Credit On The Go

Welcome to a compelling episode of the Credit on the Go podcast, a must-listen for corporate credit, finance, and treasury leaders striving to break down organizational silos and drive real results. In this session, Ernie Humphrey, CEO of Treasury Webinars, a recognized authority who has shaped thinking in treasury management through thousands of presentations, articles, and his acclaimed book, joins our Host, Bob Shultz.

Ernie brings a panoramic view to the challenges facing today’s office of the CFO, tackling why so many teams—credit, accounts payable, treasury, and FP&A—operate in isolation, and how this fragmentation threatens both liquidity and the bottom line. With sharp insights and actionable advice, he exposes the surprising costs of poor collaboration and explores how shifting your company culture and leveraging the right technology can unlock efficiency, transparency, and superior customer relationships.

Whether you’re seeking innovative ways to manage working capital, facing tighter markets, or looking to foster a truly collaborative finance environment, this episode delivers the fresh perspective and practical wisdom you need to elevate your team and drive results across your organization.

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Welcome to this episode of the Credit-on-the-Go Podcast, where seasoned trade credit professionals Bob Shultz and Dave Schmidt take an honest, practical look at the challenges facing corporate credit organizations. This session dives into the real-world issues that arise when companies acquire or merge with others, focusing on the art and science of managing new receivables portfolios—from due diligence and onboarding, to workflow realignment and cultural integration within your team and with your sales force.

Episode Highlights

* The hosts explore the immediate and long-term problems that hit credit departments after an acquisition or merger: unfamiliar receivables, unpredictable customer behaviors, and the all-too-common deterioration in portfolio value.

* Strategic guidance is given on joining the due diligence team early to gain intelligence on the incoming portfolio and stakeholders, allowing for proactive recommendations around systems, staffing, and process changes.

* A candid discussion covers dealing with legacy receivables—deciding what gets prioritized, leveraged, sent to collections, and how best to preserve or transfer vital historical knowledge before team changes take place.

* They also share war stories and actionable tips for aligning credit and finance functions with newly inherited sales teams, adapting credit policies to a changing customer mix, and maintaining transparent communication with both internal and external stakeholders.​

Key Takeaways

This podcast delivers invaluable advice for anyone facing M&A transitions in credit, finance, or treasury. The hosts highlight the importance of early engagement, strong documentation, staff continuity, and open dialogue across teams. Their stories underscore the need for managing change assertively, focusing on new business, and adapting policy and practice to fit new realities. If handled effectively, such transitions offer not only survival but significant growth, both professionally and for the organization as a whole.

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This episode of the TCLM’s Credit on the Go podcast shines a light on one of the most vital yet often overlooked pillars of commerce, the world of credit management associations. Host Bob Schultz welcomes Laura McMillan, President of NACM Business Credit Services (BCS), for an insightful conversation about the value, scope, and evolving relevance of credit associations in today’s financial landscape.

For corporate credit, finance, and treasury professionals, this episode offers a timely reminder of the power of community and knowledge sharing. McMillan, who brings a fresh perspective from her background in healthcare and non-profits, discusses how NACM BCS supports business credit managers through education, networking, and expert resources. Listeners will gain perspective on how industry groups function, the measurable ROI of membership, and how organizations like NACM BCS are adapting to serve the next generation of credit leaders.

Key highlights include:

* How credit management associations provide critical tools and expert insights for risk mitigation and career development.

* The role of peer networks and industry groups in sharing actionable intelligence on accounts receivable challenges.

* Strategies for making the business case for professional development investment to company leadership.

* NACM BCS’s forward-looking approach to engaging younger professionals and modernizing how credit communities connect and learn.

This episode is essential listening for anyone responsible for safeguarding company liquidity, leading credit teams, or shaping treasury strategy. It underscores that in an era of automation and AI, human expertise, collaboration, and lifelong learning remain the most powerful assets in business credit management.

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Welcome to the Credit on the Go Podcast, brought to you by Trade Credit & Liquidity Management. In this initial segment, host Bob Schultz sits down with John Lockhart, founder and CEO of Billfire, to unpack the complexities and opportunities within the quote-to-cash process. Their conversation explores the integrated journey from quotation to collecting good funds, revealing the essential value that credit management brings to organizations and the evolving role of the credit manager in today’s fast-paced business environment.

Listeners will hear candid stories about industry changes, the impact of automation, and how forward-thinking technology solutions are helping teams boost efficiency, manage risk, and transform credit operations into a profit-driving, customer-facing function. Whether seasoned veterans or newcomers to credit, treasury, or finance, this episode delivers expert insights and practical advice on navigating the future of credit management.

