WHAT DOES A CREDIT CONTROLLER DO?

Published: September 16, 2024 - The Credit Controller manages customer accounts receivable, evaluates and approves orders, and aids in challenging collection efforts. Responsibilities include recommending bad debt reserves, leading monthly credit committee reviews, and ensuring compliance with audit requirements. The role also involves interacting with sales teams and customers to align business plans with credit needs, enhancing process efficiencies, and conducting customer visits.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Credit Controller

1. Credit Controller Duties

  • Team Leadership: Lead a team of credit & collections professionals in the effective and timely management of Accounts Receivable.
  • Goal Setting: Setting team goals and measuring successes, conducting Performance Feedback Sessions, development of team members, salary reviews & adjustment recommendations, recommendations for staff changes and coaching to manage workload requirements.
  • Process Development: Develop and implement a centralized model for credit and collections that supports the operating footprint of the company and its customers.
  • Strategic Planning: Establish a strategic agenda for improvement and management of the order-to-cash process, aligning with key stakeholders in other teams to identify best practices and ensure strategic implementation of our priorities.
  • Automation Implementation: Help identify opportunities for automation of processes, research potential technology, and drive the implementation.
  • Reporting Accuracy: Complete assigned end-of-month/quarter/FY reporting of A/R metrics timely & accurate.
  • Financial Analysis: Compile and review financial statement analysis reports to establish credit limits for new and existing customers.
  • Portfolio Management: Manage a global portfolio of customer accounts with the intent to increase volume, minimize losses and work with customers on alternative financial/credit options for facilitating orders.
  • Portfolio Maintenance: Responsible for annual portfolio maintenance including requesting annual financial statements for all borrowers and LOC renewals that exceed certain dollar thresholds.
  • Underwriting Review: Underwriting file updates for commercial balances that exceed those thresholds.
  • Risk Management: Obtaining and tracking annual financial statements and risk ratings.
  • Credit Insurance Partnership: Partner with the Director of Risk Management on the use of credit insurance.

2. Credit Controller Details

  • Investment Interaction: Interact with key internal sales and sales support personnel regarding investment limits, customer results, and expectations.
  • Account Receivable Management: Manage customer accounts receivable and aid the Collections Associates with difficult collection efforts.
  • Order Evaluation: Evaluate & approve orders for the assigned portfolios that did not automatically approve.
  • Bad Debt Management: Recommend amounts for bad debt reserves and recommend write-off of uncollectible items or accounts.
  • Credit Committee Leadership: Establish and lead a monthly credit committee review of risks and exposures.
  • Customer Communication: Communicate with customers and sales management to understand customer’s business plans & credit needs.
  • Compliance Assurance: Ensure customer compliance to terms and conditions.
  • Customer Engagement: Participate in customer visits both on-site and at customer locations.
  • SOX Support: Support SOX guidelines and assist in meeting audit requirements.
  • Process Optimization: Participate in process changes, eliminate/reduce non-value-added, improve value-added activities & search for continuous improvement.
  • Financial Accuracy: Calculating and checking to make sure payments, amounts, and records are correct.
  • Credit Management: Raising Credit Notes and completing Credit Checks.

3. Credit Controller Responsibilities

  • Credit Application Management: Receive customer credit applications, vet, and grant appropriate credit to maximize sales and minimize bad debt risk.
  • Account Review: Undertake periodic review of accounts to ensure correct credit levels and adherence to agreed payment terms.
  • Cross-Team Collaboration: Liaise with the sales team and management to resolve queries, removing payment obstacles efficiently.
  • Relationship Building: Establish and maintain a positive professional relationship with both customers and the sales force.
  • Target Achievement: Meet or exceed established monthly/quarterly credit and payment targets.
  • Risk Mitigation: Identify potential bad debt accounts and take steps to minimize damage while empathizing with customers' business needs.
  • Credit Manager Liaison: Regularly liaise with the Credit Manager on errant accounts and discuss future actions.
  • Reporting and Compliance: Ensure all reporting deadlines and targets are met, including producing debtors reports for board meetings with stop account suggestions where necessary.
  • Credit Control and Chasing: Control credit and manage debtor chasing effectively.
  • Automated Reminder Setup: Set up standard computer-based letters with relevant automated reminders.
  • Payment Auditing: Audit company bank accounts for payments against the company debtors list.

