Customer Credit Information

This detailed customer credit information window can be accessed from the Credit Rating field in Customer Information.

The information includes:

PAYABLES CONTACT

There are two lines available for the names of the Accounts Payable managers for this customer.
These names will print on Aging Reports, and the Collection Call List, and will also appear on the Customer Account Inquiry.
They can also be updated using Customer Credit/Rating.

NAME OF PRINCIPALS

There are three lines available for the names of the principal owners/shareholders of this firm.
This information is necessary to place a lien against the firm, or if there are collection difficulties.

CREDIT RATING

Assign a credit rating to the customer, or choose one from the drop-down list as setup in the Credit Ratings file.
The Credit Rating value is also displayed on the Customer Information screen.
If the Credit Rating is changed for a Parent customer then all the associated Child customer records will also be updated.

Specific ratings can be set to generate a credit warning on the screen, or to prevent any further sales or rental activity for a customer.
The credit rating is also used to determine when the customer's account should appear on the Collection Call List.

e.g. B Credit Rating could be setup with call days set at 45. The customer's unpaid invoices will then appear on the Collection Call List when the invoices are at least 45 days old.

If this credit Rating is changed, a record is always written to Override Report to track the change in the rating, the Operator, Customer #, and date.

Additional Security Options:

The Prompt for Clerk Changing Customer Credit flag in the Company Security Parameters can be set to prompt the operator for his clerk code when the Credit Limit or Credit Rating is changed as outlined in Clerk Confirmation.
For further security the Check Operator Password control can also be set to require password verification to make the credit information change.

A setting in the Company Security Parameters can be set to prompt the operator for a valid Reason Code for over-rides including changing the Credit Rating, as outlined in Prompt for Reason Code and a record is written to the Override Report.

CREDIT LIMIT $

This field defaults from the company values in Company Information.
Accept the company default or over-type it with the approved credit limit in dollars for this customer.

Note: If a customer is designated a 'child' of another customer, then the Credit Limit of the parent customer also applies to the child.

Setting the Limit:

Credit Limits are generally based on a combination of an estimate of the customer's monthly purchases multiplied by two or three, the customer's highest Account Balance (High Credit), and the customer's past history of prompt payment, i.e. Average Collection.

An exceeded credit limit is often an indicator of a collection problem about to occur. If the customer exceeds your original estimate of his requirements without the account becoming overdue, the customer may be purchasing more in the current month than he has demonstrated that he can pay within the standard terms.

Other parameters controlling what impacts the Credit Checks include:

• A flag in the Company Miscellaneous Parameters can be set to ignore or include unposted invoices in the Credit Check.
• A flag in the Company Security Parameters can be set to ignore or include future dated invoices in the Credit Check.

Zero Credit Limits:

A credit limit of $0.00 will be ignored.
A zero credit limit will be considered Not Over the Limit, and consequently will NOT generate a warning of any exceeded customer limit during contract or invoice entry.
Customers with zero Credit Limit will NOT be considered as over the Credit Limit on Print Call List or the Customers Due for Credit Review Report.

Where the Credit Limit is Used:

The credit limit is used by the document entry programs.
If the customer's account balance exceeds the credit limit, a warning appears on the screen during document entry and one of the following applies:

• If the Continue Document on Failed Credit Check flag is checked in the Company Security Parameters, then the Credit Limit warning displays when the customer has exceeded his 'Credit Limit', but it is the Credit Rating assigned to the customer that controls any further activity.

• The Continue Document on Failed Credit Check option can be used to control whether a document can be created for a customer if the customer's 'Credit Limit' has been reached or exceeded.
  A buffer can be set for 'Credit Checks' in Company Security Parameters allowing a customer to exceed his limit by a percent of his 'Credit Limit' before the customer is actually cut-off from doing business.
  This processing applies to contracts, reservations, invoices, sales orders, and leases, with a separate flag to allow only on quotes.
  It does not apply to invoices entered in A/R Invoices, or to Estimate and Work Order functions.

If the credit limit is exceeded, the customer appears on the Print Call List and Customers Due for Credit Review Report and the credit information can be quickly updated using option Change Customer Credit/Rating.

Credit Limit Update:

If the customer's Credit Limit is changed an audit record is written to Override Report for follow-up.

The Prompt for Clerk Changing Customer Credit flag in the Company Security Parameters can be set to prompt the operator for his clerk code when the Credit Limit or Credit Rating is changed as outlined in Clerk Confirmation.
For further security the Check Operator Password control can also be set to require password verification to make the credit information change.

A setting in the Company Security Parameters can be set to prompt the operator for a valid Reason Code for over-rides including changing the Credit Limit, as outlined in Prompt for Reason Code.

Security Roles and a password can be required for ARCF as setup in Module Passwords to further control the ability to change the customer's Credit Limit.
For more information on this security feature refer to Override Security Overview.

RENTAL VALUE LIMIT $

Each rental product can carry an optional "Replacement Cost" value in Rental Inventory.
By tracking this cost at the time a Contract is created, the total replacement value of designated rental equipment that a customer has out on rent at any one time, can be tallied.
Only rental equipment in a Product Class that is flagged to be included in the Rental Value Limit in Rental Product Classes, is included in the value total calculated at Contract entry.