The conversation highlights several actionable recommendations and best practices for credit management teams striving to enhance their operations. First and foremost, embracing automation is advised as a key strategy for maintaining both efficiency and resilience, especially when managing smaller or understaffed teams. Automation tools allow credit departments to streamline daily workflows, set account priorities, document actions, and ensure crucial follow-up steps are never missed, all of which help to preserve work-life balance and avoid the pitfalls of manual overload.

Another essential best practice discussed is the holistic approach to the quote-to-cash process. Credit professionals are encouraged to view every step, from initial quotation and credit application through final payment collection, as part of one continuous, integrated life cycle. This perspective empowers teams to identify and address recurring bottlenecks such as billing disputes or payment delays, and to proactively collaborate across sales, customer service, and operations. Enhanced transparency and smart workflow management not only reduce risk and Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) but also transform the credit department into a central, customer-facing business function that drives company growth.

Click below to listen to Part 2

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This exclusive episode of the Credit on the Go podcast delivers a must-hear strategy for financial executives navigating distress in today’s challenging environment. Robert Denozzi, Chief Growth Officer of Second Wind Consultants, sits down with Bob Shultz to introduce the transformative power of Article 9 restructurings, a swift, private alternative to traditional judicial insolvency processes. These restructurings leverage secured party sales under the Uniform Commercial Code to transition distressed companies into new operating entities, preserving business value, maximizing recovery for senior lenders, and maintaining critical trade relationships.

Unlike Chapter 11 bankruptcies or Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors (ABCs), which are public insolvency proceedings that often lead to value erosion, costly delays, and dilution of lender rights, Article 9 restructurings provide a more efficient and flexible mechanism. ABCs are state-specific legal processes where a debtor’s assets are assigned to an independent third party (the assignee) who liquidates them for creditors. Despite being an alternative to bankruptcy, ABCs are still public and can allow junior creditors to delay proceedings or demand carve-outs, hurting senior lenders and the business’s goodwill.

Denozzi’s discussion highlights how Article 9 restructurings avoid these pitfalls by keeping the process private, removing legacy liabilities from assets, enabling new financing, and empowering lenders and stakeholders to negotiate repayment and restructure terms that better fit the ongoing business’s cash flow. The result is a faster, cleaner path to recovery with less reputational risk and a greater likelihood of preserving ongoing business operations.

This episode is essential listening for credit executives, CFOs, business owners, and other financial professionals seeking fresh, practical alternatives to costly and uncertain judicial proceedings. It offers actionable insights to protect assets, sustain important business relationships, and deliver better outcomes across the credit community. By leveraging these strategies, credit professionals can position themselves as innovative leaders and problem solvers in distressed environments

Related Content

* Maximize Recovery, Preserve Your Interests Under UCC Article 9

* Creditors Can Fight Back Even In Sub-Chapter V Bankruptcy Cases

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This podcast is a replay of a UCLA Extension-sponsored August 21, 2025, webinar offering actionable insights on credit management and consumer spending trends impacting business liquidity and profitability.

Key Highlights

* Discover UCLA Extension’s continuing education resources for professionals in credit, treasury, and finance, with direct benefits for career advancement.

* Robert Shultz, publisher of the Trade Credit and Liquidity Management newsletter, outlines the strategic value of credit management, emphasizing tools for enhancing organizational liquidity, mitigating risk, and uncovering new profit opportunities.

* Paul Hill, president of JSI Analytics, presents proprietary research that connects consumer discretionary and non-discretionary spending patterns to tangible effects on companies of all sizes at both regional and national levels.

Executive Insights

* Listeners gain proven strategies for optimizing cash flow and identifying growth opportunities, essential topics for credit and financial executives steering organizational strategy.

* The session highlights original perspectives and surprising data trends, enabling leaders to benchmark their practices against evolving consumer behaviors and market shifts.

This webinar sets the stage for impactful learning and practical takeaways directly addressing the challenges and opportunities faced by credit and finance professionals today.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tradecredit.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of the Credit on the Go podcast, host Bob Shultz interviews Pam Krank, President of The Credit Department (TCD), about the evolving role of automation and AI in credit, collections, and receivables management. Pam shares TCD’s journey from a consulting firm in 1993 to a leading provider of outsourced credit management and “smart automation” solutions for mid-market companies managing complex, acquisition-heavy portfolios.

The discussion covers:

* Must-have automation features: customizable templates, robust reporting, dispute tracking, payer-level accounting, and family tree exposure analysis.

* Cross-functional connectivity: breaking down silos between sales, customer service, warehouse, and finance to pinpoint and eliminate root causes of disputes.

* AI’s role: distinguishing true AI from rules-based workflow, leveraging AI to handle routine tasks, and managing accuracy challenges during implementation.

* Implementation challenges: securing executive buy-in, proving ROI, and avoiding costly vendor delays through TCD’s prebuilt workflows and deep industry knowledge.

* ROI drivers: enabling business growth without adding headcount, rather than purely reducing DSO.

