Regardless of where you sit in the supply chain, few will disagree that uncertainty is increasingly becoming the new normal, and limiting risk, wherever possible, is critical.
Such is the case when adding new customers and trading partners to the books, particularly those with poor financial history or an unreliable track record of paying invoices on time.
Sound obvious? Perhaps. But accessing accurate data when assessing the financial health of a customer isn't always easy.
Take for example, routine reference checks. These are often an overly manual and time-consuming appraisal process, which rarely offers a reliable and complete-enough picture of a customer's real-world financial status, or at least one sufficient enough to help set payment terms aligned to their current risk profile.
This access to inconsistent information can result in high limits and overly favorable terms being inadvertently issued for customers who have a inadequate credit history than others with lower limits, who may have less favorable terms despite a stronger credit capacity.
Needless to say, you generally want to extend your customers as much credit as possible (if you don't, someone else will). But how much credit can you afford to offer, and how can you be confident you're making the right well-informed credit decisions?
Of course, your exposure to risk doesn't sit only with new customers, and also applies to current and existing customers too. How can you quickly and cost-effectively keep track of the financial performance of the hundreds, if not thousands, of customers and partners you do business with around the world?
Even at the best of times, a company's financial circumstances can change instantly, and the last thing you want is the headache and risk of late or, even worse, non-payment.
Best practice credit checking
Developed in partnership with illion, a leading provider and household name of credit risk services within Australia and New Zealand, CargoWise Credit Reports helps your operators make well-informed credit decisions with direct access to data on more than 2 million commercial entities in Australia and New Zealand, and many more globally.
illion's range of data-driven reports include:
Comprehensive reports covering everything you need to know to make well-informed credit decisions, from basic verification information, to details on directorships, corporate ownership structure, full company financials, to financial stability and payment predictors, and trade payment information.
Failure Risk reports features best in market predictive scores on the likelihood of whether a company will experience severe financial distress or failure in the next 12 months. This gives you a greater understanding of a company's long-term viability and a bigger picture view of how they compare among industry peers for better-informed decisions when extending credit terms. Failure Risk reports also includes basic identification data, and other essential company information such as directorships, corporate ownership structure, adverse information, and basic company financials.
Late payment risk reports combining the market's best late payment predictor scores for the probability of on-time payments, as well as an overall industry comparison score. Included also are basic identification data and other essential company information such as directorships, corporate ownership structure, adverse information, and basic company financials.
Commercial Bureau inquiry reports providing real-time access to Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) data, allowing you to confirm if an entity exists and its legal status. Information on ownership, shareholders, and directors as well as any past or current adverse events is also included.
Managing and monitoring customer credit
With the events of the last 18 months still far from over, even your lowest-risk customers may now be at a higher risk of overdue payments, or perhaps they're doing well, and a friendly phone call to extend their credit could go a long way.
CargoWise Credit Reports helps you monitor and maintain awareness of the financial health of your existing customers, with access to their recent credit events via illion's commercial bureau, including an up-to-date view of their financial health along with changes in directorships, ownership status or shareholdings.
On top of this, your team can receive automated credit event notifications using CargoWise's configurable workflow tools, helping you identify any high-risk accounts before they start impacting your company's cash flow, as well as any opportunities who could make good candidates for that courtesy phone call and more business.
Data when you need it
They say the best data is the data you have. While accessing up-to-date credit reports is a significant first step for any business in today's economic climate, asking your operators to switch systems requires additional time and resources, increasing overheads and adding more error-prone processes.
CargoWise Credit Reports is fully integrated and accessible directly within your operating system at the point of need for efficient and scalable credit assessment processes, faster growth, and fewer costs.
Learn how you can stay productive and profitable with CargoWise Credit Reports. Learn more
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