- Home
- Bankruptcy and Bankruptcy Code
- Business Entities
- Departmental Operations
- Credit Practices
- Collection Practices
- Financial Analysis
- Accounting Concepts; Accounting Principles; GAAP; Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
- Accounts Receivable Forecasting
- Amortization of Assets
- Analysis By Sales
- Analysis by Trial Balance-Part I
- Analysis by Trial Balance-Part II
- Analysis by Trial Balance -Part III
- Assets
- Board of Directors' Audit Committees
- Audited Financial Statements; Financial Statement Analysis
- Auditor's Opinion Letter
- Understanding Balance Sheets
- Changing Independent Auditors
- Corporate Net Worth
- The Auditor's Opinion Letter
- Balance Sheet Ratios
- Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)
- Financial Problems; Red Flags; Signs of Financial Distress or Elevated Risk
- Financial Ratio Analysis
- Customer Financial Ratios; Ratio Analysis
- Adjustments to Financial Statement Made by the Credit Analyst
- GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles)
- The Going Concern Concept and the Auditor's Opinion Letter
- The Income Statement
- CPAs and Independent Auditors
- Industry Norms and Ratio Analysis
- Inventory Ratios
- Liabilities; Liability; Debt
- Limitations of Financial Statement Analysis
- Myths About Customer Financial Statement Analysis
- Net Worth
- Net Worth Ratios
- Notes to the Financial Statements, Explanatory Notes
- Reasons to Request Financial Statements
- Types of SEC Filings of Interest to Credit Analysts
- Securities and Exchange Commission
- Statement of Cash Flows
- Summarizing a Customer's Financial Condition
- Trend Analysis-Part I
- Trend Analysis - Part II
- Use and Abuse of Ratio Analysis
- Where-Got, Where-Gone Analysis
- Working Capital, Liquidity, Current Ratios, Ratio Analysis; Working Capital
- Working Capital Turnover
- Cash Flow, and the Cash Conversion Cycle
- Statement of Cash Flows; Accrual Basis vs. Cash Basis Accounting; Cash Basis of Accounting
- Comments about the Current Ratio
- Cash Application
- Contingent Liabilities
- How to Request Customer Financial Statements
- Financing Methods
- International Credit
- Laws and Regulations
- Payment Methods
- Performance Measures
- Security Instruments
- Career Management, and Job Change
- Credit Website Tools
- Upcoming Educational Events
- Credit and Collections Tools and Tips
- Tips on Creating Better Emails
- Generating Effective Credit Correspondence
- Exporting
- Accounting
How to Request Customer Financial Statements
Convincing a privately held customer to share financial information can be difficult. While no technique works every time, here are some ideas to help you get financial information more often:
-
Make your request to the CFO or Controller, not the A/P clerk
-
Make your request should sound strictly routine
-
If the customer is concerned about confidentiality, offer to sign a non disclosure agreement (an NDA)
-
If the debtor will not send you a copy of their financial records, ask if you can review them at their place of business
-
If your contact will not send the Balance Sheet and Income Statement and Cash Flow Statement, ask if one or more of these reports can be sent to you
-
Explain that you are looking for a reason to extend the customer the amount of credit they need, not an excuse not to do so
Unfortunately, it is sometimes necessary to issue an ultimatum to customers to either share financial information or be denied the credit limit they require. Credit professionals know to use this threat as a last resort.
© 2011 by Michael C. Dennis. All Rights Reserved