4. Credit Controller Job Summary

  • Invoice Management: Raising invoices for completed jobs
  • Internal Coordination: Liaising with internal departments to resolve job issues in order to progress to invoicing
  • Customer Communication: Liaising with customers regarding overdue invoices
  • Ledger Management: Managing a ledger of 5000+ accounts
  • Cash Collection: Drive monthly cash collection targets
  • Debt Reduction: Reduce the company’s aged debtors
  • Record Keeping: Maintaining accurate records of correspondence with customers
  • Cash Forecasting: Weekly/monthly cash collection forecasting
  • Query Resolution: Liaise with various internal departments in order to resolve customer queries
  • Invoicing Management: Ensure invoicing is kept up to date
  • Debt Chasing: Chase debt and manage the debt-chasing cycle methodologically
  • Progress Reporting: Report on the progress of debt chasing to required targets and agreed timelines
  • Sales Ledger Maintenance: Sales ledger maintenance including updating of client contact details, etc.
  • Data Handling: Working with spreadsheets and sales ledger

5. Credit Controller Accountabilities

  • Credit Application Processing: Assessing and processing credit applications
  • Trade Credit Insurance Management: Managing Trade Credit Insurance
  • Payment Allocation: Large volume allocation of payments
  • Reconciliation and Reporting: Comprehensive reconciliation and reporting
  • Customer Issue Resolution: Answering and resolving customer account issues
  • Data Integrity: Conducting periodical reviews and ensuring the data integrity within customer databases
  • Credit Control Compliance: Comply with and improve credit control policies and procedures
  • Financial Reporting: Month-end reporting and various finance-related duties
  • Team Assistance: Assisting the broader accounts team with ad hoc tasks
  • Debt Collection: Taking responsibility and ownership of private patient portfolio and collecting debts in line with the company’s credit terms
  • Payment Chasing: Contacting clients to chase payments by following the process as outlined by the patient billing Manager, including making outbound calls and letters to patients, whilst providing good customer service
  • Query Handling: Handle any telephone queries and inquiries from practices, insurance companies, and patients, and assist the wider credit control team with ad hoc requests.

6. Credit Controller Functions

  • Sales Ledger Maintenance: Maintaining the sales ledger, including raising sales ledger invoices and recording payments received.
  • Purchase Ledger Maintenance: Maintaining the purchase ledger, including accurately recording all supplier invoices and payments to suppliers.
  • Nominal Ledger Maintenance: Maintaining the nominal ledger and accurately recording all transactions.
  • Payment Chasing: Chase any outstanding payments, etc.
  • Cash Allocation: Allocating cash and chasing debtors.
  • Client Enquiry Handling: Answering phone enquiries from clients and customers.
  • Mailbox Management: Maintain finance mailboxes and ensure all queries are cleared.
  • Query Resolution: Deal with client queries and liaise with other departments to ensure entry and billing errors are amended in a timely manner.
  • Account Reconciliation: Assist in the allocation of cash and other payments and the reconciliation of patient accounts.
  • Customer Portal Management: Maintaining various customer portals by ensuring correct paperwork is uploaded (invoices and statements).
  • Credit Control Management: Manage credit control limits, terms, and insured values.
  • Account Analysis: Review age analysis and management of problematic accounts.

7. Credit Controller Job Description

  • Team Collaboration: Work closely with the existing Credit Control team.
  • Relationship Building: Build strong effective relations with customers and throughout the company.
  • Management Cooperation: Cooperate with company management.
  • Sales Team Liaison: Liaise with the national sales team to ensure that monies outstanding are paid on time.
  • Credit Checking: Perform regular credit checks on new and existing customers.
  • Credit Limit Management: Ensure all customer accounts have agreed Credit Limits and update management on changes.
  • Telephone Collections: Undertake telephone collections proactively and efficiently facilitate the resolution of queries.
  • Record Maintenance: Maintain accurate customer collections records and customer details.
  • Account Reconciliation: Reconciling customer accounts.
  • Debt Resolution: Issue final demands and agree on subsequent steps with company management.
  • Financial Objective Support: Work closely with the Credit Control Manager to ensure the company's financial objectives are met, in accordance with company policies, procedures, systems, and culture.
  • Debtor Reduction: Reducing overall debtor levels.
  • Reporting: Issuing regular reports on accounts, bad debts, and insurance claims to company management.

8. Credit Controller Overview

  • Debt Collection: Contact individuals or business customers when payment is overdue via telephone, email, and text.
  • Mail Merge and Communication: Processing and generating reminder letters and monthly statements via mail merge.
  • Payment Collection: Timely and effective collection of all debts and customer payments.
  • Credit Records Management: Using specialist computer databases to check credit records.
  • Report Creation: Creating reports from bespoke computer systems.
  • Negotiation and Monitoring: Negotiating repayment plans and monitoring default debtors.
  • Payment Processing and Debtor Tracing: Processing payments and tracing missing debtors.
  • Legal Proceedings: Starting legal proceedings if debts are not paid within an agreed time.
  • Reporting and Query Resolution: Monthly reporting and resolving queries.
  • Sales Collaboration: Meeting with Sales Representatives on a weekly basis to highlight concerns on their respective Age Analysis and assist with resolving queries on certain customers.
  • Query Investigation and Resolution: Investigation and resolution of queries.
  • Customer Account Review: Review new customer account applications prior to set up.
  • Statement Production: Producing and sending monthly customer statements.

