A credit manager is a person employed by an organization to manage the credit department and make decisions concerning credit limits, acceptable levels of risk and terms of payment to their customers. In companies, the role of Credit manager is variable in its scope.


Always directly responsible for staff performing:

• Setting Credit
  Credit (finance)
  Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately , but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources at a later date. The resources provided may be financial Credit is the trust...
  
   terms on Credit accounts

Can be directly or indirectly responsible for staff performing:

• Cash collection
  Cash collection
  Cash collection is a function of Accounts receivable. It is the recovery of cash from a business or individual with which you have issued an Invoice.Unpaid invoices are considered outstanding....
  
   sometimes with a Collections
  Collection agency
  A collection agency is a business that pursues payments of debts owed by individuals or businesses. Most collection agencies operate as agents of creditors and collect debts for a fee or percentage of the total amount owed....
  
   manager or supervisor reporting to him.
• Accounts Receivable
  Accounts receivable
  Accounts receivable also known as Debtors, is money owed to a business by its clients and shown on its Balance Sheet as an asset...
  
   in as much a his staff may Remit and allocate cash received from customers.

Credit managers are responsible for:

• Controlling bad debt exposure and expenses, through the direct management of credit terms on the company's ledgers.
• Maintaining strong cash flows through efficient collections. The efficiency of which is measured using Days Sales Outstanding
  Days Sales Outstanding
  In accountancy, Days Sales Outstanding is a calculation used by a company to estimate their average collection period. A low number of days indicates that the company collects its outstanding receivables quickly. Typically, Days sales outstanding is calculated monthly...
  
   (DSO).
• Ensuring an adequate Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
  Bad debt
  A bad debt is an amount that is written off by the business as a loss to the business and classified as an expense because the debt owed to the business is unable to be collected, and all reasonable efforts have been exhausted to collect the amount owed...
  
   is kept by the company.
• Monitoring the Accounts Receivable portfolio for trends and warning signs.
• Enforcing the Stop List.
• Setting and ensuring compliance with a corporate credit policy.
• Obtaining security interests where necessary, such as a Debenture
  Debenture
  A debenture is a document that either creates a debt or acknowledges it. In corporate finance, the term is used for a medium- to long-term debt instrument used by large companies to borrow money. In some countries the term is used interchangeably with bond, loan stock or note...
  
   or a Cross Company guarantee, against credit extended.
• Initiating legal or other recovery actions against non-payers.

Credit managers tend to fall into one of two groups due to the differing specialty legal and jurisdictional knowledge required.

1. Commercial Credit Managers
2. Consumer Credit Managers

large companies which sell to both markets will require a Credit manager familiar with both aspects of Credit management.

Australia

Credit managers in Australia obtain memberships from the Australian Institute of Credit Management (AICM). Qualifications and continuing education can also be obtained from here.

Canada

Credit professionals in Canada can obtain the official designation, Certified Credit Professional

Certified Credit Professional

Certified Credit Professional is the Canadian designation awarded to professionals in the credit management field by the Credit Institute of Canada . A CCP designation holder is a member of the Credit Institute of Canada and is bound by that organization's Code of Ethics. The CCP designation was...

 - CCP (formerly known as the Fellow Credit Institute - FCI) , from the Credit Institute of Canada

Credit Institute of Canada

The Credit Institute of Canada is a not-for-profit organization created by a special Act of Parliament on June 11, 1928. The CIC provides credit management resources, education and certification to its members and is the only organization that grants official designations to professionals in the...

.

United States

Business-to-Business Professional Credit Managers can receive a Credit Business Associate (CBA) or a Credit Business Fellow (CBF) or the Certified Credit Executive or CCE certification from the National Association of Credit Management (NACM). NACM defines its Canons of Business Credit Ethics as follows:

Credit professionals pledge to:

• Adhere to the highest standards of integrity, trust, fairness, personal and professional behavior in all business dealings.
• Negotiate verbal or written credit agreements, contracts, assignments and/or transfers with honesty, fairness and due diligence to and for the benefit of all parties.
• Render reasonable assistance, cooperating with impartiality and without bias or prejudice, to debtors, third parties and other credit professionals.
• Exchange appropriate, historical and current factual information to support the process of independent credit decisions.
• Exercise due diligence as required to prevent unlawful or improper disclosure to third parties.
• Disclose any potential conflict in all business dealings.

There are two programs offered by affiliates of the NACM.

1. Credit Administration Program CAP
2. Advance Credit Administration Program
   Advance Credit Administration Program
   The Advanced Credit Administration Program is a series of college equivalent courses designed to prepare a credit manager for additional managerial responsibilities and for the CBF Designation exam....
   
    ACAP

The median annual salary of a credit manager was $72,328 in 2006.

United Kingdom

Credit managers operating within the United Kingdom can obtain accreditation from the Institute of Credit Management.