Creditnet 2008: the story you are about to read is true. The names of the companies have been changed to avoid lawsuits.(extra credit)

This is the country, the United States of America. There are over 50 million business enterprises in this country, most of them headed by honorable hardworking, intelligent men and women. To facilitate their operations, these businesses rely on credit. Most of the time they pay their creditors reasonably well, but there are those who don't, and when they don't, I go to work. I am a CCE.

It was Monday, October 1st. I was working in the transformer division. The boss is John Gotrocks. My name is Thursday. As usual for Monday morning, I was hanging around the coffee machine with my assistant, Rebecca Sunnybrook, discussing our weekend adventures. "What did you do this weekend, Jack?" asked Rebecca. "Oh, I just hung out with the wife and kids, barbequed chicken for the dog," I replied.

My assistant, Rebecca, was a farm girl who just recently joined the department after receiving her associates' degree in accounting from a no-name junior college over in Dog Patch. She had a good head on her shoulders, but she was too anxious for the excitement and hostile confrontation she had so often heard was the trademark of any good credit department. "Do you think we'll get to yell at any customers or salesmen today about bad accounts or balances in arrears?" she asked. "You don't think updating those account references are very important, do you, Rebecca?" I asked. "Well, not really," she replied.

Her remark really set me off on a tirade. "Let me tell you something! Updating those references is very important. Do you realize you may discover a slow payment trend or potential bankruptcy? You just want the glory of telling some customer he can't have credit and arguing with the sales rep who's only trying to meet his quota for the month. No, you'll get your chance, but not today. Someday you'll realize every facet of credit management is important, not just the glamorous parts of the job."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"There's one other important reason you need to update those references," I told her. "What's that?" she replied, rolling her eyes. "Because I'm your boss, and I told you to do it!" I exclaimed as I walked back to my office with my hot cup of Brand X coffee.

It was now 9:35am and the day was proceeding as usual. While Rebecca was updating credit files, I was scanning the aging report for any items that may be past due. Several accounts were slightly delinquent. I highlighted them with a yellow marker so Rebecca could give them a call later in the day. It might boost her morale a little. No sooner than I had marked off the aging report, the phone rang. "You need to set up a new account for me, Jack," the sales manager advised. "Nonsense Electrical Distribution."