group, click on the map below.

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