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Our Subscribers Say...
I think Credit Today is fantastic. You cover many practical topics in the credit field that I use regularly. Just one recent example—a conversation on the ListServ about preferential payments—gave me tips that I used in an actual case. The specific information I picked up from this one discussion saved me $10,000, enough to cover my membership for many years!
- Steve Savino
Manager of Credit & Collections, ASSA Abloy Americas Division, New Haven, CT
Credit Today's Resource Directory and their online e-mail forum (ListServ) provide information on almost any credit-related topic you can think of. It is a great way to exchange information with other credit professionals. As the saying goes, "You don't know what you don't know."
- Scott Goen,
Credit Manager, Big Lots Stores, Inc., Wholesale Division
"We've recently started using the ListServ tool within Credit Today. This is phenomenal and powerful forum for gaining immediate feedback, ideas, and suggestions, relative to any credit topic under the sun, all in a real-time e-mail format."
-Javier Vela, Senior Credit Manager, Global Credit Services, JDA Software Group Inc.
"Being a part of the Credit Today online community is like having the expertise of hundreds of credit managers at your fingertips. These credit execs are willing to help you solve topical business issues as they arise. In the current environment of ever increasing competing priorities which reduce our opportunities to meet peers out of the office face-to-face, this is the most valuable tool you can have on your desktop! It's important that we have a mechanism to reach out to our counterparts quickly to exchange knowledge as well as to stay on top of industry trends."
- Victoria Artis, Director of Customer Financial Services, Pfizer, Inc.
"Over the last 10 years I've seen Credit Today evolve from a monthly credit publication into a quality source of information and guidance for the B2B credit community. The website, with its user friendly form downloads, will take you from examples of new account credit applications to bankruptcy forms and everything in between.
The Credit Today ListServ has become the pre-imminent online forum, providing an opportunity for discussion and comments (and occasional humor) from an impressive list of credit professionals."
David Dungan, Director of Credit
Justin Brands, Inc. (A Berkshire Hathaway company)
Fort Worth, Texas
"There are numerous credit periodicals available to the credit professional today. How good is Credit Today? Is it relevant? I always have to read it late, or online because my credit analysts want to read it the minute it comes in. When my staff wants to read a publication before I have a chance to read it then something is working in that publication. We have cancelled our other subscriptions. When you have the best you do not need the rest."
Ron Woods
Corporate Credit Manager-World Wide
Thales Navigation, Inc.
"The newsletter, coupled with the website and the ListServ, are to us, more valuable than any other credit publication, bar none. I try to use at least one article out of each newsletter for departmental training/discussion sessions."
D. Mark Constantine
Corporate Credit Mgr
Fulton Paper Company
"I love Credit Today and read every issue cover to cover. For me, the greatest perk of a subscription is ListServ. I believe Credit Today's ListServ members may be the most knowledgeable Credit brain trust in existence today. I have saved and categorized hundreds of contributions on a wide variety of topics which I refer to often. It's an easy and cost effective way to network and learn."
Doug M. Thomas
Kimberly-Clark Customer Financial Services |
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Benchmarking Central
Here you'll find Credit Today's Benchmarking Section, one of the most powerful features of your web experience. Look around here to see the results of past benchmarking surveys and participate in our current survey.
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Benchmarking: Are the Challenges Credit Departments Face Showing a Return to Business as Usual?
By David Schmidt
Our latest benchmarking survey covers... - The top 10 challenges facing credit execs in 2012
- Secondary challenges facing credit execs currently
- The primary differences in the challenges facing larger firms credit organizations vs. credit departments at smaller firms
- What new problems and concerns are emerging on credit department radar screens this year - and the implications of these changes
- What issues are now less a cause of concern for credit departments than last year
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keep reading
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Credit Today Benchmarking Survey: Credit Metrics and Reporting, Part 1
By David Schmidt
You undoubtedly spend significant time every month compiling and reporting a select set of performance metrics. While the month-end report is a staple, the key performance indicators (KPIs) chosen to be included in the report can vary greatly from company to company. Recognizing that, and prompted by several queries on our ListServ, we decided to dig in on this topic and find out what, exactly, credit departments are tracking and how they track it. Read on to learn: - the top performance metrics tracked by credit departments
- the top A/R portfolio comparisons tracked
- the top operational metrics tracked
- the five primary methods used to calculate DSO
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keep reading
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Credit Today Benchmarking Survey, Part 3: Selection Criteria For Collection Agency Outsourcing Services
By David Schmidt
Just as choosing a collection agency for third-party collections is a critical task, so too is selecting an agency to provide outsourcing services on a first-party basis. Maybe even more so than with third party collections, a bad choice can negatively impact your recoveries and your company's reputation, because an agency acting as a first party outsourcing partner is dealing directly with your active customers. A good choice will drive greater collection efficiency without raising customer service issues. . . .