9. Credit Controller Details and Accountabilities

  • Customer Query Resolution: Dealing and resolving customer and client queries.
  • Professional Liaison: Liaising with relevant external bodies professionally.
  • Debt Collection: Chasing outstanding debts and maximizing cash collection.
  • Customer Service Excellence: Working to a high level of customer service at all times.
  • Adhoc Support: Providing adhoc support as directed by the Credit Control Team Leader.
  • Debt Recovery Supervision: Supervision of any further debt recovery or litigation action.
  • Payment Plan Management: Creation and monitoring of payment plans, where appropriate, to ensure recovery of debt.
  • Overdue Account Management: Dealing with overdue client or customer account management.
  • Confident Communication: Confident in conducting difficult conversations.
  • Telephone and Communication Skills: Outstanding telephone manner and communication skills.
  • Honest Customer Service: Maintaining an excellent level of customer service while being direct and honest.
  • SME Contact Approach: An open approach to contacting smaller businesses or SMEs during this difficult time.
  • High Volume Account Management: Managing a high volume of customer accounts (100-120 accounts).

10. Credit Controller Tasks

  • Invoicing and Account Accuracy: Ensure that all customer invoicing and account records are accurate, complete, and reviewed regularly.
  • Timely Invoice Management: Ensure that invoices are raised promptly and followed up within deadlines.
  • Credit Note Authorization: Ensure that any credit notes raised are done so following the authorization process.
  • Receipt Processing: Ensure that customer receipts, including BACs, cards, cheques, and direct debit payments, are posted correctly and promptly.
  • Debt Scheme Compliance: Full accountability to ensure full compliance in the running and setting up of the company's debt scheme.
  • Internal Relationship Building: Build effective working relationships with all internal teams - Customer Service and Operations - to establish robust methods.
  • Risk Reduction: Ensure all opportunities are taken to reduce the risk of growing customer debt.
  • Debt Follow-up Procedures: Set up procedures to chase and follow up on outstanding debt.
  • Debt Statement Issuance: Issue customer debt statements and reminders.
  • Proactive Liaison: Proactively liaise with customer service with information on companies with outstanding debt and report on the results and achievements to recover overdue payments.
  • Overdue Account Control: Control placing overdue accounts on hold and the subsequent activities to collect outstanding payments.
  • Account Review: Perform regular reviews of customer accounts, particularly those on hold, to ensure procedures are followed.
  • Query Resolution: Responsible for resolving all relevant customer account queries promptly.

11. Credit Controller Roles

  • Arrears Management: Handle all arrears cases in line with PAF’s Collections policy.
  • Portfolio Management: Manage a portfolio of customers in arrears, ensuring they are contacted in a timely manner.
  • Customer Communication: Telephone arrears customers within agreed timescales and obtain a comprehensive understanding of the customer situation.
  • Direct Debit Requests: Create ad-hoc direct debit payment requests.
  • Arrears Tolerance Compliance: Ensure the PAF book operates within its agreed arrears tolerances.
  • Arrears Review Participation: Attend and contribute to the Monthly Arrears Review meetings with the Recoveries Manager.
  • Fair Treatment Policy Adherence: Be aware of the Treating Customers Fairly policy of the bank and ensure dealings with customers are within policy.
  • Vulnerable Customer Handling: Operate within the company’s Vulnerable Customer policy, focusing on appropriate customer outcomes.
  • Arrears Case Assessment: Assess each arrears case and make recommendations to the line manager or Collections Manager, where necessary, to determine the most appropriate action to resolve the case, protecting PAF's interests and treating the customer fairly.
  • Case Documentation: Ensure all arrears cases have clear, up-to-date notes on the lease administration system, allowing others to fully understand the current status and proposed next actions at any given time.
  • Vulnerable Customer Logging: Log all customers who are deemed vulnerable and manage them in accordance with PAF policy.
  • Forbearance Arrangement Logging: Log all forbearance arrangements and manage them in accordance with PAF policy.
  • Interdepartmental Liaison: Liaise with Asset Management and Legal to gain a clear picture of the possible shortfall on any arrears cases.
  • Account Rescheduling Assessment: Where arrears accounts require rescheduling, novation, or re-write, undertake an appropriate assessment for submission to Credit for consideration and approval.

12. Credit Controller Additional Details

  • Interdepartmental Coordination: Maintain regular interaction with internal departments to efficiently resolve issues.
  • Information Provision: Provide information to customers, colleagues, and third parties in an efficient manner and within an acceptable timescale.
  • Report Preparation: Prepare arrears and portfolio reports for management as required.
  • Litigation Identification: Identify accounts to be considered for litigation and liaise with the internal legal team.
  • Customer Service Quality: Ensure a consistently high quality of customer service is provided to both external and internal customers.
  • Sales Opportunity Identification: Identify and pass sales opportunities across to the sales team.
  • Values and Behaviors Adherence: Be aware of the company values and behaviors and carry out duties in accordance with those values and behaviors.
  • Task Flexibility: Undertake other tasks as may be reasonably requested from time to time.
  • Health and Safety Compliance: Adhere to the company's health and safety policies along with any other policy or regulatory requirements.
  • External Debt Specialist Collaboration: Work with external debt chase specialists.
  • Debt Control Reporting: Establish and provide regular and relevant reporting on accounts to help ensure effective control of the company's customer debt.
  • Accounting Support: Support general accounting activities carried out by the Finance Manager and team.

13. Credit Controller Essential Functions

  • Payment Term Compliance: Ensuring all customers pay promptly to agreed payment terms.
  • Debt Collection: Chasing payment from overdue debtors via phone calls and emails, and logging correspondence on the system.
  • Credit Limit Management: Maintaining customer credit limits and agreeing on new credit limits with the sales team where necessary.
  • Query Resolution: Swiftly processing and resolving any customer queries and raising credit notes.
  • Receipt Allocation: Allocation and posting of customer receipts and keeping the debtors' book tidy.
  • System Development Assistance: Aiding management in developing new systems and procedures to improve cash collection rates.
  • Customer Relationship Development: Developing relationships with partner customers and aiding them in any queries they may have.
  • Sales Team Collaboration: Developing strong relationships with the sales team to ensure all customers are satisfied with the service and paying on time.
  • Overdue Communication: Sending out overdue letters, customer statements, and copy invoices.

14. Credit Controller Role Purpose

  • Debt Management: Responsible for the management and timely collection of outstanding debts on customer accounts, supporting the wider Credit Control team.
  • Account Management: Managing approximately 500 live accounts, ensuring cash is collected on time.
  • Relationship Building: Build strong working relationships with customer accounts, ensuring payments are received in line with terms.
  • Cash Collection Targets: Achieving weekly and monthly cash collection and debtor targets as a team.
  • Receipt Allocation and Query Resolution: Daily allocation of customer receipts and resolution of customer queries.
  • Statement and Report Distribution: Ensuring monthly statements and reports are run and distributed timely.
  • Credit Note Processing: Processing customer credit notes and updating accounts or finance system.
  • Expense Control and Purchase Orders: Controlling and processing customer expenses, raising, and receipting department purchase orders.
  • Process Improvement: Supporting and highlighting any improvement opportunities across credit control to maximize process efficiency and automation.
  • Ad-Hoc Task Support: Supporting Senior Credit Controller and Finance Manager in ad-hoc tasks.
  • Excel Proficiency: Strong Excel skills, including VLookUps and Pivots, are essential.
  • Customer Service and Time Management: Excellent customer service and time management skills.
  • Career Progression: Desire to progress in a growing business.

15. Credit Controller General Responsibilities

  • Debt Chasing: Chasing outstanding accounts and escalating overdue amounts.
  • Account Monitoring: Monitoring and reconciling customer accounts.
  • Network Development: Making and developing a good network of contacts internally and with customers.
  • Cash Receipts Forecasting: Updating rolling cash receipts forecast every week.
  • Statement Production: Producing and sending out statements to customers.
  • Account Opening: Opening new accounts and confirming once opened.
  • Credit Checking: Carrying out credit checks.
  • Money Allocation: Allocating incoming monies (shared responsibility).
  • Proactive Communication: Proactively communicating with customers to prevent debts from becoming overdue.
  • Query Investigation: Investigating and solving customer queries about invoice or PO problems that are preventing payment.
  • Premium Collection Compliance: Ensuring all premium payment warranties are collected in compliance with company standards.
  • Premium Collection and Reconciliation: Ensuring all premiums are collected, issuing and/or reconciliation of client statements, monitoring and pursuing aged debts, and maintaining records.
  • Internal and External Communication: Communicating internally within the company and externally with clients to resolve queries.
  • Balance Settlement: Settling balances when funds are received, subject to approval procedures.
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