Member Spotlight: Credit with a purpose 

The beauty of the credit profession is the number of professionals who did not start in the finance field. Many say they have stumbled into credit—whether they used to work in an adjacent field or an opposite one. But anyone who enters the credit world can be successful in all they do. It starts with education. 

NACM’s Professional Certification Program provides six levels of certification for those who want to take on the challenge of learning and pushing themselves harder to gain new skills. The first of those six levels is the Credit Business Associate (CBA): academic-based designation which signals mastery of three business-credit related disciplines: basic financial accounting, financial statement analysis 1 and business credit principles. 

Megan Miller, CBA, credit analyst at Kewaunee Scientific Corporation (Statesville, NC), said she did not go to college expecting to end up in the credit field. “Earning my CBA was about filling in the gaps in my education, but it has also helped me prepare for the future I now see for myself in credit,” Miller said. “Basic financial accounting was one of the hardest of the courses for me, but having study guides and questions for each chapter helped me prepare before each exam. I really enjoyed being able to study at my own pace and because the classes are set up to work with a variety of learning styles, I knew what worked best for me and was able to adapt the courses to my needs.” 

Miller said it is important to go into taking the course with an open mind. “You have to put aside any preconceived notions about what you’ll get out of the courses and any worries about the testing,” she said. “I am very pleased with my accomplishment and more confident in my role as a credit analyst. In the future, I plan to work to earn my CCRA and CBF.”

💡Study Tip: “Study regularly, even while you’re taking a new course,” said Miller. “Going over the previous one can help you make new connections between the different concepts, and it just helps keep the information fresh in your mind.”