keep reading
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Credit Today Benchmarking Survey: Credit Professional Perceptions of CLLA Certification
By David Schmidt
The Commercial Law League of America (CLLA) boasts it is the oldest existing creditor rights organization in America. Most of its members are attorneys, but it also supports a collection agency section known as the Commercial Collection Agency Association (CCAA). Agency membership is contingent upon meeting a strict set of professional standards, including bonding. This provides a valuable level of protection in terms of fraud protection and professional performance for the companies that place claims with CCAA agencies in comparison to non-affiliated commercial collection agencies. . . .
keep reading
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Credit Today Benchmarking Survey: Collection Agency Selection Criteria
By David Schmidt
Choosing a collection agency is a critical task. A wrong choice can negatively impact your recoveries or even your company's reputation. A good choice will ensure you achieve the highest possible net recoveries (receivables recovered less collection costs) in a highly professional manner. That professionalism will evidence itself in how your accounts are handled and how well the agency communicates with your staff. Ideally the agency will become a valued advisor in regard to your credit and collection practices. This month's benchmarking survey was conducted jointly with the Commercial Collection Agency Association to learn what criteria are most important to credit execs when selecting collection agencies. Learn: - The 8 top objective criteria for choosing an agency
- How important fees are in the decision
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keep reading
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Benchmarking Credit Policies: Reasons Some Credit Execs Do NOT Have a Credit Policy
One of the questions in Credit Today's recent Benchmarking Survey on Credit Applications asked those who did not have a credit policy why that was the case. We also asked how they set policies and monitor compliance without one. Synopsis: Although only 18 percent of survey participants reported that they did not have written credit policies, most clearly feel having written policies is valuable. In fact, creating a written policy and procedures manual is an agenda item for most, though until now, other priorities or circumstances have gotten in the way. Here's what they had to say on this issue: . . .
keep reading
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Benchmarking Credit Policies: Participants' Top Recommendations for Those Putting Together a Credit Policy Manual
One of the questions in our recent Benchmarking Survey on Credit Policies asked respondents for their recommendations on putting together a credit policy manual. Listed below is a wealth great advice on how to get the process going, resources to help make it easier, who you should work with (and why), what should be included, how long it should be, the degree of complixity of a policy (Note: we found some disagreement on this issue!), along with many ideas on the general philosophy required to making your policy most beneficial. . . .
keep reading
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Credit Today Benchmarking Survey: Keeping Credit Policies and Procedures Up to Date
By David Schmidt
Putting your credit policies and procedures in writing is one thing, but keeping them updated is another matter. To remain an effective tool, credit policies need to be kept up-to-date and that takes additional time and effort. In this analysis, we reveal: - how often credit policies are updated
- when the last update was for most companies' credit policies
- the impact that the size of your company has on how often credit policies are updated
- some great recommendations for getting and keeping the credit policy process moving
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keep reading
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Credit Today Benchmarking Survey: Is Your Credit Policy Manual Comprehensive?
By David Schmidt
Credit Today's recent benchmarking survey on credit policies asked participants to identify the components that are included in their policy manuals. Our expectation was that there might be a dozen items that would be almost universally included. But we found only six items were included in more than 75 percent of all credit policy manuals, led by Approval Authorities and New Account Application Processing -- no surprise there. Read on to learn: which six items are included in 78 percent of all policies - Our checklist of 55 items in 8 categories that you can consider for your credit policy
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keep reading
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Credit Today Benchmarking Survey: Smaller Firms Less Likely to Have Written Credit Policies
By David Schmidt
Whether they are written or not, every company has credit policies. Though not always recorded, they should be, and most companies (82 percent of our sample of 199 firms) do report having written credit policies, according to Credit Today's recent benchmarking survey on credit policies. Compiling a written Credit Policies and Procedures Manual is clearly a best practice. We cover: - The four primary reasons for having a written credit policy
- What percentage of small, medium, and large firms have credit policies
- Which industries are more - or less - likely to have credit policies in place
- Why some do not have a policy currently
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keep reading
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Credit Today Benchmarking Survey: Electronic Billing and Payment Trends, Part II
By David Schmidt
Electronic payments are now becoming mainstream. Based on our survey of 165 firms, wire transfer, Automated Clearing House (ACH) and credit cards now account for 47 percent of all payments. While checks remain the most popular medium, they now account for less than half of all payments (45 percent). With AP departments determined to migrate more of their payments to ACH and credit card formats due to the associated cost savings and efficiency benefits, experts expect the use of checks to continue to decrease. Likewise, the cost of processing checks through a lockbox, still the most popular delivery point for payments, makes the evolution to electronic payment attractive to AR departments as well. Moreover, most bank lockbox operations can now also facilitate electronic payments and remittances. Read on to learn: - Why Electronic Document Interchange (EDI) is not taking off as originally envisioned
- The primary payment mechanisms being used today - broken down on a percentage basis
- The types of payments being received
- The advantages of Electronic Invoice Presentment & Payment (EIPP) portals and the surprising data on how prevalent they are
. . .
keep reading
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Outlook 2012
This month's survey explores...
- What the top problems are facing credit execs currently, and
- What the top improvement initiatives are.
Click here to participate!
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Webinars
