Credit Management in Australia - March 2019

Volume 26, No 3 March 2019

IN AUSTRALIA

The Publication for Credit and Financial Professionals Qld

Vic/Tas

WA/NT

Jane Hay BGW Group Beverley Hartsorn Adecco Group

Sandy Christpoulos Inenco

SA

Jason Louis BGC

NSW

Theresa Brown Optus

PINNACLES Full report of all the winners and nominees starts on page 43

l Support on how to explain why you should automate your order to cash process l Changes to the way defaults are reported l Insight into collections with strata properties

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Volume 26, Number 3 – March 2019

6

Message from the President

62 NSW: Pinnacle Winners: Lydia Harris, Colin Shepherd, Matt Jackson, Theresa Brown, Taylor Johnson, Paula Inventor, Sev Indrele, and Terry Ledlin.

Credit Management

8

Moving from Reactive to Proactive Order-to-Cash Resource Management in 2019

By Chris Caparon and Matt White

16

The preservation principle

By Paul Burgess

18

One of the most useful and over-looked credit management tools

66

By Patrick Coghlan

20

“Settled” defaults are no more

Qld: Pinnacles: Maria Schandl (Stoddart Group), Anna Taylor (Results Legal) and Zara Mends (NCI).

By Elsa Markula

Legal

22

Trust accounting

By Natalie Ledlin, Terry Ledlin, Holly Jackson and Peter Mills

26

‘Til debt do us part

By Mark Harley and Callum Woods

27

When the failure to lodge a caveat will deprive an earlier interest in land of its priority

70 SA: NCI team: David Baker, Daniel Mackintosh and Tom Shaw.

By Pieter Oomens and Anna Darroch-Dobbie

Insolvency

30

Loans versus Gifts – Bankruptcy and Death

By Bruce Gleeson

32

The numbers never lie

By Andrew Spring

Leadership and High Performance

34

Recruitment challenges to solve for your Credit Division in 2019

76 Vic/Tas: Christmas Dinner from front left to right: Jeff Hurst, Lou Caldararo Robyn Erskine, Catrina Galanti, Donna Smith, Frank Gambera and Mary Petreski.

By Sarah Bolster

18 Patrick Coghlan

20 Elsa Markula

30 Bruce Gleeson

34 Sarah Bolster

78 WA/NT: Pinnacles: Belinda Parkinson, Caris Baker, Anja Bonnard all of Veolia Environmental Services.

ISSN 2207-6549

DIRECTORS Trevor Goodwin FICM CCE – Australian President Julie McNamara MICM CCE – Queensland and Australian VP Lou Caldararo LICM CCE – Victoria/Tasmania Rowan McClarty MICM CCE – Western Australia/Northern Territory Gail Crowder MICM – South Australia Peter Morgan MICM CCE – New South Wales

36

37

Steve Wallis

43

Terry Kemp

Debt Collection 5 Skip Tracing Facts and Fantasies

36

By Steve Wallis

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Nick Pilavidis MICM CCE Level 3, Suite 303, 1-9 Chandos Street, St Leonards NSW 2065 PO Box 64, St Leonards NSW 1590 Tel: 1300 560 996, Fax: (02) 9906 5686 Email: nick@aicm.com.au

By Terry Kemp

AICM Training news The benefits of employee development and training

PUBLISHER Nick Pilavidis | Email: nick@aicm.com.au

37

Collaboration the key to timely strata levy payments

Sccessful students Training calendar

40 41 42

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS NSW – Sev Indrele MICM CCE Qld – Carly Rae MICM SA – Gail Crowder MICM WA/NT – Lisa Marr MICM Vic/Tas – Donna Smith MICM CCE

Pinnacles Awards NSW QLD SA

EDITOR/ADVERTISING

WA

Andrew Le Marchant LICM CCE Phone Direct 02 8317 5052 or Mob 0418 250 504 Email: andrew@aicm.com.au

VIC

EDITING and PRODUCTION

Around the States

New Members

62 66 70 72 76 78

Credit Marketplace

80

Anthea Vandertouw | Ferncliff Productions Tel: 0408 290 440 | Email: ferncliff1@bigpond.com

New South Wales

THE EDITOR reserves the right to alter or omit any article or advertisement submitted and requires idemnity from the advertisers and contributors against damages or liabilities that may arise from material published. CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA is published by the Australian Institute of Credit Management, Level 3, Suite 303, 1-9 Chandos Street, St Leonards NSW 2065. The views expressed in CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA are not necessarily those of Australian Institute of Credit Management, which does not expect or invite any person to act or rely on any statement, opinion or advice contained herein (whether in the form of an advertisement or editorial) and neither the Institute or any of its employees, agents or contributors shall be liable for any opinion contained herein. © The Australian Institute of Credit Management, 2019.

South Australia

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Click Here EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO: The Editor, Level 3, Suite 303, 1-9 Chandos Street, St Leonards NSW 2065 or email: nick@aicm.com.au CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

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Credit Management In Australia Contact: Andrew Le Marchant Ph: 1300 560 996 E: andrew@aicm.com.au

TREK BICYCLE REDUCES DSO & IMPROVES GLOBAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE WITH ESKER’S AUTOMATED COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT SOLUTION

Trek Bicycle is a privately owned corporation headquartered in Waterloo, Wisconsin, USA. As the largest bicycle company in the United States, Trek has 16 international distribution centres and 5,000 independent bicycle dealers around the world. However, if there’s one downside to global business success, it’s this: Managing important business processes — in Trek’s case, collecting payments — is often costly, complex and unsustainable.

Trek didn’t have standardised collections tool before Esker. Everyday tasks, like sending reminder letters, were all done manually with no real consistency in their process. With 60% of its business coming from outside the USA, it was crucial that they implement a true global solution.

HOW ESKER’S COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT SOLUTION WORKS Esker’s solution works similarly to how other departments use CRM software to manage critical workflow functions. Through a centralised digital interface, users can orchestrate post-sale collection interactions with greater ease, oversight and autonomy thanks to tools such as:  Payment reminder emails  Rule-based task lists  Collections forecast  Root-cause analysis & case resolution  Account lookups & call logging  Payment plans

SOLUTION IMPLEMENTATION With Esker, Trek now has a collections management solution specifically designed to standardise global operations, utilised by 32 collectors in 18 offices worldwide, while also making its process faster and more user-friendly for both staff and customers.

The solution was officially rolled out in March 2017 and is currently being released to Trek customers in Europe and the United Kingdom.

GLOBAL EXPERTISE & PARTNERSHIP The other credit and collections vendors Trek looked into didn’t have Esker’s global expertise. Esker worked with Trek to translate the interface into 14 different languages, engaged with Trek’s international partners on payment strategies, and even helped the company in improving the look and feel of its statements. It was a true partnership.

The discipline that Esker drives in the credit and collections process is phenomenal. In my 20-plus years, it’s the best product I’ve ever used based on its simplicity and ease of navigating.

Andrew St Clair | Global Director of Financial Services

BUSINESS BENEFITS  Reduced past-due percentage by 4%

 Higher satisfaction; customers now have access to a selfservice portal to make payments, manage preferences and more

 Reduced Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)  Increased productivity; several staff members were able to be reallocated to more business critical positions

 Enhanced visibility; customisable monthly management reports can be accessed directly from the dashboard

 Improved collaboration; users can now log into Esker, choose an invoice and assign tasks to other departments (e.g., cash application, etc.)

Want to learn more about Esker’s Accounts Receivable solution?

Register to our upcoming webinars: www.esker.com.au/company/webinars

www.esker.com.au • info@esker.com.au

aicm

From the President

Trevor Goodwin LICM CCE National President

W

elcome to our first edition

which with the introduction of the Awards

of the Credit Management

in South Australia makes this an important

magazine for 2019. As

event on all divisional calendars. The awards

I write this article I am

on a national basis were highly successful

thinking about how fast the year is going

with strong candidates nominated in all

and by the time you read this we will be

States. It is pleasing to see so many in

nearly one quarter the way through the

the credit profession recognised for their

year. Not only am I am reflecting on the

dedication, professionalism, outstanding

busy new year so far but take time to wish

skills and knowledge.

you all a great new year and trust you had

calendar is Women in Credit which

and a relaxing holiday period.

continues to grow in numbers and quality of

The Board and our National Office have

venues and speakers. This event is a “not to

been busy since the commencement of

be missed” for all members in each of our

the year planning a productive program

divisions.

for our members and all who are involved

The Institute is holding a record number

in both commercial and consumer credit

of events in 2019 which clearly indicates

and writing submissions to the government

the growth and strength of the Institute

bodies on numerous credit policy

supported by a strong Board, a dedicated

proposals, whilst also keeping abreast

and hard-working National Office and a

of credit related proposals raised by the

diverse and enthusiastic team of volunteers

federal opposition.

on our state councils. We encourage you

Professional development will ensure our

to get along to as many of these events as

future and demonstrate that our members

possible to further enhance your career and

are appropriately skilled and trained

build your networks.

for whatever the profession demands.

A major event to be held shortly in all

I am proud of our new Certified Credit

states is the national insolvency roadshow

Executives of 2018 and those existing CCEs

which is already underway in New South

who re-certified.

Wales and Queensland. I highly recommend

Similarly I am proud of those young

this seminar to you given the enormous

people who were finalists for the Young

amount of work we have done with ARITA

Credit Professional award in 2018 and

to ensure the best presenters and quality of

seeing their enthusiasm, passion and

material available.

professionalism. It is extremely pleasing

The highlight of the 2019 year will be the

seeing so many young people intent on

national conference which will be held at

developing their career in the various

the Marriott Hotel on the Gold Coast. Those

credit-related professionals. The standard

members who have attended a conference

of the candidates entering this award

at this venue know the quality of the venue

provides me with the assurance the future

and the vibrant nature of this event not

of credit management in Australia is in

only from an educational viewpoint but

good hands.

through our networking opportunities

Of significant importance to the AICM is the expansion of the Pinnacle Awards

6

Another major event on the AICM

a festive Christmas and a happy New Year,

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

where we renew old acquaintances and make new ones. A reminder that early

From the President

aicm

See you at AICM’s bird registrations are available now so I strongly encourage you to have it signed off. I look forward to seeing you there.

I encourage members to be engaged in the Institute and to raise our profile, and to continue not only their own development but to promote the Institute which is an important vehicle for our members and their colleagues. zz So always be alert to our flyers and: zz Register online and attend events in your division zz Share Credit Management in Australia with a colleague zz Establish an employer sponsored membership group zz Recommend a colleague for membership zz Sit the CCE exam or apply for the YCP and nominate for a Pinnacle award zz Apply to upgrade your membership CCE exams are happening soon so check in with the National office or your division CCE councillor to find out what you need to do to be eligible.

In conclusion I take this opportunity to say how privileged I am to be part of such a diverse professional body with our members coming from so many industries and sectors of the credit management profession who make up the Institute of Credit Management. This is highlighted by the current board and division councillors who come from a diverse range of professions including credit managers, legal and insolvency practitioners, debt collection, credit insurance/risk management and recruitment providing a great mix of experiences

2019 N A T I O N A L

CONFERENCE

and ideas.

Our succession plan is to attract the best and most talented people in our industry to be involved at board and state division level and to broaden our focus into the consumer credit sector.

Here’s to a great 2019.

16th - 18th October 2019 Marriott Gold Coast

– Trevor Goodwin LICM CCE National President

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

Credit Management

Moving from reactive to proactive orderto-cash resource management in 2019

By Chris Caparon and Matt White*

Chris Caparon

Matt White

8

The single biggest complaint Cforia heard from our global clients in 2018: “Our Credit, Cash Application, Collections and Disputes Resolution teams, are already too busy to cover 100% of their order-to-cash (OTC) workloads each 24-hour cycle.”

