More and more companies are facing the challenge of automating their processes. This trend is also affecting credit management. Helge Gerhard, Senior Business Consultant at Dun & Bradstreet, addresses the questions everyone should ask themselves before embarking on a project of this kind.

1. Why are credit management processes even being automated?

Helge Gerhard: Credit management involves lots of similar and recurring tasks. The associated processes can be effectively standardised and also automated with the support of IT systems. Manual processing not only takes a lot of time and ties up human resources, it’s also prone to errors. Automating the processes makes it more efficient and enables credit managers to focus on other complex tasks that require greater expertise.

2. Which process steps in credit management should I be looking to automate?

Gerhard: Automation can make sense in various areas of credit management, including monitoring incoming payments and limits, preparing reminders, as well as continuous analysis of credit risks for both new and existing customers. Effective automation should always be consistent with the company’s credit policy and documented accordingly. In this way, it is always clear why and how processes run. This creates transparency and acceptance among staff. It also makes sense to focus on those processes that deliver the greatest benefit for the company first. After all, it’s always possible to extend the scope further down the line as and when needed.