Senior Credit Controller Jobs
Role Overview
Credit control is increasingly recognised at Finance Director level as impacting on business. Reducing debtor days makes a big difference to the finances, whether your company is a large or small operation – especially in times where margins are being squeezed and cashflow is leaner. There's an acceptance that credit control is far more than just chasing invoices, and that development of a credit strategy and policy is crucial to the bottom line.
A good Senior Credit Controller / Credit Manager spends a lot of time with customers. Where change is happening is in the broadening of people's responsibilities within businesses. For example, many Senior Credit Controllers / Credit Managers are now not just collecting cash but also managing cashflow, banking or even treasury. On the other side of the credit procedure, some credit controllers are now involved in customer services and order processing. There can be many synergies with other parts of a company's structure, and not just within finance.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience
The qualities that make up an excellent Senior Credit Controller have seen subtler changes. Tenacity, self-motivation and analytical skills are all requirements for credit control, but that's not news in itself. It's that these are skills that are increasingly being employed by credit controllers as part of a wider contribution to a company's business. Credit Controllers have to demonstrate a far greater sense of customer awareness.
What is becoming more apparent is that it’s not just the hands-on experience within credit control which employers are looking for, but the ability of candidates to think on their feet, pick up new skills quickly and look at the credit control function as a whole, challenging processes and resolving issues before they become real problems – in other words, manage risk. Candidates with strong personalities, excellent communication skills and a good work attitude outshine those who simply display relevant skill sets. As credit control departments are increasingly aligned compared with sales and customer-facing functions, it will be the candidates who possess the typical sales qualities, such as drive, enthusiasm and passion, who will succeed in commanding the highest premiums.
With regards to qualifications, the ICM is proactive in keeping its syllabus pertinent to today's business environment, in terms of both changing legislative, regulatory and fiscal requirements, as well as the evolving role of senior credit controllers in the finance department. More and more employers are sending their credit control staff through training for the professional qualifications, reflecting the growing stature of the people doing those jobs.
Career Progression Path
The natural progression for a senior credit controller would be to move into a credit control supervisory or credit management position.
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Useful Senior Credit Controller Links
The Association of Credit Professionals
Institute of Credit Management
Credit Services Association
London Gazette
Companies House
Credit, Collections & Risk Magazine
Credit Today Magazine