The other very real issue, as their daily volumes increase, they are not getting the needed resource additions to cover company growth… but, that does not stop management from expecting them to deliver on, or actually improve, their order-tocash productivity and outcomes.

Quite often a Collector, Dispute Resolver or Credit Analyst will have responsibility for 500 or more active customer accounts. On a rolling 30-day cycle, Client-to-Collector ratios above 150 do not typically leave enough time to effectively touch 100% of your A/R balancecarrying customers. The industry averages range between 40% to 60% A/R portfolio coverage on a rolling 30-day basis. Split the difference, this means that as much as 50% of your current balance carrying customers, are not being touched by a C&C team member monthly. This

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

is a shocking revelation, but a C&C reality for far too many companies.

On top of required receivables portfolio/customer touches, the C&C teams are spending countless manual hours researching and resolving potentially hundreds of disputes, short-pays and deductions in order to prevent revenue shrinkage and unearned-discounts.

Let’s first talk about how C&C Teams organically expand (Figure 1).

Agreed, sales growth and DSO/ DBT (Days Sales Outstanding/Days Beyond Term) are not linear, but let’s set those to a constant slope for the sake of a simpler model.

Over the last sixteen (16) years and across hundreds of different AR organisations in 117 countries, we have observed the following patterns of growth, what we refer to as Crisis Driven Headcount Management.

For the most part thirty (30) day credit/payment terms, are shortterm unsecured loans. Although the terms of Credit are binding, the reality of customers paying on time does not always work-out as planned.

Thus, the birth of Collections, which for a fledgling business, starts with

Credit Management

Figure 1. one C&C FTE (full time equivalent employee). C&C FTE’s are responsible for executing credit, collections and dispute FTEE’s (FTE Events). C&C FTEE’s as basically any task executed within the process of on-boarding a new customer, converting a customer invoice to cash or adjudicating a payment dispute.

As revenue grows and the company’s exposure to accounts receivables increases, the size of the C&C team and number of FTEE’s increases to protect what is typically 60% of their company’s available working capital. But the C&C team expansion does not occur smoothly; it “reacts” after the DSO/DBT reaches an unacceptable financial point of risk tolerance. When the actual DSO exceeds the target DSO tolerance, the “reaction” comes in the form of hiring another C&C team member or two.

Once hired and trained, the delinquent accounts receive more attention and the DSO/DBT responds favorably and begins to drop below target DSO to acceptable levels...and then this process repeats. I like to refer

“As revenue grows and the company’s exposure to accounts receivables increases, the size of the C&C team and number of FTEE’s increases to protect what is typically 60% of their company’s available working capital.” to this as the C&C Wash Rinse and Repeat cycle.

So how do companies escape this traditional react-driven C&C growth cycle? What effect does this fits-and-starts “crisis response” cycle have on how your company’s working capital and what do your key stakeholders think about these practices, particularly related to your C&C team and the productivity of their FTEE’s?

This “Crisis-Driven” environment is pervasive across most C&C departments. In response to the latest crisis deux jour, management will allocate the minimum amount of additional resources and no more. It typically starts with temp staff who never seem to leave. This reactive

approach pervades the culture of C&C departments. I have yet to meet an OTC manager who is not excessively busy. Complicating this further is the lack of access to the necessary IT or consulting resources who could provide assistance in the streamlining of the processes.

Ev Bangemann, Peter Krzyanowski and Myles Corson from Ernst & Young Financial Accounting Advisory authored an article titled “Improving Your Finance Function Effectiveness”.

In this they talk about creating centres of excellence (CoE’s) and describe the changing business landscape and finance operations expectations. “Finance functions in many companies are evolving to become more efficient, effective ➤

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

9

Credit Management

and a better partner to the business.

At the same time, stakeholders’ expectations of a modern finance organisation are increasing.”

They go on to point out that “… key challenges companies are facing is realising a functioning operating model for each area within the finance and accounting function, while ensuring process quality and employee acceptance.” The trick here, is having processes and a finance information system which helps you create and maintain an effective “operating model”, which your C&C teams can grow with and be more productive through.

This might sound obvious, but everyone reading this article has used many different ERP (enterprise requirements planning) systems over their careers which actually hindered C&C effectiveness. Whether your ERP is SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, PeopleSoft, JDE, Infor or some form of homegrown legacy system (e.g. IBM AS400 hardware running RPG software on a DBII database) you know first-hand that most ERP systems do not deliver to expectations.

The single biggest challenge these ERP systems face is being really good at delivering best-ofbreed core competencies to every

operating function within your company. This is the classic “jack of all trades, master of none” scenario and it is especially true when it comes to the critical requirements of a C&C team, who is responsible for so much of a company’s available working capital. The stakes are very high and as the weighted cost of capital (WCC) continues to climb, the C&C team will receive much more attention from executive management.

On 28 January 2019 the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) released “The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2019 to 2029” In this report they offer CBO projections and tell us:

Average Cost of Capital (WCC) for world markets up, as the LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) is ‘very reflective’ of US Fed lending rates.

As to the fallout from the recent Hayne royal commission into Banking that too will have an impact as in all likelihood as the cost of borrowing goes up, your department (who manages typically the #1 or #2 Current Asset on the Balance Sheet), becomes more and more critical to your company’s financial health.

So where do you need to focus your Order-to-Cash (OTC) team’s efforts to make the most significant impact on available working capital and how do you address this reactdriven OTC growth cycle? Let’s take a look at what we need to change in order to realise better financial outcomes and build a new paradigm for OTC operational execution.

These six core-competencies for the C&C team to improve operational performance: zz Applying Six Sigma DMAIC Methodology to Order-to-Cash (DMAIC OTC) zz Strategic Collections Management (SCM) zz Methods for Dispute Resolution Cycle-Time Compression (DRC)

“Real US GDP…output is projected to grow slightly faster than its maximum sustainable level this year, continuing to boost the demand for labor and to push down the unemployment rate.”

The US Federal Reserve Bank will observe these continued tight US labor markets and rising prices and will likely conclude to continue raising Fed Funds lending rates to banks.

Even if Jerome Powell, Chair of the US Federal Reserve, believes that current rates are low, rising inflation will lead Fed to push interest rates up and this increase will drive the Weighted

Effective Federal Funds Rate 7

6

Percent

5

4

3

2

1

0 2000

2002

Shaded areas indicate U.S. recessions

10

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (US)

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

2014

2016

2018 myf.red/g/ly5m

Credit Management

zz Achieving 100% Portfolio Coverage – Each 30-Day Cycle Let’s start by looking at applying Six Sigma DMAIC Methodology to Order-to-Cash (DMAIC OTC). If your company has already embarked on applying Six Sigma or Lean Sigma Processes to finance operations, you are among the growing number of enterprises striving to improve your order to cash lifecycles, which includes everything from new customer onboarding to automating internal collaboration for dispute adjudication.

Everybody is already working on C&C process improvement. You must because accelerating invoice to cash conversions is at the heart of avoiding having to sell your productive investments generating return on invested capital (ROIC) or borrowing against your credit lines (WCC) to have enough cash to run your business.

Back in the early 1980’s, Motorola developed the Six Sigma business management methodology to improve manufacturing quality, reduce defects and systematically eliminate chronic causes of rework. Basically a six-sigma process says that 99.99966% of the time, you get it “first time right.”, free of errors or defects. Comparatively in a ‘one-sigma’ process, only 31% of the production is free from errors. At the same time Motorola was applying this process improvement methodology to manufacturing, they also started using these principles in F&A, including C&C – with tremendous results.

As E&Y points out, finance executives and company stakeholders are making order-to-cash (OTC) performance a top priority. In many cases OTC and C&C key metrics or KPI’s (key performance indicators), are tied to valuations, lending rates and executive bonuses. With profit margins under more global pressure each year, departments being told “zero head-count growth” and interest rates on the rise…you

Define

Control

Measure

Improve

need to create processes which are scalable, replicable and produce more predictable financial outcomes.

This is where Six-Sigma, Lean-Sigma and Quality Programs come into the picture.

Applying six sigma DMAIC methodology to Order-to-Cash (DMAIC OTC) In order to effect permanent and positive impacts on working capital it is critical to migrate the A/R culture from a reactive to proactive/ preventive approach. This is why using Lean-Six Sigma is critical to breaking the crisis-react-wash-rinse-repeat cycle.

There are five basic elements to applying DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) process to an order-to-cash (OTC) or C&C improvement project: zz Define an OTC or C&C process improvement initiative, which will impact working capital, interdepartmental collaboration or customer satisfaction. Then establish

Analyze

a team of constituents involved in the OTC or C&C process which you want to improve (e.g. #3 Methods for Dispute Resolution Cycle-Time Compression (DRC). This will require Collections, Dispute Management, Credit, Sales, Customer Service, Accounting, Contracts, Shipping and perhaps even Marketing).

Having key constituent departments involved in ‘defining” a customer facing OTC or C&C problem is a must if you hope to produce better financial outcomes or increase customer satisfaction in doing business with your company. zz Where do things stand today, and how will you Measure the extent of the problem? How will you know if your changes are making a difference?

Having knowledge of your currentstate and then quantifying the impact of solving this problem concerning key performance index metrics determines what financial outcomes you are desiring for short, medium and long-term goals. You will want to track KPI improvements. You will ➤

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

11

Credit Management

be surprised just how much you can actually accomplish. zz Analyze the available data and current-state of your finance processes. What is working; what is not working? What are the current financial outcomes you are able to produce and what is the delta between current and best-possible?

The cross functional team should be looking for the root causes of chronic issues, weather upstream (prior to hitting the OTC team), or downstream within the finance department and its current processes or systems.

Quantifying the deltas between current-state and best-possible, the improvement-gap, will give you an idea of the possible. zz Improve the processes and systems. There might be a great deal of improvement possible simply by changing your current manual methods, intra and inter departmentally. At some point you will hit diminishing marginal returns (DMR), where 1 unit of manual process effort no longer delivers 1 (or more) units of production improvement.

If you already run a tight OTC ship, you might reach DMR very quickly. If you run multiple OTC operations globally, possibly in disparate financial shared service centres (FSSC’s) , there is usually a fair amount of improvement possible, simply because it is very difficult to get ‘everybody on the same page’ globally if everybody is looking at slightly different information, coming from slightly (or very) different information systems. At the point of DMR, you will need to move beyond manual methods and start using scalable automation solutions to give you sustainable and replicable financial outcomes for all geographic operations. zz The last element in DMAC OTC is Control. Quality initiatives are not

12

“Strategic Collections Management (SCM) is much more than applying fancy algorithms against receivables aging data to tell your collectors who they should be calling today.” short-term projects or campaigns that come and go. You will achieve short-term benefits, but establishing a quality process is something that needs to be maintained and every time you hire a new resource, they need to understand their part in supporting it. Your OTC of C&C operational, financial and customer satisfaction outcomes, are all tied together in processes which are designed to look for ways to continually improve. Controlling these processes with reporting analytics and graphics, which make it very easy to see when things are trending in the wrong direction, are critical to longterm success. Automation that makes this possible is key and standardised finance processes, which your department (versus IT or the vendor) can easily adapt to change and replicate across other operating units, will help you realise global Working Capital impact.

Strategic Collections Management (SCM) Ernst & Young Financial Accounting Advisory Services is constantly talking about finance departments moving from reactive to proactive operations, in order to add more value to the company.

