How many people does it take to get the cash applied at your firm?

Are you efficient? How would you know if you're efficient?

As we discussed in last week's letter, ("The Incredible Shrinking Credit Departments") it's more important than ever to keep staffing sizes in line - as lean as possible but still able to do the job properly.

This week, we get more specific, and look at the typical resources being used to manage the cash application process.

Our data comes from Credit Today's just-released Credit, Collection, and A/R Staff Benchmarking Survey, which examines staffing levels for this important function, which typically falls within the credit department.

The table below breaks the data down by both size and type of company, so you can compare on an "apple-to-apples" basis.

Are you where you should be?

If you're equal to, or lower than, the average or median, then great. Keep it up! But if you need significantly more staff than the averages in your category, then it's time to figure out why.

How do you stack up?