Credit Management and Debt Collection Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Credit Managers, Accounts Receivable Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-FM-141

Before you join: Participants should be comfortable reading invoices, customer account statements and aged receivables reports.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Late payment, disputed invoices and inconsistent collection activity can restrict working capital, increase bad-debt exposure and strain customer relationships. Credit and collections teams need clear policies, disciplined account reviews and reliable escalation routes to convert sales into cash without damaging commercially important accounts. This course addresses the full receivables cycle, from credit assessment and account opening through invoicing, collection, dispute resolution, legal escalation and performance reporting.

Participants learn to assess customer creditworthiness using the Five Cs of Credit and financial statement indicators; set credit limits and payment terms; interpret aged receivables; prioritise collection portfolios; and conduct structured collection calls. The course also covers cash application, invoice accuracy, dispute workflows, payment plans, third-party collectors, insolvency warning signs and key measures such as Days Sales Outstanding and Collection Effectiveness Index. Participants build practical judgement on when to preserve a trading relationship, when to restrict further credit and when to escalate recovery action.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with realistic accounts receivable cases, group analysis, collection-call simulations and policy-review tasks. Cases reflect common situations in banking, manufacturing, government suppliers, distribution, professional services and NGO-funded programmes. Participants leave with a credit and collections operating pack containing a credit policy outline, customer assessment scorecard, collection segmentation model, dispute tracker, call-planning template and personal implementation plan.

The course is designed for finance and commercial professionals who manage customer credit, receivables, collections or order release decisions. It is suitable for organisations seeking more predictable cash collection, lower overdue balances and stronger control over customer credit risk.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess customer creditworthiness using the Five Cs of Credit and financial indicators
  • Set credit limits, payment terms and approval authorities within a credit policy
  • Analyse aged receivables using DSO, ageing profiles and Collection Effectiveness Index
  • Segment debtor portfolios and prioritise collection actions by value, risk and delinquency
  • Conduct structured collection calls and negotiate documented payment commitments
  • Resolve invoice disputes through root-cause analysis, ownership controls and escalation paths
  • Select appropriate legal, agency and insolvency recovery actions for delinquent accounts
  • Build a receivables improvement plan with controls, measures and accountabilities

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Make defensible credit-limit decisions using documented evidence and approval criteria
  • Handle difficult collection conversations with clearer structure and stronger payment commitments
  • Identify deteriorating accounts before overdue balances become major recovery cases
  • Improve credibility with sales teams through commercially sound credit decisions
  • Build reusable reporting and control tools for a receivables portfolio

For your organisation

  • Reduce overdue receivables through risk-based collection prioritisation
  • Improve cash forecasting accuracy from reliable ageing and payment-promise data
  • Lower bad-debt losses through earlier warning indicators and escalation controls
  • Reduce invoice disputes through clearer billing, ownership and root-cause controls
  • Create consistent credit decisions across sales, finance and customer service teams

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain how receivables decisions affect cash conversion, liquidity and financial performance.

  • Working-capital cycle links order release, invoicing, collections and available cash
  • Accounts receivable ledger controls distinguish trade debt, disputes and unapplied cash
  • DSO, ageing buckets and collection effectiveness reveal portfolio performance
  • Calculate cash conversion cycle effects from changing customer payment behaviour
  • Revenue recognition timing versus collectability assumptions under IFRS 15
  • Set receivables objectives aligned to cash, risk and customer service

Participants can apply a controlled credit policy to assess customers and approve credit decisions.

  • Credit policy defines terms, limits, approvals, exceptions and review frequencies
  • Five Cs of Credit assess character, capacity, capital, collateral and conditions
  • Analyse liquidity, gearing, profitability and cash flow from financial statements
  • Credit-scoring models combine financial data, payment history and external intelligence
  • Set credit limits using exposure, expected sales and risk appetite
  • Approval matrices separate routine decisions, exceptions and high-risk exposures

Participants can establish customer accounts with verified data, enforceable terms and clear credit conditions.

  • Customer master data captures legal entity, contacts, tax details and ownership
  • Verify trading identity through company registers, references and bank confirmation
  • Know-your-customer checks identify sanctions, fraud and beneficial-ownership concerns
  • Credit applications document requested limits, terms, guarantees and security
  • Terms and conditions specify due dates, interest, retention and dispute procedures
  • Document approved exceptions with rationale, expiry dates and review responsibilities

Participants can improve invoice-to-cash controls and prevent avoidable payment delays.

  • Invoice accuracy starts with validated orders, pricing, tax and delivery evidence
  • Electronic invoicing controls confirm receipt, routing and customer portal requirements
  • Cash application matches remittances, deductions, bank references and open items
  • Unapplied cash ageing identifies allocation delays and potential customer disputes
  • Dispute codes classify pricing, quantity, quality, tax and documentation failures
  • Root-cause analysis assigns corrective actions to recurring invoice defects

Participants can segment receivables portfolios and prioritise actions using risk and value criteria.

  • Ageing reports separate current, overdue, disputed and legally escalated balances
  • Segment accounts by debt value, delinquency, risk rating and strategic importance
  • Collection Effectiveness Index measures actual cash recovered against collectible debt
  • Promise-to-pay tracking compares commitments, due dates, amounts and kept promises
  • Prioritise high-value overdue accounts using risk-based collection queues
  • Create account action plans with owners, dates, next steps and escalation triggers

Participants can conduct professional collection conversations that secure realistic payment commitments.