“Value-Creation” is a key E&Y tenet and the finance department needs to be able to provide better (more accurate and timely) information. This ability promotes Finance Leaders to become active business partners who deliver strategic and operational business advice.

Strategic Collections Management (SCM) is much more

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

than applying fancy algorithms against receivables aging data to tell your collectors who they should be calling today. Especially if this ‘advice’ tells your C&C team member that they have to connect with 300 people today…when they know they only have time to connect with 52.

When faced with these typical and overwhelming system generated task-lists, collectors simply ignore the ‘advice’ and go back to triedn-true “oldest-largest-balancecollections” and start calling large dollar invoice “volunteers”, who for the past twelve (12) years have paid 17 days past-due, like clockwork.

SCM is about setting priorities and evaluating how that set of specific tasks will impact working capital. The first thing a collector should focus on in the morning is following up on dollars that were committed to your company’s operations, which were not delivered by your customers. These “broken promises to pay” are quite often manually maintained in notes fields in the ERP system or Microsoft Outlook Calendar reminders. But each and every one of these open reminders, needs to be followed up to determine the disposition of the obligation. Statistically 85%+ of the time, they are paid, so 100% of the effort to: See the reminder; Open the Account; Check if the Invoice was paid…is wasted, for all paid invoices.

This single example on promises to pay, of managing-to-the-rule, versus managing-to-the-exception is replicated across all collectors, all accounts and all invoices with promise commitments – daily.

The best practice is having your ➤

Credit Management

system keep track of the promise; Automatically checking to see if an invoice was paid; and Automatically clearing away the reminder when full payment is received. If partial payment is received, the system should generate a Dispute Case and help you assign each case to a responsible party in your company to help you resolve.

Other SCM Best Practices fall into many categories like: The segregation of “Clean” versus “Dirty” Accounts Receivable to optimise resource effectivity, execute onecall resolutions, minimise collections pre-call preparation time, improving reporting and streamlines OTC subprocess; Creating a robust Client Portal for Self Service (e.g. Reprint Invoices, generate statements, make disputes, make ACH payments); Automatic generation of work queues by Customer Segment, by Treatment Methodology, by Risk Class and Specialisation (e.g. Having Collectors who specialise on complex contract collections); Implementing a single OTC productivity platform for managing all aspects of C&C so you are not constantly switching between systems to see the whole picture (e.g.

Eliminating the Alt+Tab daily routine); and having full visibility of the parent/ child hierarchical relationship globally for full exposure visibility.

Methods for Dispute Resolution Cycle-Time Compression (DRC) Collectors do not create disputes or the reasons customers pay short or fail to pay…but collectors are responsible for resolving the disputes and they need a DRC methodology to do it more effectively.

The challenge is, more than 85% of the time, the collector needs to reach out to a sales person, an accounting person, a shipping person, a customer service person,… etc., and they are doing most of these resolution outreaches manually, by phone calls and emails.

14

Phone calls and emails are not scalable, not replicable, not consistent, and not guaranteed to get a reply. Manual processes in general are extremely difficult to track on-going progress through, and typically have no SLA’s or Escalation path except the ones you execute manually. You cannot easily report manual dispute resolution cycles or determine the full-extent of the dispute issues, across your receivables portfolio (especially in parent/child hierarchies)…let alone help eliminate the causes, up-stream, to improve the overall dispute process.

Plus, in order to proactively eliminate chronic recurring dispute issues, you must be able to quantify the frequency and dollar extent of the dispute reason code; where geographically the chronic disputes are occurring; and when, in the order to cash lifecycle, the disputes are occurring are there any systemic causes.

A good DRC system will give you the ability to identify negative trends which could impact collections. Ideally you should be able to: 1) Pre-Identify pending short-pays in your major accounts A/P portals and automatically identify current shortpays in the EDI payment feeds (most companies are not doing this today), and of-course when the collector is on the phone with a customer and then create a dispute case number which you can assign, set SLA’s for and escalate if you do receive a reply; 2) Enable you to dispute 100% of the deductions you are receiving, especially when they come in large batches and low dollar amounts across 10’s, 100’s, or possibly 1000’s of delivery locations for a single order fulfillment.

Achieving 100% portfolio coverage – each 30-day cycle The last item that I will cover in this article is receivables portfolio

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

coverage and how important it is to achieve 100% portfolio coverage (touching every customer with an outstanding balance) every 30 day cycle. As mentioned at the beginning, C&C team members might be responsible for 500 or more customer accounts. Because of this, on average most C&C team members can only effectively engage with 50% of their balance carrying customers.

Most companies have a number of large customers, who generate 70%-80% of the company’s revenue.

Typically, this is somewhere around 20% of the entire (or active) customer base. Commonly the high-dollar customers generate smaller invoice volume, than all of the rest of the active customer combined, let’s call this group the High-Value/LowVolume customers.

That leaves the “rest” of your customer base who represent 20%30% of the company’s revenue. Let’s refer to them as the High-Volume/ Low-Value clients. Clearly when it comes to Segmentation Strategy, Treatment Strategy and Collections Methodology – these two distinct groups need to be handled very differently. Some general observations which you can validate with your customers: 1. More and more High-Dollar customers are demanding that suppliers come into their A/P portals to reconcile payments and adjudicate disputes. This is especially true with customers like Woolworths, Coles, Costco, and now Amazon.

2. High-Dollar customers, like the ones above, will (almost) never go to your customer self service portal to do anything.

3. High-Volume/Low-Value customers will absolutely come to your customer self-service service portal. In fact, the Millennials (people born from 1980 to 2000), and a rapidly growing number of A/P and purchasing personnel,

Credit Management

don’t want a phone call from a collector. They prefer going to a Portal to see their outstanding and pending invoices (sales orders), identify invoice disputes, request a credit increase or make an ACH payment.

So this means you need a way to address High-Dollar customer’s A/P Portals and EDI Payments with automation. At the same time you need to create self-actuating HTML email reminders, which direct lowdollar customers to a robust selfservice portal, so that they can effectively do anything they could do on the phone, with a collector/ credit manager/dispute resolver/ cash applier.

Doing both of these in parallel is the only way you will be able to realise 100% A/R portfolio coverage on a rolling 30-day cycle and maintain zero

head-count growth as your business grows.

Good, available software tools which complement your current system of record (ERP), do not require much support from your IT department, are intuitive and easy to use. Your teams actually adopt and use them, give you the ability to bring together all the bits-and-pieces of customer transactional data on one productivity platform for a single view of customer transactional “truth”. You precise analytics and dashboards that do not require millions of dollars and years of implementation – make this a reality today.

Lastly, and most importantly, the culture of the AR department is one where the workloads vary from crisis to just maximum output available.

Meaning, there is little time, or even less IT or consulting resources, to

proactively improve processes and technology. It is essential that tools delivered to the AR team are highly configurable without the need for either IT or consultants. This is why Excel is still the number one tool used today in AR even in shops that have existing “automation” software. If it takes time, money and or resources, it just does not get done in today’s AR departments. Autonomy from IT and consultants is a key success metric to support a proactive, Lean – Six Sigma approach.

Take the time to explore what is available. *Chris Caparon CEO and VP of Professional Services Cforia Software, www.Cforia.com *Matt White General Manager – EMEA Phone: +44(0)1224 980 432 Email: mwhite@cforia.com

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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Credit Management

The prevention principle

By Paul Burgess*

Paul Burgess

16

If you were to ask ten people what the credit function is you will get ten different answers. Most notably, those answers will be predominately based on some form of collection work. This is true even if the mix of ten people are unskilled or at executive level. It is probably true if ten credit professionals were asked the same question.

Recently, during a lunch with a number of other credit managers, a question was asked, “Do you think Credit Managers are valued by their organisations?” What quickly became a more pressing question was, “is the Credit function understood by organisations?” How can something be valued if it is not understood?

After this lunch, and before my flight was to board, I had a fair bit of time at the airport to think on this topic in depth. I have heard it said by a number of credit managers that their job was to prevent bad debt.

And while I agree this is an important part of the credit function, it seemed to me to be a simplistic view of the world, of the function itself. I believe preventing bad debt is the result of performing the credit function, rather than the basis of the role itself.

So what is the credit function’s role? What do we do?

Putting such a large question into words is quite difficult. The credit function is unique in the organisational universe, as it touches every part of the business on a daily basis. However, it touches parts of the business in different ways at

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

different times. It is because of the scope of these interactions that there is such an array of perceptions about what the credit function is and/or does.

Most people see the activity we call ‘collections’ (efforts to collect payments of amounts already passed due) because it comes with at times a high emotional cost, a biased/ opposite view of the intent from the customers perspective, legal action, and of course, a high level of confrontation on occasion. These are perceived to be negative traits of the function, but also tend to be the loudest or most visible. Interestingly, it may be the lack of the count of these things that make a credit department go unnoticed, adding in some cases to the devaluing of the function because it appears there is little happening when in fact great work is being done. This reduces these perceived negative effects and thus the perception of action. It is a bit like a duck in water; there is a lot of activity that goes unnoticed under the water to move the duck so effortlessly through it. At times, it may appear to simply be floating.

This calm serenity does not remove the fact that the duck’s legs are going like nothing else.

While sitting at the airport I thought over this perceived understanding, that the credit function is no more than a ‘collections’ function, and wondered at all of the other activities that happen in a day that are not directly concerned with collecting. I counted

Credit Management

only twenty percent of my day was directly dedicated to any collections work (although that’s mainly legal and liquidation issues these days).

The majority of my work was knowing my customer, building relationships, working with limits etc in order to move product smoothly within the risk appetite, and reading and deciphering market intelligence on our current/new customers.

It occurred to me that the majority of my time was spent in prevention mode, not only to prevent bad debt, but to prevent collections. The idea being if I could prevent collections I would by default prevent bad debt.

I have always believed that the risk of slow payment was as great if not greater (at times) than the risk of no payment. So the majority of my day is dedicated to ensuring customers have good payment behaviour (through relationship building) and understanding if there is going to be any hurdles to payment so I am able to remove the hurdles before we get to them.

This led me to form a view about the credit function and the

underlying principle: the prevention principle. That is, the credit function is dedicated to the prevention of slow and bad debt. It does this by ensuring the organisation deals with financially healthy customers for as long as they are customers and creates an environment where ‘pay on time’ is the norm.

There are a plethora of actions and variables that go into upholding this principle, and dare I say it, an application of a mix of artistry and science by the credit department personnel. While there are a number of approaches that can be employed to get to the same result, the underlying principle remains constant.

Where there is a full service credit function employed by an organisation, there is the vast majority of activities that work to prevent slow and, by extension, bad debts. It is in this application of the eighty/twenty principle of the credit function that many misunderstandings occur.

It is in the best interests of all credit professionals to get the word out about the value the credit

function gives when applying ‘The Prevention Principle’. It has such a large impact on the lifeblood of the organisation: the cash flow. When this is properly understood by the organisation, then the value craved by credit professionals across the globe will be given freely. Even celebrated.

How much of a difference to the market would there be if all organisations understood the synergy between this underlying principle and their underlying cash position? As credit professionals, we help to shape the market by rewarding good payment behaviour and punishing bad payment behaviour. The more organisations in the market that understand ‘The Prevention Principle’, the more influence credit can have on good payment behaviour and therefore stable and happy markets.

*Paul Burgess BBusCom CPA CMgr FIML MICM CDec Qld National Credit Manager Steelforce Australia Pty Ltd

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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Credit Management

One of the most useful and over-looked credit management tools

By Patrick Coghlan*

Patrick Coghlan

18

Credit professionals use various methods to approve customer applications, manage risk and chase payments. However, one of the most useful tools that they should be using is often forgotten and this tool is business credit monitoring.

