Business Credit articles from October 2004

Business Credit archives from October 2004

The scoop.
October 1, 2004... Vision, Strategy, and Plan... Vision, strategy, and plan... setting up your department and the organization for success: the November/December issue of Business Credit will include meaningful and practical information and guidelines for...

NACM calendar.(National Association of Credit Management's conferences)(Calendar)
October 1, 2004... OCTOBER October 4, 2004 Teleconference: Understanding the Components That Drive Operating Performance Presenter: George Schnupp, CCE, IMC Global, Inc. For more information, please contact the NACM Meetings Department at...

Commentary.
October 1, 2004... In the September issue of Business Credit, I talked with you about change and how it affects you, the credit professional, and how you perform your job. To establish the enormity of change in our everyday life, I shared some statistics with you...

Managing the voice channel.(voice mail)
October 1, 2004... Have you seen the new AIG commercial that promises every inbound call will be answered by a real, live human? AIG's pitch is just an early glimpse of an accelerating, inescapable trend that will soon crash like a tsunami onto every...

How to use data hosting to better manage outside collections.(selected topic)
October 1, 2004... As a credit manager, how much time do you spend managing your outside collection efforts? Do you frequently find yourself prompting collection agencies or attorneys for information on claims you have placed with them? Too often managing these...

How to maximize credit research efficiencies: five tips for portfolio managers.
October 1, 2004... Do you consider yourself a savvy portfolio manager? Of course you do. But are you aware of the critical elements that are helping your competitors become even more perceptive regarding the constantly fluctuating credit market? The factors...

The impact of technology on credit managers: the convergence of data analytics, and process automation.(selected topic)
October 1, 2004... As credit and collections managers survey their profession, they see a ground swell of support for new technologies. After years of declining budgets for IT investment, there is pent up demand for productivity enhancements in the form of...

Unlock your receivable data and optimize cash flow.(selected topic)
October 1, 2004... Every day, we as credit professionals face the ongoing challenge of exceeding corporate expectations in terms of managing and controlling critical accounts receivable business information. Improving working capital, reducing DSO, optimizing...

Raising the technological bar to meet today's challenges.
October 1, 2004... No doubt you already know the bad news: increasing regulatory and competitive pressures are testing your mettle as never before. On top of your usual full plate of tasks, mounting compliance mandates loom for tighter internal controls, more...

Auto posting of accounts receivable.
October 1, 2004... In today's world, many types of payments can be received from multiple sources and need to be posted to the end client's account as quickly and accurately as possible. The question is: How is this accomplished? A good place to start is...

Number of bankruptcy cases filed in federal courts down less than one percent.(News release: administrative office of the U.S. Courts)
October 1, 2004... The total number of bankruptcies filed in federal courts declined slightly in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2004, the first time since 2000 that bankruptcies have declined in the 12-month period ending June 30. The total number of...

Standby letters of credit and the strict compliance standard: the case of the overstated sight draft.(credit column)
October 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION A standby letter of credit is a security device where the bank or other entity issuing the letter of credit agrees to pay a letter of credit beneficiary that presents all of the documents conforming to the requirements of the...

Manufacturing exodus squeezes industrial distributors, says new survey.(surveys)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... A new survey released by Industrial Distribution Magazine, Reed Research, and Pembroke Consulting finds the offshoring of U.S. manufacturing plants is forcing many industrial distributors to rethink their business models as profits and...

Check 21 Resource Document.
October 1, 2004... Introduction The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21 Act) facilitates significant change in the way checks are processed in the United States. All banks will be affected by this law even if they do nothing to change their...

In memoriam.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
October 1, 2004... Frederick T. Knight August 9, 1923-August 30, 2004 Frederick T. Knight, referred to as the 'Father of Credit" by college students he taught, died August 30 in Springville, NY. Mr. Knight was born in Buffallo, grew up in Canada, and served...

Meet Donna Hypse, CCE.(certified credit executive)(Mid-Continent Safety)
October 1, 2004... Donna doesn't look that old, but claims she has I worked in credit "forever". "Well, no," she admits: "not quite--but most of the last 30+ years." Donna started attending NACM functions in the early '70s and joined CFDD in 1973. "By...

Undisclosed ownership change.(selected topic)(Fast Break Bicycles)
October 1, 2004... While a change in business ownership does not necessarily mean that the business will be operated with fraudulent intentions, such new circumstances can be a warning sign of fraud. Unscrupulous new owners take advantage of the business good...

Design disclaimers: will you take the bait?(subcontractors)
October 1, 2004... Subcontractors, make sure that the staff person in charge of reviewing your contract documents understands how to identify design disclaimers and how disclaimers should change your bidding strategy. Why? There are documented cases in which a...

Hot spots: Poland.(Central Bank raises interest rates)
October 1, 2004... Late in August--and unexpectedly for the financial markets--Poland's Central Bank raised interest rates for the third time in as many months, by half a percentage point. This put the so-called Lombard rate, which the CB charges to banks...

Brazil rewrites its bankruptcy laws.
October 1, 2004... A After a decade of struggle, the Brazilian government is now finalizing sweeping reforms of the country's bankruptcy laws. The original draft of the proposed reforms was completed in the House of Representatives in October of 2003 and sent to...

Check conversion or truncation--how & where to decide? Dealing with the new reality of multiple check electronification options.(required reading)
October 1, 2004... Introduction A short while ago, the industry seemed to buzz with predictions of prodigious growth of check conversion. Yet, a significant number of retailers and billers alike have examined the business case for check conversion and found...

Club Car streamlines collections management with Cforia Software.(M[C.sup.2] software)(Advertisement)
October 1, 2004... Business Driver: Increasing Cash Flow Club Car, a division of Ingersoll-Rand, and the world's largest golf and utility transportation vehicles manufacturer, was faced with the challenge of improving cash flow and reducing working capital...

eCredit nFusion cuts the cost of credit for XTRA Lease.(credit software)(Advertisement)
October 1, 2004... XTRA Lease, a St. Louis-based leader in trailer rental and leasing, needed to ensure its competitive edge by providing the best customer service possible, and that meant making credit decisions as quickly as possible. "We needed to better...

Process improvement solutions may be closer than you thought.(selected topic)(enterprise resource planning)
October 1, 2004... Today's credit executives continue to face the challenge of increasing productivity with fewer resources--namely personnel and money. One of more labor-intensive functions within most firms is the "billing to cash" application process. Or,...