Why Credit Management Deserves a Spot at the Boardroom Table
Dutch MKB-entrepreneurs lose 15 billion euros every year, because of unpaid invoices. Even when you hold these high losses in regard, the credit manager is still not included at the boardroom table. This is peculiar, to say the least. Your company can have a strong brand, or a driven Sales team, but if the cashflow isn’t up to standard then every company will eventually find itself in trouble. The Credit Manager in particular makes sure that the cashflow is steady and in place. More importantly, he or she can make sure that a company is more profitable. All the more reason for the Credit Manager to demand a spot at the boardroom table.
Credit Management is Always More Profitable
Cashflow is at the heart of every business, and only this simple fact should be reason enough for boardrooms to include credit management on a regular basis. Not only do MKB-entrepreneurs lose 15 billion euro annually, bad credit management is one of the most important reasons why new (high-growth) companies will eventually fail and crash.
One of the biggest responsibilities of a Credit Manager is that he or she makes sure that the cashflow is healthy and steady. A Credit Manager can also raise profits through different channels, and therefore is a crucial sparring partner for the boardroom.
The Credit Manager can play an important part in a organisation or company to obtain more focus on profitable target groups, instead of clients that aren’t profitable or growing in that regard. All valuable information gathers with credit management: from order value till credit rating and market information. You can predict which clients will grow, or are most profitable, with all this credit information. Next to reviewing credit credibility of new clients, you can play an important part in advising a sales team about target groups with potential for a maximised profit.
These insights contribute to a shift in focus from more revenue, to more profits. Even when a boardroom tells you that raising profitability is a primary focus, you can see that the focus is still on revenue. If you look at a standard commercial business plan, the target is usually something like ‘5 percent revenue in de next 12 months.’ Few companies focus on reeling in profitable clients as a target. A spot for credit management at the boardroom table can make this change.
