Enhancing credibility and navigating risk with certifications

The role of credit professionals has never been more important. Through various economic challenges and industry changes, credit teams have led initiatives, improved operations and made strategic decisions to mitigate risk. Through certification programs, like NACM and FCIB’s six-level Professional Certification Program, credit professionals are further increasing their influence in their organizations. 

For David Escobar, CCE, credit and collections manager, North America at Evapco, Inc. (Taneytown, MD), earning his Certified Credit Executive (CCE) was critical to the success of his organization. “At my company, there’s a lot of ground to cover, from managing lien and bond rights to performance benchmarking,” said Escobar. “The CCE felt like the right way to test my knowledge in unfamiliar areas like financial statement analysis.” 

Following his certification, Escobar started having more influence on executive decision-making. “When I’m presenting initiatives to our CFO or working with our general counsel on a new project, the CCE adds weight to the conversation,” said Escobar. “For instance, I had established stand-alone terms and conditions for one of our subsidiary companies, which required buy-in from our legal team and executive leadership. Normally, this would’ve taken some time to be approved. Because they knew that my recommendations were backed by professional standards, not just gut feelings, they heard me out and fully supported my decision.” 

Escobar is currently pursuing FCIB’s Certified International Credit Professional (CICP) designation as his company expands internationally. “If your company has any kind of international exposure, I’d highly recommend looking at the CICP after the CCE as the two complement each other well,” said Escobar. “The CICP fills in the gaps around cross-border risk, foreign exchange and international collections while the CCE focuses on fundamental principles strengthening risk mitigation strategies.” 

📚Study tips: Focus on understanding rather than memorizing, and you will find that you’ll retain the information better. “Connect it back to your actual job,” said Escobar. “When I was studying UCC provisions, I’d think about how they applied to our open account sales. When I got into financial statement analysis, I pulled up real customer financials and worked through them.”  

Don’t try to tackle everything at once. “Break it into manageable blocks, stay consistent and give yourself grace on the harder topics,” said Escobar.