* Change management: overcoming staff resistance through training, education, and positioning automation as a way to elevate team skills and eliminate repetitive work.

Pam emphasizes that successful automation depends on selecting the right solution for the portfolio, ensuring strong training before and after go-live, and continuously engaging staff to maximize adoption and value. The conversation offers practical, experience-based insights for credit managers, finance leaders, and executives considering automation upgrades.

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This podcast episode, hosted by Bob Shultz, publisher and co-founder of TCLM, and featuring Chris Lehnnes from Versant Funding, provides an in-depth exploration of factoring as a financing solution for businesses seeking improved liquidity. Factoring is explained as the sale of a company’s accounts receivable to a third-party factor, which enables immediate cash flow without incurring debt. Lehnnes outlines how the process works, from invoice verification to advancing 75 to 90 percent of its value and later releasing the balance upon customer payment, while also discussing the operational benefits, such as the factor handling collections. The conversation covers critical distinctions between recourse and non-recourse factoring, cost structures, and flexibility in factoring arrangements, including selective factoring by customer or invoice. The fees, typically 1.5 to 3 percent per month, are examined alongside aspects that influence pricing, such as credit risk, invoice volume, and payment timelines.

The discussion also offers practical guidance for businesses considering factoring, highlighting its applicability primarily for B2B and B2G companies with strong customers and urgent funding needs not being met by banks. Lehnnes addresses common concerns about customer perception, explaining that large enterprise clients are accustomed to factoring arrangements, and he emphasizes good receivables management practices to improve eligibility. The episode concludes with insights into Versant Funding’s unique position in the market, emphasizing its true non-recourse model, lack of reliance on traditional borrower qualifications, flexibility in factoring older receivables, and willingness to work with high customer concentration. This positions factoring not only as a cash flow solution but also as a strategic tool for growth, bridging financing gaps, and providing operational stability.

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This episode explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping credit risk management and treasury operations. Guest Jordan Esbin, CEO of Credit Pulse, shares insights with Bob Shultz, Trade Credit & Liquidity Management’s Publisher, regarding current misconceptions, the urgency of AI adoption, the importance of data integrity, and the bottlenecks in credit operations that AI can help resolve. While AI is often feared as a job replacer, the reality is it excels at repetitive tasks and complements—not replaces—human decision-making. The episode clarifies these misconceptions and encourages professionals to see AI as a productivity tool.

AI is already embedded in daily technology use, from phones to workplace software. Professionals who fail to adopt AI risk falling behind, while early adopters stand to gain a competitive edge by learning and integrating AI tools into their workflows. The success of any AI application, however, depends heavily on the quality of its data. Inaccurate, incomplete, or untimely data undermines even the best AI systems, making it essential to build a strong data foundation before implementation. Similarly, Manual, disconnected processes, especially during customer onboarding, credit reviews, and collections, slow down the cash cycle. AI can significantly streamline these workflows, enabling real-time decisions, improved communication, and greater efficiency across credit operations.

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In this podcast, Bob Shultz, Trade Credit & Liquidity Management’s Publisher, interviews Mark Ramseyer, the Program Director of UCLA Extension’s Business and Finance programs. These courses are designed for working professionals looking to advance in credit, treasury, and finance functions. They are focused on practical, industry-relevant education, offering certificate programs, certifications (CPA, CFP, Enrolled Agent), and specialized training in areas such as accounting, internal audit, tax, financial analysis, real estate, and credit management. Courses are taught by experienced practitioners, including Bob, who teaches Credit and Portfolio Analysis courses. This focus ensures up-to-date understanding of industry standards and best practices through the course curriculum and networking opportunities with peers and instructors who are active in the field. Customized content is also available to corporate clients, offering their internal teams material adapted to company needs and industry standards.

UCLA Extension Programs are available in flexible formats: in-person, live online, and asynchronous online. Most courses are accessible to professionals globally, beyond commuting distance to the UCLA Westwood campus. With no requirement for upfront financial commitment, participants can start with a single course, including free short seminars, and progress as needed. Enrollment operates on a quarterly schedule. Quality is overseen by UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and the Academic Senate, ensuring academic rigor and real-world applicability. This approach supports career advancement, certification attainment, and organizational upskilling, all with a focus on practical, impactful learning and professional connections.

Here are ten relevant UCLA Extension course offerings for Fall 2028:

* Financial Statement Analysis

* Conducting a Credit Analysis 1

* Accounting and Enterprise Business Systems

* Accounting for Non-Accountants

* Business Statistics

* Digital Disruption and Business Transformation

* Money, Banking, and Financial Markets

* Strategic Thinking: Tools, Processes, and Cases

* The Use of AI in the Finance Industry

* Applying Economics to Business Decisions

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tradecredit.substack.com/subscribe