To create a new credit application, execute a search for the credit applicant on the Application tab. See: Creating a New Credit Application.
You can create a credit application for a party (customer or prospect) or for a customer account or site. The row at which you click the Create Credit Application icon determines whether the credit review will be conducted for the party, account, or site. Note that Credit Management prefills the application with some basic details about the selected credit applicant. Address information is automatically populated when you save or submit the credit application.
Note: If the applicant is a party, then Credit Management does not populate the account name and number on the applicant page, and the prefilled address refers to the party site, not to the address location.
The credit application's contents vary according to the credit classification of the applicant and the type of credit review that you are conducting. You specify these values on the first page of the credit application. If the applicant has a predefined credit classification assigned from the customer profile class or from a previous credit review, then the credit classification is prefilled on the application. Use the left-hand menu to add information, such as bank references and financial data, to the application.
Suggestion: If a newly defined credit classification or review type is not available, make sure that your administrator has bounced the apache server after adding those values. See: Defining Lookups.
The structure of the credit application is modular, so you can record credit data at different points in time. Simply click Save for Later to save each credit application page as you progress through the credit data collection process. To retrieve your saved credit applications, see: Searching for Saved Applications.
You can optionally attach a document, URL, or text to sections of the credit application, including bank references and trade references. You can access these attachments from the case folder during credit analysis. See: Analyzing Credit Data.
When you have entered all required and optional data, click Submit to submit the credit application. When you submit a credit application, Credit Management reviews the credit application for possible credit analyst assignment, and creates a case folder for the application. See: Submitting a Credit Application.
Suggestion: You must enter required data in the Create Credit Application: Applicant page, but you can submit the credit application without data in the required fields of other pages such as Create Credit Application: Financial Data.
In the General Information region, enter the currency requested. Or, optionally set the AR: Default Credit Management Currency profile option to automatically assign a default currency for each new credit application.
You can optionally enter the amount requested on the credit application.
Credit Management refers to the values that you enter here when establishing the initial credit limits for the prospect or when changing the credit limits for an existing customer.
In the Applicant Information region, the contact information is optional. You can select a contact from the existing lists of contacts for the customers. Any modifications to the following fields will update the TCA Registry:
Contact Name
Contact Telephone
Contact Fax
Contact E-mail
In the Business Background region:
The DUNS Number field, while optional, is important because Credit Management can use this number to request credit data from Dun & Bradstreet.
The DUNS number comes from TCA, and is not an updatable field on the credit application.
Use the Financial Data page to enter pertinent data from the applicant's income statement and balance sheet. Although you can attach financial statements to the case folder during credit analysis, entering values directly into Credit Management provides you with data that you can use for future comparisons.
You can also select previously entered financial data from closed case folders, and copy that data to the current credit application or case folder. Then, you can run comparisons to assess positive or adverse trends. This is helpful because credit reviews are more effective if you have a comprehensive view of financial data, spanning multiple years or periods.
On the Financial Data page of the credit application (or case folder), you can:
Copy financial statement data from closed case folders.
You can copy financial data from the organization or party level, from the account level, or from the account site level. Typically, however, financial data is stored at the party level.
Select and compare financial statements that are saved with the current credit review. This lets you view a side-by-side comparison of balance sheets and income statements.
Note: Select at least two objects to compare.
The capability to analyze the trends of your credit applicants' financial results provides a powerful analysis tool, which your credit department can leverage to increase the quality of their credit decisions, and diminish the risk of poor credit recommendations.
Optionally use the Funding Source page to enter information about the applicant's additional funding sources. For example, if the applicant is receiving venture capital funding, you might want to know certain data items, such as funding amount, capital stage, and burn rate. The Funding Source page includes information about:
Venture Funding Data
Collateral Data
Guarantors
Assessing the creditworthiness of customers can include structures by which the debt obligation is reduced through participation of guarantors. However, guarantors also carry credit risk. On this page, you can add a new guarantor, or select an existing guarantor, by leveraging Credit Management's integration with Oracle Trading Community Architecture.
When you add a guarantor to a credit application, Credit Management automatically creates a case folder for the guarantor. This means that you can assess the creditworthiness of the guarantor, in addition to the applicant.
Optionally use the Bank References page to capture initial bank account information from the applicant. The credit analyst assigned to this credit review typically verifies or supplements bank account information during the analysis stage of the credit review process.
On the Create Bank Reference page, you can attach a file, URL, or text message that is associated with the bank. This is often used to document authorizations from the customer allowing for the use of bank information, as well as the customer's bank statements.
Use the Trade References page to gather and store multiple trade references for the applicant. Trade assessments from other creditors can provide you with useful insight into the applicant's creditworthiness.