Business Credit articles from November 2007

Business Credit archives from November 2007

Leadership and achieving strategic outcomes.(commentary)
November 1, 2007... This month's Business Credit focuses on key performance indicators, also known as KPI's or metrics. Last year, I talked about some best practice metrics in one of my commentaries (see "Metrics Matter" in the November/December 2006 issue if you...

Smoothing ripples before they become waves.(credit column)
November 1, 2007... The University of Louisville Cardinals head coach Rick Pitino once said, "The only way to get people to like working hard is to motivate them. Today, people must understand why they're working hard. Every individual in an organization is...

Controlling decisions with statistical portfolio scoring.(selected topic)(Business to business and Business to customer)
November 1, 2007... During the past decade, the use of portfolio scoring (aka behavior scoring) within the B2B and B2C markets has evolved at a tremendous rate. Portfolio scoring is no longer considered to be an inferior substitute for a credit and collection...

Ask and you shall receive: measuring credit customer service and listening to your customers.
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This article wouldn't be the first to suggest that, often, when it comes to what a company's upper management wants to hear when discussing the current and future state of the company, the bottom line is king....

Credit@work.
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dear Andy, Recruiting skilled professionals to join our growing credit department is an ongoing challenge. Do you have any suggestions that might help us better identify and hire strong candidates? Many...

Making performance reviews more productive and less stressful.(selected topic)
November 1, 2007... Performance reviews can be a powerful tool for motivating team members to higher performance levels and improving relationships between managers and employees. Still, many of those receiving and giving appraisals find them to be stressful. This...

NACM's 2008 Audio Teleconference Series.(Calendar)
November 1, 2007... NACM Teleconferences... Keeping You Up-To-Date Without Keeping You Out of the Office JANUARY 9 Effective and Innovative Uses for Credit Insurance Buddy Baker 23 Art of Credit Management Eddy Sumar, CCE, CICE FEBRUARY 4...

George Schnupp, CCE.(member profile)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] George recalls his interest in business first showing while he attended Elgin High School in Elgin, IL. "My academic career path was directed toward the field of finance," he said. "I developed an interest for...

Beware of claims bar dates for Section 503(b)(9) administrative priority claims in favor of goods suppliers.(credit column)
November 1, 2007... Goods sellers are the under Bankruptcy Code Section 503(b)(9). This section was added by the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA). Trade creditors can now assert an administrative priority claim for the sums...

House passes bill ending IRS private debt collection program.(TRADELINE)
November 1, 2007... The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the Tax Collection Responsibility Act (H.R. 3056) which, if signed into law, would effectively block an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) program that allows private debt collection firms to assist...

Practical "best practices" to integrate benchmarking into the credit department.(selected topic)
November 1, 2007... After asking several corporate credit managers about whether they have had a positive experience with the integration of benchmarking into the credit function, I was reminded of a quote from a politician. Former Illinois Senator Everett...

More than just fried chicken.(extra credit)
November 1, 2007... Kentucky, to use a timeless elementary school report opener, is a land of many contrasts. It holds the peculiar distinction as being the birthplace of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln and the Confederacy's only president, Jefferson Davis,...

NACM's 112th Credit Congress Exposition May 18-21, 2008 Louisville Kentucky.(National Association of Credit Management)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Credit Congress in Louisville marks 112 years of superior conferences designed by the National Association of Credit Management specifically for business credit and financial Management professionals. In May...

Assignments for the benefit of creditors: creditor considerations.(credit column)
November 1, 2007... One of the vehicles to liquidate a failed or no longer viable business is an assignment for the benefit of creditors ("ABC" or "Assignment"). This method of liquidating or transferring assets has the advantage of avoiding the unpredictability...

Are football watchers better salespeople?(extra credit)
November 1, 2007... Each year brings new excitement for every football fan. Maybe this year we will win it all. Enthusiasm and spirits are running high--just like the beginning of a new year for a sales team. This year will be the year everything comes together...

Irvin Kahn & Son, Inc.(Louisville Originals)
November 1, 2007... Irvin Kahn & Son was founded in the 1920s as a wholesaler of washers, dryers and radios--an offshoot of the "main business," which was weaving small room-size oval braid rugs--by Irvin Kahn. After Irvin died unexpectedly in 1948, his son took...

Benchmarking to measure your performance.(selected topic)
November 1, 2007... "Without a standard, there is no logical basis for making a decision or taking action" said Joseph Juran, one of the most important 20th century thinkers in quality management. As credit executives, you decide what action to take to improve...

Avoid unwanted exposure: creating a defense against preference payments.(extra credit)
November 1, 2007... For any business, there is almost nothing more frustrating than when they receive notice that a debtor is seeking repayment of a preference. It's as if the whole process of trying to collect on a delinquent account was all for naught. ...

Bad checks and bankruptcy.(credit column)
November 1, 2007... It's bad enough to learn that your customer just declared bankruptcy. You sold them goods on open credit terms, you continued to ship COD even though they were having trouble making payments on the past-due account, and now this. Not only did...

Alta Sethaler.(Look at Louisville)(Obituary)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The San Diego Credit Association/NACM Colorado, the Denver CFDD Chapter, and a great many friends are saddened to report the death of Aha Sethaler on October 3, 2007. While we are saddened and will miss her dearly,...

Blue moon of Kentucky.(Look at Louisville)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... In 1989, the General Assembly passed KRS 2.100, designating the song "Blue Moon of Kentucky" as Kentucky's official state bluegrass song. It was written in 1947 by William Smith "Bill" Monroe. Other entertainers that have included it as...

Metre stick: measuring up in international credit.
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Your company has entered the international market. Staff have been trained, languages have been learned, documents have been properly translated, you've found, through arduous amounts of research, a creditworthy...

Hot spots: Morocco.(hot spots)
November 1, 2007... Despite persistent official efforts to diversify the economy, the country remains heavily dependent on agriculture. So, as Morocco last year harvested the best grain crop in a decade, real GDP grew by as much as 8.1%. This performance looks...

NACM offers attendees a boost with financial statement analysis.(TRADELINE)(National Association of Credit Management)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... NACM recently hosted a week-long certificate session at its headquarters in Columbia, MD. Led by long-time NACM instructor and former NACM Chairman Jim McIntyre, CCE, the session--Financial Statement Analysis--focused on a number of skills...

Integration of U.S. small businesses into the export trade sector using available trade finance tools and resources: Part 2.(selected topic)
November 1, 2007... (This is a continuation of the article by Koch that appeared in the October issue. In Part I, Koch discussed the current status of small business participation in export trade and the tools available to facilitate doing business outside U.S....

November/December.(past accounts)(Calendar)
November 1, 2007... 80 years ago... The world population reaches 2 billion. As of October 1, 2007, the world population was approximately 6.7 billion. 40 years ago... On November 19, 1967, the UK pound was devalued from 1 GBP=2.80 USD to 1 GBP=2.40 USD....

On the threshold of the year 1928.(past accounts)(Reprint)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... THE United States passes into the year 1928 with A transportation system that has made possible minimum inventories on the part of producers and distributors, Abundant capital and credit facilities which have been conservatively...

NACM Credit Manager's Index: report for September 2007.(CREDIT MANAGER'S INDEX)(National Association of Credit Management)(Report)
November 1, 2007... The seasonally adjusted Credit Manager's Index (CMI) fell 0.3 points in September to 54.8. Dan North, chief economist with credit insurer Euler Hermes ACI pointed out that while the loss was small, it was definitive as seven of the 10...