We live in an era that enables processes to be automated and streamlined. In addition, continuous advances in digital technology provide an increase in working efficiently and cost-effectively.

Innovative technology has made it easier to manage customer databases, account receivables, marketing, communication and the list goes on and on. So of course, innovative technology has only made credit management easier through online applications, accessing credit reports and ASIC data, and more.

Technology is making it possible to increase customer and supplier lists, but with that comes more to manage.

As databases increase, so does the need to perform due diligence. So why then, are many unaware of a tool that automates due diligence for them? Obsolete are the days when you need to schedule reminders into your diary to review customer’s credit annually or monthly. Most likely, that reminder would have been moved to

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

another day and so on – increasing your chances of missing important changes involving the debtor. Gone are the days when you would have received notice of a customer’s insolvency weeks after it happened.

By then, it could be too late to take action which could have improved your chances of getting paid or avoid worse scenarios.

Armed with the ability to monitor debtors using platforms like CreditorWatch, empowers you to stay on top of bad debt without having to compromise time or miss important changes to circumstances.

There are many different ways that monitoring can be used to highlight potential high-risk customers and assist your credit management, reducing the need for manual work or re-purchasing costly reports.

Business credit monitoring provides the opportunity to monitor who you want 24/7. It’s no news that business credit reports and credit scores are constantly changing, so it’s important to frequently keep track of important alerts and suspicious activity which could affect your customer’s ability to pay on time.

Monitoring will keep track of adverse changes such as court actions, payment defaults, mercantile

Credit Management

inquiries, administrator appointments, ABN/ACN changes, company status changes, director changes and more.

Alerts will also issue insolvency notices as they happen. This is a much better option that waiting for a letter to arrive in the mail weeks after an insolvency occurred.

Another valuable way that businesses can use monitoring is to identify important cross directorships.

Cross directorships often fly under the radar and creditors are unaware that the director of a company who they are doing business with is also the director of one or more other companies. When the director of a company you are monitoring has an adverse action registered against one or more of their companies, this can indicate that you may eventually feel the effects. Past and present director

behaviour is also a great indicator of the future of a business. zz A director with a payment default is 5 times more likely to experience another one zz A director with a court action is 2 times as likely to have another one zz A director with a failed business is 2 times more likely to fail again If a director becomes bankrupt, they can slip through the cracks and still operate even though it is illegal to do so. This can be achieved with slight name or address changes. If there have been insolvencies and the director sets up other companies afterwards, this could be an indication of illegal phoenix activity.

Business credit monitoring is a must. You’re essentially going about your day and allowing innovative technology and data to do the

manual work for you. It also frees you up to implement new plans and policies for dealing with debtors when adverse changes arise. How will you communicate with them? Will payment terms need to be changed?

Having updated action plans in place will also ensure that you can act quickly. At the end of the day, bad debt from a business could have a negative impact on your business.

Monitoring is only ensuring that you perform due diligence in line with the speed of our digital era and there is always room to improve within that space.

*Patrick Coghlan MICM Managing Director, Creditorwatch Ph: 1300 50 13 12 www.creditorwatch.com.au

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March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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Credit Management

“Settled” defaults are no more

By Elsa Markula*

Yes, you read correctly.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has recently advised that, when disclosing payment information for a default, the only permitted payment information is that the default is ‘paid’.

This means that the credit report won’t distinguish between defaults that have been paid in full or settled in part. All defaults, whether paid or settled, will appear as ‘P’ (paid).

ARCA’s four credit reporting body Members (Compuscan, Equifax, Experian and illion) changed all of the entries of ‘S’ codes to ‘P’ codes between 11 and 15 February 2019.

Who was notified of this change?

CRBs processed this change as a ‘correction’ to existing records.

Corrections notifications were provided to the previous recipients of the credit reporting information (this is limited by paragraph 20.9 of the CR Code to other CRBs who have received the information

Elsa Markula

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CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

previously, and also to CPs or affected information recipients who have received the information in the previous 3 months).

Customers were not required to be notified of this change. Each CP can, however, determine whether or not it wishes to advise its customers of the change. Information about this change was included in a blog post on the CreditSmart website (https:// www.creditsmart.org.au/smart-blog/ changes-to-how-paid-defaults-areshown-on-credit-reports/).

What does it mean if I continue to disclose a default is settled?

CRBs are implementing processes so that ongoing disclosures of the ‘S’ code will be changed to the ‘P’ code (in the short term, this will be a manual process – and, in time, this will become an automated process).

However, because the disclosure of the ‘S’ code is now considered unlawful, we will need to ensure that CPs will eventually no longer

Credit Management

be able to make this disclosure.

ARCA will shortly be publishing a new Version of the Australian Credit Reporting Data Standard (ACRDS) which would remove the ‘S’ code as a Default Status. Once published, the implementation timeframe for this new Version could be as much as two years. Nonetheless, we would encourage CPs to update their systems well before this Version change takes effect.

Why has the OAIC only provided this view now?

In mid-2018, a number of ARCA CP Members were the subject of systemic issue complaints by the then-Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) due to the disclosure of the ‘S’ code. FOS had provided a view that such a practice was not lawful.

ARCA wrote to the OAIC seeking confirmation of the position, as well as arguing for the ongoing disclosure of both ‘S’ and ‘P’ codes. In response to this, the OAIC provided its view and sought confirmation as to how ARCA Members would address the issue.

“...when disclosing payment

information for a default, the only permitted payment information is that the default is ‘paid’.”

What does this mean for new arrangement information?

ARCA’s view is that the wording of section 6S of the Privacy Act enables the differentiation between the circumstances of the new arrangement given it is defined as a ‘statement that those terms or conditions of the original consumer credit have been varied, or that the individual has been provided with the new consumer credit’.

At this stage, industry will continue to retain both the N and V codes as Default Statuses.

However, we do note that this distinction between payment information and new arrangement information has been confused within the CR Code, namely

paragraph 10.1(d) which deems the disclosure of a new arrangement to be a type of payment information.

In light of the OAIC’s view that all disclosures under 10.1 of the CR Code should reflect as a ‘P’ (paid) status, ARCA has proposed to remove 10.1(d) from the CR Code.

This proposed variation is included as part of the second tranche of variations to the CR Code, which will be submitted to the OAIC later in March 2019.

*Elsa Markula Legal & Regulatory Affairs Manager ARCA Ph Direct: 03 9863 7863 Email: emarkula@arca.asn.au www.arca.asn.au

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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Legal

It’s a matter of (trust) money (and how to follow the money trail)

Part 3 will be a Masterclass Article where we will dive deeper into the intricacies of Trust Accounting, a checklist of compliance matters, insights into how the principles of handling of trust monies apply to other areas of a debtor’s ledger including any unclaimed monies and credits.

Trust. We’ve all heard of it. The word that is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as: “the firm belief in the reliability, truth or ability of someone or something”.

We are all certain that meaningful personal relationships are built on trust and even professional ones too (who hasn’t heard that old chestnut – “Trust me, I’m a lawyer”?). The law, however, as you might expect, takes a different view of “trust”.

The law defines trust as: “an arrangement whereby a person (a Trustee) holds property as its nominal owner for the good (or benefit) of one or more beneficiaries”.

When we talk about “Trust Money” we are referring to money which is held by one party on behalf of another. This

Natalie Ledlin

Peter Mills

By Natalie Ledlin, Terry Ledlin and Peter Mills* This is Part 1 of a three-part series on Trust Accounting and will cover any business who might deal with trust money (eg mercantile agents), the meanings of trust and trust monies, the circumstances where trust money is governed by legislation and some difficulties that arise with trust monies.

Part 2 of our Trust Accounting series will discuss legislative and formal requirements for operating and maintaining a Trust Account in various States and Territories and some case studies to provide practical wisdom.

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Terry Ledlin

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

Legal

sounds like a pretty simple concept (who hasn’t heard of parents having a trust fund for their children even if it is just a swear jar?) The law imposes heavy duties on Trustees when it comes to Other People’s Money (“OPM”) and so it should.

The History of Trusts When Robin of Loxley (aka “Robin Hood”) went off to fight in the Crusades, he left behind his “estate”, which consisted of castles, money, land, livestock and other property (and a fair maiden later to become a social media starlet). Often, these “Crusaders” would leave their estate in the care of someone who was “trustworthy”, who could be trusted to look after it until they returned. The holder of the estate (the “Trustee”) would hold the estate on behalf of the Crusader (the “Beneficiary”) and account to them for rents, income, profits and any other benefits that had accrued during their absence.

This way, the Beneficiaries property could be managed and dealt with by

“Today we have not only the common law and equity (law that has been developed over many centuries by the Courts) but also legislation (laws made by the Parliament) that determine the obligations and limits of power of trustees.” the Trustee. Creditors of the trustee would not be able to seize the trust property however for personal debts of the trustee. In a similar way, modern trustees must hold money and other trust property for beneficiaries .

Today we have not only the common law and equity (law that has been developed over many centuries by the Courts) but also legislation (laws made by the Parliament) that determine the obligations and limits of power of trustees.

coins and banknotes (although who really carries cash these days?). Trust “money” also extends to the bank accounts accounts payable, and account receivables held by a trustee for a beneficiary.

Trust monies can even cover where there is no formal trust agreement recorded e.g. when you receive money which is specifically payable to your Customer, you are holding “trust money” for the Customer, to be applied to their benefit at a later date.

What is Trust Money?

Trust Accounting Terms

So, we understand the concept of trust now, but what about the concept of money? We are all familiar with

Any person or business that handles money on behalf of, and intended for the specific benefit of another ➤

➤

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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Legal

Term

Meaning

ADI

Authorised deposit taking institution (eg Westpac Bank)

Auditor

A person appointed as an authorised inspector or external examiner of a Trust Account.

Beneficiary

The person with the beneficial ownership of the Trust Money.

Comingle

The mixing of Trust Money held by a Trustee in care for a Beneficiary with the Trustee’s own money, making it difficult to determine which monies belong to the Beneficiary and which monies belong to the Trustee.

Controlled Money

Money received or held by a Trustee person or firm for which the Trustee person or firm has a written direction to deposit the money in an account (other than a general Trust Account) over which the Trustee person or firm has or will have exclusive control eg cash or a cheque intended to be deposited immediately into a term deposit bank account controlled by the trustee, and not into the general Trust Account.

Disbursement

The payment of money from a Trust Account to a third party.

Misappropriation

The unlawful taking of Trust Money for the trustee’s own use or other unauthorised purpose.

Non-Trust Money

Money received by a Trustee that is unrelated to acting as an agent, for example the payment of a bill by the Customer for services previously provided.

Trust Account

The bank account with an ADI used by a Trustee to retain and deal with Trust Money of a Beneficiary.

Transit Money

A type of Trust Money received by a Trustee person or firm which is subject to instructions to pay or deliver that money to a third party (other than an associate of the Trustee person or firm). Eg cash or a bank cheque intended to be delivered to a third party, or paid immediately into a bank account not controlled by the trustee.

Trustee

The person or firm that receives, holds and administers Trust Money for the benefit of a third party (who is often, but not always, their Customer).

Trust Money

Money received by a Trustee for or on behalf of another person in connection with the Trustee’s services which is to be: a) Held by the Trustee exclusively for that person; b) Paid to the person or disbursed as that person directs; c) Retained in a trust account at an ADI until so paid or disbursed.