Accept the company default as determined in Company Information or over-type it with the approved Rental Value Limit in dollars for this customer.
Leave this field blank if the Rental Value Limit does not apply to this customer or if he should be allowed an "unlimited" Rental Value total.

Note: If a customer is designated a 'child' of another customer, then the Rental Value Limit of the parent customer also applies to the child.

When cash customers are added "on-the-fly" in a counter document, the Rental Value Limit for the new customer defaults from the Customer # to Clone record defined for the division in the Divisional Contract Parameters.

Equipment replacement value totals and customer Rental Value Limits are checked in Contract entry and when source documents are converted to the Contract.
Company Security Parameters control how the Rental Value Limit is utilized on the Contract, including whether to permit or prevent a customer from going over his personal Rental Value Limit, and what the allowable percent should be by which the customer can exceed his Rental Limit before he is actually prevented from doing further rentals of value controlled equipment.

Note: The Rental Value total includes equipment out on a Contract until it is entered on a Rental Return. This means that equipment that is Off Rent, On Delivery, and On Pickup, is still included in the customer's Rental Value total, as it is still his responsibility until it is checked back in.

If the Rental Value Limit is changed any open Contracts for the customer are checked for the replacement value total of equipment, and the Operator is warned if the outstanding Contracts exceed the new Rental Value Limit.
Window to view the details of the Rental Equipment included in this Rental Value count as outlined in Replacement Value of Equipment on Rent.

If the Rental Value Limit is changed an audit record is written to Print Override Report for follow-up.
Security Roles and a password can be required for ARCF as setup in Module Passwords to further control the ability to change the Rental Value Limit. For more information on this security feature refer to Override Security Overview.

If a Rental Value Limit applies for a customer, a comment prints on each of his Contracts including:

• the value of rental equipment on this contract
• the value of all rental equipment the customer currently has out that is value controlled
• the customer's Rental Value Limit

Note: The Comment can be suppressed for customers when no Rental Value Limit has been set per the flag in the Company Standard Waiver Settings.

For standard documents and Crystal Forms the wording of these comments can be customized for two languages in the Document Field Labels table.
For Jasper documents refer to Jasper Appearance and Formatting window of Customer Forms for the language and label controls.

DATE OF CREDIT REVIEW

When setting up new accounts, the date of credit review will default to today's date. This may be over-typed with the correct date as required.
The date of the last credit reviewed is maintained using Log Calls when logging collection calls.
The date of last credit review prints out on Customers Due for Credit Review Report and displays in the Customer Account Inquiry.

DATE ACCOUNT OPENED

Enter the date that the account was established or opened.
When setting up new accounts, this date will default to today's date. Over-type this with the correct date, if required.

This date is used to determine the discount expiry period that can be given to new customers as setup by discount plan in Customer Discount Programs.
The Account Opened date is used to identify new customers in Customer Purchases by Salesman by Date and Print Welcome Letter.
It is also reflected on Customers Due for Credit Review Report, Customer Lists, Customers Due for Credit Review Report, Accounts Opened Report, Salesman Commission Report, and Developmental Salesman Commission Report and can be viewed in the Customer Account Inquiry.

DATE WELCOME SENT

When a new customer starts a business relationship with your firm, an optional Welcome Letter can be issued to the customer from Print Welcome Letter.
This date is posted when the letter is sent.

STATEMENT LETTERS

Window to view and modify the letter history log that tracks the A/R letters sent to each customer, as outlined in Statement Letter History.

The letter numbers as setup in Statement Letters, and the date that the letter was sent are tracked.

Letters generated from Print Statement Letters can be flagged to automatically update the history log.
The Record Sent Letters utility can also be used to manually log additional letters that have been sent to a specific customer. This allows your firm to log communications sent outside of Texada SRM.

A letter history report can also be generated from Statement Letter Report.

HIGH CREDIT LEVEL

This is the highest account balance ever achieved by this customer.
The software maintains this field.

HIGH CREDIT DATE

This is the date when the highest credit level occurred.

DATE OF RE-ENGAGEMENT

After a customer has stopped doing business with your firm and then restarts the business relationship again, this date can be used to record when business recommenced.
This optional date field remains blank until a date is entered.

This date prints with the Date Account Opened on the spreadsheet output of the Salesman Commission Report and Developmental Salesman Commission Report.

DATE OF LAST CALL

This is a display field only, and is updated automatically when collection calls are entered using Log Calls.
This date prints on Print Call List along with the collection notes recorded from the date last called.

The Date of Last Call is also updated by the invoice date for a Cash Short Invoice, when an invoice is posted on account for a CASH Customer.
For information on the Cash Short feature, refer to Company Daily Close Parameters.

DATE OF NEXT CALL

This field is display only and is updated when collection calls are entered using Log Calls, and the next call date is selected. This also determines when the customer will reappear on the Print Call List.

REASON FOR CALL

When a collection call is logged in Log Calls, an optional reason code as setup in Call Reasons can then be assigned to the next collection call that is planned for that customer.
The date of the next planned call and the reason for that call, are then included on the collection report information generated from Print Call List.

PAYMENT EXPECTED

An additional date field can also be used to log a Payment Expected date in Log Calls.

Finished?

Click OK to accept and exit the credit information window.