(John Wiley & Sons) by Hal Schaeffer, President, D & H Credit Services Inc.

How to decide when to say “yes: to a credit application - without jeopardizing your reputation or your company’s bottom line. Deciding whether a credit applicant is ultimately creditworthy involves more than just poring over their financial statements - it takes the kind of advice only an experienced credit expert, like Hal Schaeffer, can give, A 40+ year veteran of the credit screening process, Schaeffer outlines the nuts-and-bolts of assessing a credit applicant’s financial health and ability to manage an extended line of credit.

 

Using a unique case study approach the book shows the reader

1) How to determine the cost and accuracy of financial information
2) How to isolate information gaps in financial records
3) How to determine the actual costs (including total/partial loss of sale, insurance fees) and value (including future sales to the customer) to your company if credit is extended
4) The exact nature of the sale - large (or small); one-time deal or continuous; the expected profit margin and
5) The controls your company has over the customer
 

The reader is presented with twelve case studies, given the facts and financial information and then invited to make their own “credit decision.” Schaeffer then presents the decisions made by other credit executives who were presented with the same facts at his AMA course. He also shares the real-life outcome and the reader gets the opportunity to see if they would have dodged the bullet, devised the same creative solutions or fell into the debtor’s trap.