Introduction Assessing a customer’s ability to repay its debts as they come due is a critical step for commercial lenders and trade creditors in deciding whether to extend credit. The capacity evaluation ensures that extensions of credit are grounded in a realistic assessment of the customer’s financial viability. At its core, capacity scrutinizes a customer’sContinue reading “Think Like a Lender: A Miniseries On the Five Cs of Business Credit: (Part 3 – Capacity)”
Credit Industry Updates
Think Like a Lender: A Miniseries on the Five Cs of Business Credit (Part 2 – Character)
Past actions do not always foretell future outcomes, but nearly always provide meaningful insight into future behavior. As Part 1 of our miniseries outlined, the Five Cs of Credit framework, long a mainstay of commercial lenders, provides a structured approach for trade vendors evaluating their customers’ creditworthiness. The first C, Character, assesses a customer’s willingness,Continue reading “Think Like a Lender: A Miniseries on the Five Cs of Business Credit (Part 2 – Character)”
Think Like a Lender: A Miniseries on the Five Cs of Business Credit (Part 1 – Introduction)
Introduction Commercial lenders consider five factors – the “Five Cs of Credit” – when assessing the creditworthiness of a prospective borrower. The Five Cs are also valuable to trade creditors. This six-part series introduces the Five Cs from the standpoint of a trade creditor considering whether to extend credit to a new customer or extendContinue reading “Think Like a Lender: A Miniseries on the Five Cs of Business Credit (Part 1 – Introduction)”
Managing B2B Credit Risk in Uncertain Times
At its core, the credit department is all about risk management, with a primary focus on safeguarding the revenues of your business against loss due to nonpayment. The basic credit risks B2B trade vendors face today are not fundamentally different from the concerns that have existed for decades, but the volatility and uncertainty of theContinue reading “Managing B2B Credit Risk in Uncertain Times“
Five Key Steps to Designing a Bulletproof B2B Credit Application
Your company’s B2B credit application is a critical tool to help your organization assess the creditworthiness of potential customers, make smarter and better-informed credit decisions, and reduce the risk of future nonpayment. Far too often, the business credit application is an afterthought – an outdated form developed internally decades ago, a hodgepodge of elements borrowedContinue reading “Five Key Steps to Designing a Bulletproof B2B Credit Application”
What should I do when my B2B credit customer stops paying during an economic downturn?
Tumultuous economic times make proactively managing your B2B accounts receivable portfolio more important – and difficult – than ever. When a B2B credit customer stops paying during an economic downturn, it is important to take a proactive approach to address the issue. Here are some steps to consider:: It is important to approach a distressedContinue reading “What should I do when my B2B credit customer stops paying during an economic downturn?“
Why Should My Organization Move Its B2B Credit Application Online?
The paper credit application has been a staple of the B2B trade credit process for decades, and remains a prevalent means of collecting customers’ credit information today. However, savvy credit departments are increasingly moving their credit applications – and the entire credit investigation process – online. Online credit applications simplify the credit investigation process, increaseContinue reading “Why Should My Organization Move Its B2B Credit Application Online?”