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CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

person, will normally need to hold that money in a “Trust Account”, separate to any other bank account.

To understand the workings of Trust Accounts, we need to be aware of the accounting language that is commonly used.

What Types of Businesses Manage and Operate Trust Accounts?

Some of the businesses in different industries that manage and operate Trust Accounts (who are each Trustees when dealing with the Trust Money) include: 1. Law firms – Law firms often use Trust Accounts to receive settlement monies on behalf of Clients or funds on account of anticipated fees and out of pocket disbursements (eg anticipated barrister’s fees).

2. Accountants – Accountants often use Trust Accounts to receive and distribute tax refunds from the ATO, or when acting as a liquidator of a Company in Liquidation.

3. Real Estate Agents – Real Estate Agents use Trust Accounts to hold deposits for the sale of property or rental monies received on behalf of a landlord by a tenant.

4. Car Dealerships – Car Dealerships may use a Trust Account where vehicles are sold by them on consignment and the funds are to be paid to the actual owner of the vehicle; 5. Mercantile or Collection Agencies – Mercantile or Collection Agents may use a Trust Account when collecting money owed to their Customers or third parties, such as debts which have been collected, or proceeds from the sale of repossessed property.

As the holder of a Trust Account, the Trustee is required to ensure (amongst other things) that the Trust Monies a) are kept in a separate account and not comingled with

Legal

their own money; b) have proper trust account records maintained at all times; c) are accounted to the beneficiary/client/customer within certain time periods, and d) the Trust Account and the monies are separately identifiable, is reconciled monthly and is audited regularly (usually yearly).

Penalties for Breaches Because Trust Money is involved, there are strict regulatory requirements that, if breached, can lead to fines, penalties, findings of professional misconduct, restrictions or immediate cancellation on being able to continue to operate the trustee’s business, criminal charges and even jail sentences, depending on the circumstances.

The sanctions today have improved markedly since those medieval times where a good public flogging whilst in the stocks was at the minor end of the punishment scale and the loss of a hand or limb and being incarcerated or even hung was only just approaching

the severe end of the scale. Who knew that eventually transportation to a colony like Australia would be considered extremely harsh punishment?

Difficulties Faced When Holding Trust Monies A Trustee who holds Trust Monies needs to be extremely careful to comply with the regulations of operating a Trust Account.

Some of the pitfalls and difficulties faced by businesses with Trust Accounts include: 1. What to do when you receive money that consists of both trust and non-trust money; 2. What to do when you receive an overpayment of trust monies; 3. What to do when you are unable to identify who has paid money into your Trust Account; 4. What to do if you receive more than $10,000.00 in cash to be deposited in your Trust Account; 5. What to do if you receive multiple payments of less than $10,000 in cash to your Trust Account;

6. What to do with Trust Money if the Trustee, the Customer, or other intended beneficiary of the funds, becomes insolvent?

7. When Trust Monies can be accessed or transferred to pay the Trustee for services provided, or disbursements incurred, by the Trustee’s business.

Each industry has different governing bodies and different regulations for dealing with these challenges and these also vary between States and Territories. We will look closer at these regulations in Part 2 of our Trust Accounting Article Series.

*Natalie Ledlin MICM and Terry Ledlin MICM Ledlin Lawyers Ph: 61 2 8488 3389 Email: info@ledlinlawyers.com.au *Peter Mills MICM CCE Special Counsel Thyne & Macartney Ph: 07 3231 8810 Email: pmills@thymac.com.au

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March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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Legal

Till debt do us part

By Mark Harley and Callum Woods* The recent High Court decision in Commissioner for Taxation v Tomaras has brought to public attention provisions of the Family Law Act which allow the court to substitute one spouse for another in relation to their debts.

While she was married, Mrs Tomaras racked up debts of over $250,000 with the Tax Office. When

Mark Harley

Callum Woods

26

Mr Tomaras was declared bankrupt in 2013, Mrs Tomaras commenced proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court for an alteration of their property interests under Family Law. s90AE of the Family Law Act allows the courts to make orders affecting the ‘rights, liabilities or property interests of a third party…’

In the context of the Act, ‘property’ includes debts.

The question put before the High Court was whether the Federal Court had the power under the Family Law Act to make an order substituting Mr Tomaras for his wife as the debtor to the Tax Office.

The majority in the High Court found that the Federal Court does have that power, within certain limits prescribed by s90AE. Whilst Tomaras was a case dealing with debts to the Tax Office, the points raised by the High Court have significance for the credit industry, and business generally.

The case highlights the wideranging powers of the courts to substitute one spouse for another as debtors during the course of Family Law proceedings. A creditor could quite easily find themselves ordered by a court to substitute the other spouse as their debtor. How can a creditor protect themselves in such circumstances?

To begin with, s90AE(3)(b) states that these orders cannot be made if they would result in the debt not being paid in full. Kiefel CJ and Keane J in Tomaras go as far as to suggest that if an order for substitution would even ‘enhance’ the risk of the debt not being paid, it is ‘difficult to see’ how the order could be made.

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

Creditors also have the benefit of s90AE(3)(c), which requires that third parties be accorded procedural fairness, which essentially means they must be notified of the potential change, and given the right to be heard in the application. If a creditor did have reason to believe that a proposed substitution order would result in their debt not being paid, they would be able to become a party to the application and argue against the substitution order.

Whilst Tomaras dealt with an already-existing debt, the sweeping powers of the courts under s90AE to alter ‘rights’ and ‘property interests’ of third parties means that things like personal guarantees could also, potentially, be affected by an order substituting one spouse for another.

Since a guarantee is not an actual debt, the protection of s90AE(3) (b) would not necessarily apply. The procedural fairness requirement, however, would still apply, and thus an affected third party could argue against such an order if it believed it would be against its interests.

Although at first glance, the possibility that debts could be transferred between spouses by the courts could be seen as worrying for those in the credit industry, the limits elucidated by the High Court in Tomaras show that there is little to worry about.

*Mark Harley Principal, Boss Lawyers Email: mharley@bosslawyers.com.au *Callum Woods Law Clerk, Boss Lawyers Ph: 1300 267 711 www.bosslawyers.com.au

Legal

When the failure to lodge a caveat will deprive an earlier interest in land of its priority LTDC Pty Ltd v Cashflow Finance Australia Pty Ltd [2019] NSWSC 150

By Pieter Oomens MICM and Anna Darroch-Dobbie MICM* Summary

Pieter Oomens

In the recent decision of Bunnings Group Pty Ltd v Hanson Construction Materials Pty Ltd & Anor [2017] WASC 132, it was held that the failure to lodge a caveat will not of itself operate to deprive a prior equitable interest of its priority status. The subsequent charge holder was the first in time to lodge a caveat but – critically – when it assumed the right that would give rise to a charge it had not conducted any title search.

In the recent decision of LTDC v Cashflow the Supreme Court of New South Wales has given guidance as to those circumstances where a failure by a party to lodge a caveat will operate to displace the ‘first in time’ rule.

Background

Anna Darroch-Dobbie

LTDC v Cashflow concerned a priority dispute between two lenders who obtained unregistered interests in land (the ‘Property’) which was subsequently sold with the proceeds held in trust pending resolution of the dispute.1 The plaintiff (‘LTDC’) acquired its interest in the subject land at a later date than the defendant (‘Cashflow’). Having acquired its

interest, LTDC lodged a caveat.

Subsequent to that, Cashflow lodged its caveat. The main issue for determination was whether the delay of Cashflow in lodging its caveat had the consequence that its interest should be postponed to that of LTDC’s interest.2

Cashflow’s interest Cashflow entered into an Invoice Finance Facility Deed (the ‘Facility’) with Madebra Enterprises Pty Ltd (‘Madebra’) on 10 January 2017.

Two directors of Madebra were guarantors of the Facility.3 The Facility contained a clause granting Cashflow a security interest in certain debts of Madebra, and Cashflow registered its interest on the Personal Property Security Interests Register (‘the PPSR’). The Facility also contained charging clauses pursuant to which Madebra and the guarantors granted Cashflow a charge over their interests in real or any personal property held now or in the future. The charges granted by the guarantors extended to the Property which the guarantors owned as joint-tenants.4 It was not Cashflow’s practice to lodge caveats against the real ➤

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Legal

property of customers or guarantors of facilities unless and until the customer defaulted or otherwise breached the terms and conditions of its facility. As a result, Cashflow did not lodge a caveat until 24 November 2017, after Madebra had breached the terms of the Facility.5

LTDC’s interest On 29 March 2017, LTDC was approached to provide a loan to Madebra. The loan was to be guaranteed by the same two directors who had guaranteed the Facility, and they were to provide a mortgage over the Property.6 During the negotiation stage and prior to the loan funds being

advanced on 13 April 2017, LTDC conducted title searches in respect of the Property, which revealed that there were no mortgages or other security interests noted on the title apart from a mortgage in favour of Pepper Finance Corporation Pty Ltd. LTDC also conducted some searches to make an assessment regarding the value of the Property.7 LTDC did not make enquiries regarding the financial capacity of Madebra to repay the loan, as it had considered that as it was expecting to be paid out from a specific asset or an asset of a guarantor it was not relevant to look at the company’s financial performance.8 LTDC also did not undertake PPSR searches in relation

“LTDC did not make enquiries regarding the financial capacity of Madebra to repay the loan, as it had considered that as it was expecting to be paid out from a specific asset or an asset of a guarantor it was not relevant to look at the company’s financial performance.”

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CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

to Madebra, as the primary security for the loan was the Property and searches had been undertaken in respect of it instead.9 LTDC believed, based on title searches, that its interest ranked second in terms of priority to that of the first registered mortgagee and it was satisfied that the loan to value ratio was within LTDC’s acceptable parameters. It argued that, if it had had notice of Cashflow’s purported interest in the Property it would not have advanced the funds under the loan.10 Madebra eventually defaulted on repayment of the loan and it was proposed the Property be sold. LTDC became aware of the caveat lodged

by Cashflow on or about 1 March 2018.11

The arguments of the parties LTDC argued that Cashflow’s interest in Property should be postponed due to Cashflow’s failure to lodge a caveat before LTDC acquired its interest, which had led LTDC to acquire its interest on the

Legal

premise that there was no prior interest in the Property other than that secured by the first registered mortgage.12 Cashflow submitted that the decision not to immediately lodge a caveat was in accordance with an established practice in the invoice financing industry. It further argued that LTDC should not have assumed there were no unregistered interests in the Property and should have conducted PPSR searches and undertaken enquiries concerning the financial position of Madebra.13

terms of the Facility or the charge granted in favour of Cashflow by the two directors. Whilst the Court noted those searches might have yielded information that would have suggested the prudence of further enquiries about the financial position of Madebra, LTDC was not reasonably required to focus on that matter.18 Cashflow’s failure to lodge a caveat had allowed Madebra to represent to LTDC, when attempting to obtain the loan from LTDC, that the Property was not subject to a charge in favour of Cashflow.19

Reasoning and decision

Is there a unifying principle?

The Court considered various authorities on the topic of priority,14 and ultimately found in favour of LTDC, making orders to the effect that the entire amount held in trust be paid to it.15 In reaching its decision, the Court confirmed that in a priority dispute a court will have regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the circumstances in which the respective equitable interests were acquired.16 After consideration of all the circumstances of the present case, the Court accepted that LTDC had acted appropriately in focussing on the adequacy of the Property to act as security, rather than in looking at the financial position of Madebra prior to advancing the loan funds.17 The Court noted that, in the circumstances, LTDC had not acted unreasonably or incautiously by not undertaking assessments of the financial position of Madebra, such as by searching the PPSR, because a search of the PPSR would not have revealed the

One might ask: can this case be reconciled with Bunnings v Hanson?

