Source: CreditGuru.Com -- www.creditguru.com
Credit investigation could get intricate and dense. The information that is being gathered could be getting strewn and scattered all over the place. The 4 Cs of Credit helps in making the evaluation of credit risk systematic. They provide a framework within which the information could be gathered, segregated and analyzed. It binds the information collected into 4 broad categories namely Character; Capacity; Capital and Conditions. These Cs have been extended to 5 by adding 'Collateral', or extended to 6 by adding 'Competition' to it (Reference: Credit Management and Debt Recovery by Dick Bass, Bobby Rozario). How about 'Computer' being one of the Cs in this day and age?...or mere 'Common Sense'!
"What are the 4 C's of credit? What do they mean? Are there 3, 4, 5 or 6 Cs of Credit?
No matter how many Cs we come up with, the fundamental question that remains to be answered by the framework of our analysis is:
'Will I get paid on time?'
So let's discuss the structure of our credit analysis within the context of the 4 Cs of Credit
Character
JP Morgan, a successful businessman once said that 'I will do business with anyone as long as he/she is honest!'
In analyzing Consumer Credit one would consider the following:
Has the person declared bankruptcy in the past
Does the person have a good credit record
Does he/she have a stable job
What is the level of education/experience
What is the person earning and what is the earning potential
Stability at the place of residence, whether rented or owned
In analyzing Commercial Credit one would consider the following:
The size of the operations
The number of years in business
The legal form of the business
* By this one means 'Retail', 'Wholesale', 'Service' or 'Manufacturing'. Typically the incidence of business failures is high in the Retail and Service segments
* Is the business a Parent, Subsidiary or a division
* Does the business have a Holding company?
The structure of the business
* Is the business a Sole Proprietor, Partnership or Corporation?
*For Sole proprietor or Partnership type one would further seek personal information on individual(s) running the business.The number of employees * There are Industry specific Norms for 'Employees to Sales' ratio
The management record of the company
The location of the company
Any previous evidence of fraud
Any previous Insolvency record?
Any Labor disputes or issues?
Are the products/service sold by the prospect complimenting products/service to the ones that you may sell?
Is the business practice ethical?
Is the business seasonal/ non-seasonal
Is the business Local/ National or International.
The economy of a business accordingly could depend upon local/ national or international economy.
Is there a growing or a going market for this business or the business redefining itself and what would be the impact of the internet on this business.
See what computer downloads (E.g. Napster) has done to the music industry
How willing is the prospect to share information?
How diligently does the prospect fill your Credit Agreement/Application?
What are the references saying?
Are there too many lay-offs especially of key personnel?
Are there any Law suits pending against the company?
What does the website of the company say and look like?
Is there any recent media coverage about the company?
Is it positive or negative
Or are there any rumors floating?
If the company's stock is publicly traded then see how its stock is performing?
One can also check the indices for a particular type of Industry to see how in general the Industry is doing. The collapse of the NASDAQ last year was a warning of the debacle of the tech companies.
Capacity
What does one analyze under this segment?
Is it:
Capacity of the business to pay?
Capacity of the business in getting paid?
Capacity of the business to receive/absorb?
Capacity of the credit grantor to expose?
Sometime a business that you are analyzing might not have the required Capacity in kind but the same could be latent and hidden in some other form. For example a start-up business should have a good business blue-print of succeeding namely a good business plan. A contractor might have a good media advertising plan, say an Ad in the local Yellow Pages. All this adds to the capacity of a business to carry on trade and perhaps be successful.