NACM's Professional Certification Program provides credit professionals with the tools they need to advance in their careers. Credentials matter in credit—so, what should you expect on your journey to earning a certification?

Some credit professionals seek to earn designations because they want a deeper knowledge of their role and how to utilize that knowledge to bring value to their department. "My team and I needed to know how to create a credit policy and how to integrate our interior credit department and debt management handbook into a program for our unique needs," said Rebecca Dyess, CCRA, CBA, supervisory financial analyst at Office of Natural Resources Revenue (Littleton, CO). "NACM was at the top of our list because of the certifications, support and resources they have for us to put together a procedure, process and policy for building out an installment agreement program for our department."

Dyess explained her journey was done backwards, as she earned her CCRA first, then headed back to earn her CBA. Last year at NACM's Credit Congress, Dyess and her partner took the Financial Statements II course, which sparked their motivation to earn their CBA. "Our company has to complete financial analyses of our customers to determine whether or not to give out a loan, and our knowledge from the course has helped us figure out what kind of terms we can give them that fits within the department of interior policy," Dyess said. "So, it's a very complicated and unique situation that we are so glad to have NACM behind us to support. My partner and I are both looking forward to moving on with our certifications and continuing our memberships with NACM."

Stay tuned for next Tuesday's member spotlight. For more information about the different classes available at this year's Credit Congress, be sure to register here.