The answer is in the affirmative. In Bunnings v Hanson, at the time of acquiring the right to assert the interest of a charge holder (once the subject property came into the hands of the debtor) Bunnings had not carried out any searches. It thus did not rely upon the state of the title register at that time. It is true that later when it altered trading terms with the debtor it did do a search and did not see any reference to Hanson’s interest and it did lodge the caveat but by that time it had already acquired its right to a charge. In LTDC v Cashflow, it was immediately before LTDC acquired its interest in the Property that it searched the title register. It relied on the absence of the disclosure of any interest on the register other than that of the registered mortgagee to acquire its own interest. Critically, one looks at the conduct of the parties at the time of acquisition of the right to claim a charge.

“The Court noted that, in the circumstances, LTDC had not acted unreasonably or incautiously by not undertaking assessments of the financial position of Madebra, such as by searching the PPSR...”

Summary This case will have significant consequences in the commercial space, putting greater pressure on creditors to consider: zz undertaking property title searches before entering into those agreements containing charging clauses; and zz acting sooner to register caveats.

One thing is certain: obtaining credit will get tougher.

*Pieter Oomens Managing Partner TurksLegal T: 02 8257 5709 E: pieter.oomens@turkslegal.com.au *Anna Darroch-Dobbie Lawyer TurksLegal T: 02 8257 5714 E: anna.darroch-dobbie@turkslegal.com.au

FOOTNOTES: 1

LTDC Pty Ltd v Cashflow Finance Australia Pty Ltd [2019] NSWSC 150 (‘Judgment’) [1].

2

Judgment at [2]

3

Judgment at [4]

4

Judgment at [5]-[6]

5

Judgment at [7]-[8]

6

Judgment at [13]

7

Judgment at [14]-[26]

8

Judgment at [34].

9

Judgment at [35]

10 LTDC Pty Ltd v Cashflow Finance Australia Pty Ltd [2019] NSWSC 150 [30] 11

Judgment at [31]-[33]

12 Judgment at [39] 13 Judgment at [40] 14 Judgment at [41]-[45], citing Butler v Fairclough (1917) 23 CLR 78, J & H Just (Holdings) Pty Ltd v The Bank of New South Wales (1971) 125 CLR 546; Personto-Person Financial Services Pty Ltd v Sharari [1984] 1 NSWLR; Double Bay Newspapers Pty Ltd v A W Holdings Pty Ltd (1996) 42 NSWLR 409; Heid v Reliance Finance Corporation Pty Ltd (1983) 154 CLR 326.

15 Judgment at [68].

16 Judgment at [46] 17 Judgment at [56]-[58] 18 Judgment at [59].

19 Judgment at [64]

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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Insolvency

Loans versus gifts bankruptcy and death – Why should a loan be documented?

By Bruce Gleeson*

Bruce Gleeson

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During the twenty-five (25) years experience and counting that I have had in administering bankruptcy matters, the issues in identifying whether monies provided to a bankrupt by a family member or friend are a loan or a gift will largely be determined by the facts and importantly documentation at hand (collectively called the evidence). Much like watching a CSI program, the Bankruptcy Trustee will be guided in making their decision with reference to the evidence. In a bankruptcy matter that I am presently administering, an issue arose where the Bankrupt was claiming that his father was an unsecured creditor of the Bankrupt Estate for about $50,000. Whilst on the face of it, that sounds straight forward, it was then complicated by the following facts: 1. The Bankrupt was declared bankrupt by an Order made in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. His main liabilities related to unpaid credit cards and tax debts.

2. The Bankrupt was a director of a number of companies. These companies experienced financial difficulties and were placed into Liquidation.

3. The Bankrupt had not listed his father as a creditor in the Statement of Affairs (“SOA”) when submitted to me. The SOA is a document that a bankrupt is required to complete and details amongst other information, the bankrupt’s assets and liabilities. Whilst this was not fatal, it was an important factor in considering whether the Bankrupt actually believed the monies provided were a gift as opposed to a loan.

4. The father passed away shortly after the bankruptcy commenced and the Bankrupt’s mother had pre-deceased his father.

5. The Bankrupt was one of three siblings named in the Will of the father as a beneficiary. The main assets of the Deceased Estate of the father were a residential property worth about $650,000 and monies in a bank account totalling about $20,000. Consequently, the assets of the Deceased Estate totalled $670,000 of which the Bankrupt Estate’s share was one-third or approximately about $223,000. The Bankrupt was initially the Executor of the Deceased Estate, however due to the bankruptcy he renounced his role as Executor and his two remaining siblings assumed the executorial role in a joint and several capacity.

6. Such purported loan had not been disclosed in the application for Probate.

7. The Bankrupt Estate’s share in the Deceased Estate arose by virtue of Section 116(1)(a) of the Bankruptcy Act, 1966 (“the Act”) which says, “all property that belonged to, or was vested in, a bankrupt at the commencement of the bankruptcy, or has been acquired or is acquired by him or her, OR HAS DEVOLVED OR DEVOLVES ON HIM OR HER, AFTER THE COMMENCEMENT

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

Insolvency

OF THE BANKRUPTCY AND BEFORE HIS OR HER DISCHARGE”. As the father passed away after the commencement of bankruptcy and before the Bankrupt’s discharge it therefore becomes an asset of the bankruptcy.

8. During the course of the assets of the Deceased Estate being realised, the Executors also asserted that the Deceased Estate was owed an amount of $50,000 from the Bankrupt. The Executors were also seeking to offset the amount asserted to be owed from any distribution to the Bankrupt Estate under Section 86 of the Act. 9. We had to consider: a. Why the Bankrupt did not disclose the amount asserted to be owed in his SOA? He said that he didn’t expect his father to pass away this early and that he wanted to “keep it quiet” or just between the two of them and further that he still intended to pay his father back after discharge from bankruptcy anyway. b. Why the amount indicated to be owing wasn’t disclosed in the application for Probate. We were informed that the Bankrupt had not told his brothers about the amount owed. c. As the father was deceased we were not able to corroborate any of the Bankrupt’s version of events. d. Of relevance was that further investigation showed that the Bankrupt has been involved in a company that had been placed into external administration shortly after the monies were provided.

Consequently, a concern we had was whether the monies were provided to the company or the Bankrupt directly. This is important because if the monies had been provided to the company, then the Deceased Estate needed to look to the external administrators of the company for any redress. e. No bank records were able to be produced by the Executors to show that the monies were in fact paid directly to the Bankrupt. Equally, the Bankrupt was not able to produce documentation confirming that the monies had been received into his bank account.

Even if however, such bank records could have been provided, it still would not have been definitive as to whether the monies provided were a loan as opposed to a gift. On this score, the Bankrupt confirmed that there was never any formalisation by way of a letter or agreement that the monies were to be treated as a loan. f. The above evidence led us to reject the claim of the Deceased Estate in the bankruptcy and therefore it will not receive any dividend distribution. So, it isn’t an ideal outcome for the family.

Some readers may think that the ability of a bankrupt estate to have an interest in a deceased estate to be unfair. Whilst this is understandable, the Act under

“As we appear to be entering a period where there may be increasing calls on parents for funding (think pre-payment of school fees and is it a loan or some part of a future inheritance), we need to be prepared to properly discuss it and document it.”

Section 116 does provide for it as at the commencement of the bankruptcy and at any time before the bankrupt is discharged from bankruptcy (which is typically three (3) years from the time their SOA is filed). It should be noted that the reduction in the period of bankruptcy is presently before the Senate whereby it is quite likely to be reduced from 3 to 1 year (refer to my previous articles).

The lack of documentation is critical if there is to be a strong argument in support of the fact that the monies provided were a loan as opposed to a gift. Whilst this may sound obvious, it is about ensuring that expectations are clear and that there is an education process in advance of such need. It doesn’t only absolutely clarify the lender’s position in a bankruptcy scenario, but also contemplates the case of relationship breakdowns of family members – if it can’t reasonably be concluded that it is a loan, then it will be considered as part of the couple’s assets and assessed accordingly for settlement purposes. So, a loan document is vital as is evidence that the monies have actually been advanced and received. As to the precise form such document should take, there are varied opinions, however, it should at a minimum set out the total monies advanced, term of the loan (i.e. interest rate and period) and repayment terms/schedule.

As we appear to be entering a period where there may be increasing calls on parents for funding (think prepayment of school fees and is it a loan or some part of a future inheritance), we need to be prepared to properly discuss it and document it. In certain situations, the lenders may need to check with their financial advisor about any other potential impacts.

Whilst the main part of this article has discussed the perils of loans and gifts in the context of a bankruptcy, it is worthy of a much broader discussion as noted and when the subject comes up next within families we should not shy away from having a sensible discussion about it and how it all gets documented.

*Bruce Gleeson Principal Jones Partners, Insolvency & Business Recovery Ph: 02 9251 5222, Email: bgleeson@jonespartners.net.au www.jonespartners.net.au www.brucegleeson.com.au

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Insolvency

“The numbers never lie” ... or do they?

The role of professional scepticism in our world

By Andrew Spring*

Double entry bookkeeping, and the pure bliss of a “world” in balance. For the majority of accountants, there is no source of greater joy than seeing the numbers balance; or frustration when the synergy eludes them. Credit professionals, whilst perhaps not as weirdly obsessed by the numbers, will at least concur that the perfectly reconciled ledger is a “happy place”. But is it true, that the numbers never lie?

In a world where data is the new oil, there is an ever increasing need to maintain a level of professional scepticism in our day-to-day. In this digital age, there is more information available to assess credit worthiness, detect fraud or assess the changing needs of customers. But, sifting through the enormous amounts of data to identify trends, patterns and relationships can require significant time and patience.

Example 1.

Let’s review the following example from a recent insolvency appointment: Upon undertaking an investigation as part of an external administration of a company, the following facts were presented: zz Year-end accounts for 2016 – 2018: {{ recurring reported losses for each period totalling $750K {{ significant working capital deficiency – current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) of less than 0.2 for all periods; indicating a lack of liquid assets to meet liabilities as they fell due. zz Balance sheet deficiency of approximately $1M upon appointment zz Realisable assets under $100K Initial assessment – the company was hopelessly insolvent throughout the period investigated (and likely from incorporation), with potential breaches of directors’ duties under: zz sec 180 – Care and Diligence; zz sec 588G – Insolvent Trading.

Andrew Spring

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Insolvency

However, after a closer look at the financial accounts and creditors list, it was apparent that: zz the company’s business had significant capital start-up costs, which were funded by related parties; zz the overhead structure was largely fixed, limiting the directors ability to scale down the business when forecast sales were not achieved; zz third party creditors equated for a combined total of 8% of the deficiency; zz the appointment crystallised contingent lease liabilities amounting to 12% of the deficiency; zz the remaining 80% of the deficiency was liabilities to related parties that had provided financial support to the company since inception; zz once the related party financial support was withdrawn, the directors appointed an external administrator immediately; zz the total third party creditor claims equated to less than one month’s costs of goods sold Subsequent assessment – whilst clearly insolvent but for the support from the group, the conduct of the directors was unlikely to breach the obligations of sec 180 or sec 588G.

The purpose of considering this example is to demonstrate the need for further scrutiny of the facts to determine the truth behind the information being presented. Often the data can present contradictory information and it is incumbent on us to bring a questioning mind to these anomalies to discover the truth. A reliance on manicured reports without an understanding of the source of the information is fraught with danger.