  • Collection contact strategies match communication channels to delinquency and customer risk
  • Prepare calls using account history, invoice evidence and defined payment objectives
  • Questioning techniques uncover payment barriers, disputes, authority and cash constraints
  • State payment requests precisely with dates, amounts and transfer instructions
  • Handle objections through evidence, options, consequences and agreed next actions
  • Payment plans document instalments, default clauses, security and monitoring arrangements

Participants can resolve disputes quickly while applying proportionate escalation and customer-management decisions.

  • Dispute workflow assigns ownership, evidence requirements, response times and closure criteria
  • Separate valid disputes from delay tactics, deductions and unsupported claims
  • Service-level agreements set response standards between finance, sales and operations
  • Escalate unresolved cases through account managers, senior sponsors and credit holds
  • Credit holds balance further exposure, contractual duties and customer relationship value
  • Document settlement agreements, concessions, credit notes and approval authorities

Participants can select appropriate recovery routes while recognising legal, ethical and insolvency constraints.

  • Pre-legal review checks contract evidence, debt validity and limitation periods
  • Demand letters state outstanding amounts, deadlines, consequences and contact details
  • Third-party collection agencies require mandates, reporting standards and fee controls
  • Legal action decisions compare recoverability, costs, jurisdiction and commercial impact
  • Insolvency warning signs include returned payments, creditor pressure and delayed filings
  • Write-off governance documents recovery steps, approvals, tax treatment and lessons

Participants can design reporting and control routines that strengthen receivables accountability.

  • ERP receivables fields support credit limits, holds, dunning and dispute tracking
  • Dunning workflows automate reminders while preserving account-specific collection judgement
  • Monthly dashboards report ageing, DSO, CEI, disputes and bad-debt trends
  • Reconcile subledger balances to general ledger, bank receipts and customer statements
  • Segregation of duties controls customer master changes, credits and write-offs
  • Exception reporting identifies breached limits, broken promises and dormant disputes

Participants can produce a practical improvement plan for credit and collections performance.

  • Diagnose receivables weaknesses through policy, process, data and capability reviews
  • Prioritise initiatives using impact, effort, control risk and implementation dependencies
  • Define improvement actions for credit approval, invoicing, collections and disputes
  • RACI matrices assign accountable owners for receivables controls and reporting
  • PDCA cycle supports testing, review and refinement of collection procedures
  • Create a 90-day action plan with measures, milestones and governance reviews

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Credit policy and approval-matrix template
  2. Five Cs customer credit-assessment scorecard
  3. Receivables ageing and collection-segmentation model
  4. Collection call-planning and payment-promise template
  5. Invoice dispute tracker and root-cause log
  6. 90-day receivables improvement plan

Who should attend

  • Credit Managers — need stronger policy, assessment and portfolio-control methods
  • Accounts Receivable Managers — require disciplined invoicing, collections and dispute workflows
  • Collections Supervisors — need practical segmentation and call-management techniques
  • Finance Managers — need better cash conversion and bad-debt control
  • Accountants — need reliable receivables reporting, cash application and reconciliations
  • Sales and Commercial Managers — need to balance revenue targets with sound credit decisions

Skills and tools covered

Credit risk assessmentReceivables analysisCollection negotiationDispute resolutionDebt recovery escalationWorking capital control

Tools and standards

Five Cs of Credit, Days Sales Outstanding, Collection Effectiveness Index, PDCA cycle

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce credit-control methods, followed by case work based on realistic customer accounts and aged-debt portfolios. Participants analyse financial information, assess credit applications, prioritise collection actions and test escalation decisions in small groups. Collection-call simulations build confidence in questioning, objection handling and payment-plan negotiation. Facilitated reviews connect each method to participants' own policies, systems and customer base. The final application-planning session converts course outputs into actions for the workplace.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should be comfortable reading invoices, customer account statements and aged receivables reports. Familiarity with basic accounting terms such as accounts receivable, credit notes, bad debts, cash flow and profit is expected. Experience in finance operations, sales administration, customer service, collections or commercial account management is useful. Participants do not need prior legal training, formal credit-management certification, advanced financial modelling skills or experience with a specific enterprise resource planning system. The course explains financial statement indicators used in credit decisions before applying them.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand basic accounting terms and be able to read invoices, customer statements and aged receivables reports. Prior work in finance, sales administration, customer service or collections is useful, but prior credit-management training is not required.

Bring examples of your current credit policy, ageing report, collection letters or dispute categories if your organisation permits it. Confidential customer information should be removed or anonymised before use.

It is best suited to credit managers, accounts receivable staff, collections supervisors, finance managers and commercial managers with credit responsibilities. It also suits professionals moving into a credit-control or debt-collection role.

This course concentrates on the operational controls that turn invoiced revenue into collected cash. It covers customer assessment, payment terms, collections, disputes, recovery routes and receivables measures rather than broad treasury management or investment analysis.

Participants can use the scorecard, collection segmentation model, dispute tracker and call-planning template with their own portfolio. The course also produces a 90-day improvement plan linked to controls, measures and accountable owners.

The five training days run from 08:30 to 16:30 and provide about 6.5 contact hours each day. Time is divided across ten teaching modules, with instructor input, case analysis, group tasks, simulations and workplace application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

More courses in Financial Management

Financial Management Cost Management for Energy Projects Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Financial Management Cost Planning and Control Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Financial Management Cost Reduction Strategy Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Financial Management Credit Control and Collections Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Financial Management Credit Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Financial Management Credit Management and Debt Recovery Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Financial Management Data-Driven Budgeting Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Financial Management Debt Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov