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CMI Rises, but credit managers remain cautious

NACM’s seasonally adjusted combined Credit Managers’ Index (CMI) improved 1.2 points to 54.5.
 |  Sara Asomaning, Managing Editor  |  ,

NACM’s seasonally adjusted combined Credit Managers’ Index (CMI) improved 1.2 points to 54.5.

“There was a large and positive reversal of trend in favorable factors at the end of the year, although unfavorable credit factors remained subdued,” said NACM Economist Amy Crews Cutts, Ph.D., CBE®. “Respondents continue to indicate signs of stress among customers whether they are asking for extended terms or disputing more invoices, yet sales activity and credit applications point to growth.”

Unfavorable Factors fell 1.1 points to 49.1 points. Like the month before, the Index has not moved much above or below the 50-point line, which denotes the break between contraction and expansion.

  • All but one of the unfavorable factors fell, with the largest decline happening in the Disputes Index, which lost 0.5 points to fall into contraction territory at 49.9 points.

Favorable Factors improved by 5.0 points to 62.5 points, remaining in expansion.

What respondents are saying:

  • “We filed liens and bond claims in October—these paid off in December, and this continues to be my greatest collection tool in the fall and winter.”
  • “We are experiencing a downturn in both sales and collections for December 2025, a trend we expect to persist through mid-February 2026. This performance is primarily driven by tightened cash flow among our client base, resulting in increased delinquency and slower response times to our collection efforts. We are closely monitoring these accounts as we navigate this seasonal liquidity crunch.”
  • “Increased prices, large data center jobs and border wall orders are driving the increases we see.”
  • “Data centers continue to be a larger and larger part of our business. Also, metal pricing is up and our order activity in the first two weeks of January is also up. Lots of activity going on right now across the board in all industries.”
  • “We experienced strong seasonal sales to the restaurant and hospitality industry; however, it is tougher to collect.”

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Sara Asomaning, Managing Editor

Sara Asomaning holds a B.S. in English from Towson University. With a background in writing, copyediting and proofreading, she has a keen eye for detail. Outside of work, she spends much of her time being creative with music, photography, and social media content creation.