Example 2 In a further example, recently we viewed a credit agency report on a company, which showed: zz the company had been incorporated and registered for GST for over 2 years zz there had been numerous credit enquiries made during that period zz there were no court actions zz there were no payment defaults zz the credit score was in the “low risk” range Initial assessment – there are no red flags to suggest that the company was not worthy of further consideration for credit terms. Upon closer assessment, it was discovered: zz the company had not traded during the preceding two years; zz the company did not have any assets zz the company had no working capital zz the company was utilising a related entity, with a very similar name, to demonstrate a trading history Further assessment – a further investigation into the “group”; consideration of guarantees; reassessment of credit terms and limits.

This example demonstrates two elements where a misunderstanding can arise. A “clean skin” start-up does not necessarily mean that the company has only recently been incorporated. A reliance on credit scores alone for a company, even one that appears to have been trading for over two years may not “arm” you with all the facts. And secondly, the digital world can be a world of “smoke and mirrors”. Finding a website, with a similar name and address, does not necessarily mean that it belongs to the company or forms a part of its business operations.

In the fast moving, data rich environment of business today, sometimes we need to embrace our inner accountant (as scary as that may be) and bring our professional scepticism to the fore. “If the itch is there, scratch it” … speak with your customers, peers and advisors so that you can see the full picture when making recommendations or decisions. *Andrew Spring Partner, Jirsch Sutherland, Ph 1300 265 753, Email: AndrewS@jirschsutherland.com.au

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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Leadership and High Performance

Recruitment challenges to solve for your credit department in 2019

By Sarah Bolster*

As we’ve kicked off the new year many Credit Managers are reviewing their staffing needs and ascertaining what type of employee they will need during 2019. The start of a new year is also notorious for staff turnover with many coming back from holidays committed to their dream of a new career, interstate move or simply, just a change of pace. As you now need to focus on reactive hiring it tends to mean you have very little time to focus on strategic hiring for your team.

So, what challenges will you be facing this year when hiring for your Credit Department and what are some solutions?

Competition for talent

Sarah Bolster

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In previous years we have seen organisations recruit who they want/ need based on demand, but as we head into 2019 it is clear to see that we are now working in a candidate driven market where they hold the power. Organisations are being scrutinised on culture, salary, work/ life balance perks and career growth, now more than ever. It is worth the effort to ask yourself the questions...

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

How does your organisation compare to competitors? If you were looking for the job, would you pick your company?

The solution? zz Make social media work for you. A targeted LinkedIn recruitment campaign or specialised search can find you exactly the candidate you want. All you have to do then is start the conversation! zz Be willing to offer more, and not necessarily in wages. If you have found the candidate you want, but they are happily working for another organisation you have to be willing to think outside the box in terms of how you can secure their employment. For most people in a time short world giving them a non-monetary value is what will cause them to shift. Think more holidays, onsite parking, flexible working conditions or part time hours. zz Show your heart. Never more than now have workers been more motivated by social causes. You can stand out from competitors by showing how

Leadership and High Performance

your organisation donates and/ or participates in social causes that hold a lot of personal meaning. zz Network! Use your current social and professional networks to get in touch with the type of people you would like to work for you. zz Internal referrals. Ask your key talent who they know that could do the job.

Delayed internal process You’ve met the perfect Credit Controller for your Department.

They tick all the right boxes – great skills, great personality and they’re seeking a salary which is in your budget. You then can’t get an offer out to them quick enough due to a convoluted internal process.

The solution? zz Work collaboratively with your HR Department. Make sure you haven’t kicked off the process before formal approval has been given to hire the headcount, work with them to streamline processes so you can move through the recruitment journey swiftly, knowing that once the final interview is completed you can put an offer out quickly. zz Data Analysis Tools: There are many recruitment analytics tools which can support you and

your HR Department through a recruitment process which help highlight the areas which require a faster turnaround. It might be that candidates have to wait too long to sit a psychometric or medical test or that your final stage interview takes too long to lock in because the candidate needs to wait to meet with an ED. zz Candidate expectations: Outline the recruitment process from the start to manage the candidate’s expectations.

The introduction of AI tools for candidate sourcing AI Tools are still quite new within the recruitment landscape but are definitely shaking up the way we hire. When working well they can bring massive benefits to an organisation such as unbiased sourcing which ensures your team culture is diverse and by simply scanning cv’s they will cut down the amount of time you need to spend sourcing and screening candidates.

Unfortunately, many candidates aren’t professional cv writers and tend to miss out information that would be very relevant for you. It tends to be through conversation that you will find out the candidate has worked with a certain age of debt or a particular computer system.

The solution?

If your organisation is starting to introduce AI Tools to scan candidate cv’s make a note on your advertisement that you would like candidates to mention in their cv certain points which are relevant for your requirement. This will ensure you’re getting the best out of your AI tool and frankly, it will show if a candidate can follow instructions!

AI has been adopted by companies including Amazon, Intel and Hilton and can be a useful tool for standardised jobs but finding the right talent with the right attitude, communication skills, negotiation skills and the ability to strike a rapport with the toughest of clients is more challenging. The human aspect of recruitment will always be an important part of sourcing great talent for credit teams.

As Hiring Managers, you certainly have your work cut out for you!

Recruiting can be tough in any environment but planning ahead will ensure you can move through the process smoothly and hire great Talent for your team!

*Sarah Bolster Managing Director SB Recruitment Ph: 02 9002 5000 or 02 9251 2505 Email: sbolster@sbrecruitment.com.au sbrecruitment.com

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

35

Debt Collection

Skip Tracing facts and fantasies, plus Roy Orbison...

By Steve Wallis* Given the ease of access to online data and social media, it seems everyone thinks they can skip trace.

In saying that, it is now heaps easier for anyone with basic computer skills to connect with and locate information on people. But so what?

Well, considering that most Skip Tracing is conducted for legal and recovery purposes, it’s critical you ensure the skip tracers you work with can guarantee and stand solid behind their results.

So here are a few key Facts and Fantasies surrounding the art of Skip Tracing.

Hit Rates: You will often see skip 1 tracing companies spruiking hit rates of 90% plus. Whilst this may be

possible with some clients’ files, it is not remotely possible on all.

So we call FANTASY on this.

All clients are different: Of course, every client is different irrespective of industry.

The service you provide on a daily basis is often structured to meet your client’s needs, and often with different outcomes. Skip tracing is no different.

The same basic investigation often yields different results based on the information the client provides.

So Skip tracers need to be flexible and responsive. FACT.

2

It’s down to the quality of the tracers, not the data: There are numerous types of data sources that can be accessed publicly by anyone.

But it’s the data sources you pay for that are often the key to any Skip Tracing investigation. The key factor here is the skip tracer being able to interpret the data and deliver it to you in mutual formats. With courts now allowing more alternative methods of service via orders, it is even more important that you engage a Skip Tracer who can deliver the information in a format acceptable to the courts. FACT.

3

Time restraints: Clients often ask for turnaround times. This may be for very good reasons, like impending court dates, and so on.

4

Steve Wallis

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CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

The issue is, do you want to find someone or not? Some files can often be over two years old before your investigator gets to see them. So if you want a quick turnaround, then you get what you deserve – a rushed job and below average results. I am sure your clients will be happy to be patient if it helps the case or recovery results. We call FANTASY on time restraints.

Anything you got, we want it…’ Roy Orbison was almost right. If you have information on your files on a person of interest, then please share it with your Skip Tracing team. Don’t hold anything back, even if you consider it irrelevant. It may just turn out to be that small piece in the puzzle that brings the whole investigation together. We appreciate it can’t be helped sometimes, but there is nothing more frustrating to any investigator or Skip Tracer than to receive a crucial piece of information after completing a file. FACT.

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So what’s the message in all this?

Just don’t go it alone. Engage a professional. You’ll be grateful you did.

*Steve Wallis Managing Director SWA Recovery & Investigation Ph: 1300 557 864 Email: steve@swagroup.net.au

Debt Collection

Collaboration the key to timely strata levy payments

By Terry Kemp*

Terry Kemp

Debt recovery remains a challenge for businesses, including strata properties who have a tough time when it comes to collecting levies. So expertise in debt collection makes all the difference for owners corporations of strata properties to ensure strata levies are collected in full and on time.

With more people choosing to live in strata buildings, the onus is on owners corporations to work closely with debt collection agencies to reduce the risk of levies being in arrears.

Over the past few years, there has been a 30 per cent reduction in unpaid levies from strata property owners who are referred to debt collection agencies.

Our data indicates now, just 1.5 per cent of lot owners are referred to debt collection over a 12-month period. This is down from the previous average figure of five per cent of lot owners referred to debt collection from levies being late. Very few cases end up in court. Just 15 per cent of property owners who have been engaged in debt collection face legal action.

One reason why more property owners are paying their levies on time is because more strata properties are

working with niche debt recovery partners to help improve their cash flow. This is giving owners’ corporations not just access to sound debt collection, but also a raft of other services, for instance specialist lawyers and negotiators.

Technology makes all the difference Although most property owners pay their levies on time, there will always be a small proportion that are late or don’t pay at all. Technology and automation can make it as easy as possible for property owners to pay.

Tools such as self-service portals, mobile apps with reminders and flexible payment options all make it easier for property owners to pay their levies. A tech-savvy debt collection partner goes the extra mile to provide owners corporations with customised and timely reports with key insights that will make improve decision making and enhance the strata living experience.

Tips for debt-free strata living zz Debt collection specialists can be actively involved with owners’ corporations by attending ➤

“Although most property owners pay their levies on time, there will always be a small proportion that are late or don’t pay at all.”

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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Debt Collection

committee meetings to get a first-hand account of levy related issues. zz Where property owners are unable to make levy payments on a quarterly basis, debt collection specialists can bridge the gap by discussing different options with the strata committee. This may include negotiating for the owner to make smaller, more frequent payments. However, more frequent payment processing may increase admin costs for the building, which should be discussed with the owners’ corporation.

zz Disputes do not negate a property owner from their obligations to pay their levies by the due date.

Not paying them may further impede the dispute resolution process. zz Property owners who are in arrears should be encouraged to acknowledge reminder notices or demands from debt collectors and respond to any letters from the owners’ corporation as soon as possible to discuss how to move forward. zz Property owners who are having financial difficulties should be

“Over the past few years, there has been a 30 per cent reduction in unpaid levies from strata property owners being referred to debt collection agencies.”

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CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

encouraged to contact the strata manager or the owners’ corporation’s executive committee as soon as possible, so they’re not counted as defaulters. Even if certain exceptions are made on a case to case basis, they should also understand all future levies will still need to be paid by the due date.

Case in point The following case study demonstrates how important it is to engage early with late paying property owners and take a collaborative approach to dealing with owners’ corporations.

In this example, the customer was a large owners’ corporation on the NSW North Coast, which was having great difficulty collecting substantial unpaid levies from a number of lot

Debt Collection

owner investors living in Australia and also overseas.

Some owners had left their apartments vacant, while others were tenanted.

The executive committee had spent a substantial amount of money engaging lawyers to resolve the situation without any return. The situation was so bad it was beginning to affect the building’s capacity to meet its financial obligations. The property required funds quickly.

We adopted a problem-solving approach to helping the customer achieve timely levy collections. Our team located and contacted the investor lot owners, explained the ramifications of an insolvent owners corporation and mediated matters amiably.

This consultative approach ensured the owners paid the overdue levies immediately, assisting to restore the building’s cash flow.

Strata living on the rise Recent research shows more than nine per cent of Australians live in a strata or community-titled dwelling, with the sector predicted to grow by more than 10 per cent over the next 15 to 25 years.

Additionally, 40 per cent of all new dwellings are apartments or units. This trend is expected to increase as Millennials prefer the convenience of apartment living over houses.

With strata living on the rise, timely levy collection is more important than ever – this is especially the case with older buildings that will require more maintenance and upkeep and even special levies over time, as well as for the growing number of new apartments being built.

The challenge for debt collectors working with owners’ corporations is to maintain the relationship with the defaulted lot owner. This is especially important because the lot owner in default could also be on the owners’ corporation executive committee and, therefore, also a be client now or become one in the future.

So, the need for strata managers, owners’ corporations and debt collection specialists to continue to work collaboratively will only increase over time.

Terry Kemp General manager and director Kemps Petersons E: terry@kpr.com.au T (02) 8216 0487 www.kpr.com.au

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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aicm Training News The benefits of employee training and development Following a leader that cannot lead.

The problem with bad management is that it has a negative impact on the entire business and company. If the employees don’t feel like they can communicate effectively with management, a lot of problems and issues will never come to light. An effective leader should be open to listen to his/her employees and should actively try to find solutions.

A great leader is someone who doesn’t see themselves as ranking higher than their fellow workers, but rather as an extension of the group. A bad leader cannot lead workers in becoming successful or even great at what they do – if they do not set the example and offer solutions by being easy to relate to and have practical problem solving skills. A great leader will also recognise the needs of the group by implementing development programs and training sessions, not only to develop each employee, but to further develop themselves.

The benefits of providing training for your employees.

Employees will never see the further development of their skills as something negative. Even if it might mean they have to put in extra hours to participate in courses that are designed to enhance their work life. Sometimes it is necessary for a leader to get in experts to ensure the optimum growth and development of its company. This is something that every business, no matter what size, should be considering. A leader’s success is measured by the

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success of their employees, as the saying goes:

“You are only as strong as your weakest link”.

Let us take a look at some of the benefits of employee training and development: zz Increased productivity It is only natural that training and development will lead to increased productivity. Not only will your staff be able to do more and understand more, but they will have gained confidence within their tasks because their skills are developed. If you have recognised a leader within the group and addressed this, they will surely try and impress you to achieve a desired role within the organisation. zz Uncover employee potential It is unfortunately the case in some companies that they are overlooking hidden leaders within their work

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

force. Some employees might be yearning for a leadership role within the business, but because there are no development programs in place, these individuals don’t get the chance to prove their ability or further develop these hidden skills.

Allowing your employees to attend training programs might help you spot the leaders of tomorrow within your current work force. Some individuals just need someone to believe in them, and developing the skills of your workers will show them that you are investing in this belief. zz Out with the old Training your employees will give them the chance to understand the latest developments and trends within your industry. Whether it is new machinery or new social media tools, the world is constantly developing. If you help your employees keep pace with these changes you will definitely set yourself apart from your

aicm Training News competition. Learning to use new tools and develop new strategies will allow your staff to take on more challenging work and even higher roles within the business. zz Less confrontation Within a team setting you can address the problems that your employees might be having. Give each individual, regardless to their role within company, the chance to voice their opinions. Work place confrontation will be decreased this

way since the employees will be aware of the fact that they can share their problems at the next workshop or development session – and even the period in between them.

These sessions will also allow the employees to relax and discuss ways of lower stress within the workplace.

Less confrontation will also help with stress management. zz Revise your vision and goals Share with your employees the long term goals that your company is

trying to achieve. Remind your work force what the goals are and how you want to drive the desired results.

Also include how the company’s success will benefit each and every individual within the business.

AICM offers different training and development opportunities for your staff, from 1/2 day Toolboxes and Workshops and online and face to face accredited training. To find out more about training opportunities email aicm@aicm.com.au or phone 1300 560 996.

Recent graduates FNS40115 Certificate IV in Credit Management

FNS51515 Diploma of Credit Management

Adrienne Mills – VIC

Susan Jacobs – QLD Gail Molloy – QLD Raymon Harris – QLD

Statement of Attainments Roanne Yumul

NSW

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

Jung Kim

NSW

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

VIC

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

Kevin Dineen

VIC

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

Mike Kenny

WA

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

Shirley Fernandes

NSW

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

Michelle Stubbs

TAS

FNSCRD403 Manage and recover bad and doubtful debts, FNSCUS402 Resolve disputes, FNSCRD405 Manage overdue customer accounts, BSBCUS403 Implement customer service standards, BSBCMM301 Process customer complaints, BSBCUE203 Conduct customer engagement

David Thompson

VIC

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

Tarissa Elmer

SA

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

Melissa Mc Pherson

VIC

FNSCRD501 Respond to personal insolvency situations

Peter Jimmieson

QLD

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

Rebecca Hoang

Jenny Yuen

SA

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

Avinash Prakash

NSW

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

Willem Weideman

QLD

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

Geraldine Damaschino

NSW

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

Brendan Herlihy

VIC

FNSCRD502 Manage factoring and invoice discounting arrangements

Elizabeth Morris

QLD

FNSCRD401 Assess credit applications

Michael Lee

NSW

FNSCRD401 Assess credit applications

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

41

aicm Training News 2019 April to June Face to Face Training Calendar – MELBOURNE, BRISBANE, SYDNEY AND PERTH Melbourne: 10th April – Developing Policies and Procedures (C,D) (1 Day Program) 11th April – Manage and Recover Bad and Doubtful Debts (C,4) (1 Day Program)

13th June – How to Respond to Corporate Insolvency Situations (C,D) – (1 Day Program) 14th June – Understanding Bankruptcy Workshop (Half Day Program)

16th April – Fundamentals of Credit Toolbox (Half Day Program)

Sydney:

7th May – Collect with Confidence Toolbox (Half Day Program)

9th April – Introduction to Corporate Insolvency Workshop (Half Day Program)

21st May – Understanding Credit Risk Toolbox (Half Day Program) 22nd & 23rd May – Manage Factoring and Invoice Discounting Arrangements (E,D) – (2 Day Program) 19th June – How to Manage People Performance (E,D) (1 Day Program) 20th June – How to Respond to Corporate Insolvency Situations (C,D) – (1 Day Program)

16th April –Fundamentals of Credit Toolbox (Half Day Program) 17th April – Developing Policies and Procedures (1 Day Program) 18th April – Manage and Recover Bad and Doubtful Debts (1 Day Program) 7th May – Collect with Confidence Toolbox (Half Day Program) 15th & 16th May – Manage Factoring and Invoice Discounting Arrangements (E,D) – (2 Day Program) 17th May – Understanding Financial Hardship (Half Day Program)

Brisbane: 4th April – Understanding Credit Risk (Half Day Program) 16th April – Fundamentals of Credit Toolbox (Half Day Program) 7th May – Collect with Confidence Toolbox (Half Day Program) 8th & 9th May – Manage Factoring and Invoice Discounting Arrangements (E,D) – (2 Day Program) 10th May – Understanding Financial Hardship (Half Day Program)

21st May – Understanding Credit Risk Toolbox (Half Day Program) 5th June – How to Manage People Performance (E,D) (1 Day Program) 6th June – How to Respond to Corporate Insolvency Situations (C,D) – (1 Day Program) 7th June – Understanding Bankruptcy Workshop (Half Day Program)

21st May – Understanding Credit Risk Toolbox (Half Day Program)

Perth:

12th June – How to Manage People Performance (E,D) (1 Day Program)

16th April – Collect With Confidence Credit Toolbox (Half Day Program)

Table of Explanation: C = Core Unit E = Elective Unit D = Diploma 4 = Certificate IV

Important Information: You do not have to be a current AICM student undertaking a full qualification to attend any AICM face to face training. You may wish to undertake a program for your Professional Development, or enhance and update your current skills and knowledge. On the completion of the face to face training, you will be required to undertake the online assessment/s for the unit/s of competency, if you wish to receive a nationally recognised Statement of Attainment.

Please register your interest early, as there is a minimum requirement of 6 students to conduct face to face training.

To speak to AICM about these or any other learning or development, call 1300 560 996 or email andrew@aicm.com.au or debby@aicm.com.au

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CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

Overview 2018 marked a milestone in our Pinnacles Awards with events in every division.

The Pinnacle Awards were launched in NSW in 2013, Victoria in 2015, Queensland in 2016, Western Australia in 2017 and then South Australia in 2018.

The Pinnacle Awards align with the AICM’s purpose to connect and recognise Credit Professionals as well as expanding the relevance and understanding of Credit Function.

The awards also represent a unique opportunity to align your brand with the AICM and an award that recognises the achievements of Credit Professionals.

The awards recognise Credit Professionals at all levels and sectors of the industry through a process of nomination, selection of finalists and popular votes.

Some highlights of 2018 were: zz Nominations – 164 zz Finalists – 147 zz Votes – 4,666 zz Event attendance – 464 ➤

NSW

WA

QLD

VIC SA

To see more photos from the Pinnacle Awards please CLICK HERE

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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New South Wales l The High Five! Award – Sponsored by ARMA

Sev Indrele MICM CCE of Southern Steel Group Pty Ltd

PINNACLE AWARDS

Guess who was paged at Sydney airport for the flight to the National Conference despite being at the airport an hour early – always a story to tell and a drink to be had with whoever will join her.

NSW won the President’s trophy and when it came time for the group picture with the award where was Sev???

(Cigarette outside!) The same place she’s been the last few years when the High Five Awards has been announced!

On a serious note, Sev is a hard working member of the NSW Council and has stretched herself taking on the magazine portfolio to collate information on events and photos.

Andrew Smith of ARMA presents Sev with her award.

l Consultant of the Year – Sponsored by TurksLegal

Matt Jackson of CreditorWatch Under Matt’s guidance the CreditorWatch Sales and Account Management team has grown again this year.

Matt directly manages over 30 staff and attends near 60 meetings a month with current and potential CreditorWatch customers.

All members of Matt’s team over achieved on their target in October, an amazing feat with such a large sales team.

Matt continues to share his knowledge, passion and enthusiasm with everyone he meets.

Matt remains heavily involved in the AICM for his ninth year. This year Matt has attended AICM social nights, YCP dinner and WINC events supporting Women in Credit.

Fiona Reynolds of TurksLegal presents Matt with his award.

To see more photos from the Pinnacle Awards please CLICK HERE

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CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

New South Wales l Recruitment Consultant of the Year

Taylor Johnson of Baycorp

PINNACLE AWARDS

Taylor has worked through the roles of Skip Tracer, Collections Officer, Operational Coach, HR Recruitment Associate, Recruitment Consultant and HR Officer in 5 years. Her experience in our Operations department has given her a true understanding of what makes a great Credit Professional. Taylor initiated multiple projects to streamline Baycorp’s bulk recruitment process.This included: zz redesigning and implementing assessment centres, zz upskilling line leaders, zz improving candidate attraction, zz tightening approval processes, zz reducing manual screening through online video screening and zz measuring candidate satisfaction through on boarding surveys.

Throughout the last 2 years in her recruitment career Taylor has sourced and on-boarded high volume, back to NSW Councillor Rachael Hurrell with Taylor. back inductions for new Operations (Credit) staff. Volumes ranged from 30 – 60 roles every 6 weeks (transferring to approx.300 filled roles per year) across 4 sites and 3 countries. In 2016 Baycorp attrition rate was 46% and is now sitting at 31% which is the lowest it has been in 8 years!

l External Collections of the Year

Lydia Harris MICM of Optimum Recoveries Pty Ltd Lydia is the Accounts Manager/Credit Manager for Optimum Recoveries. With three team members to supervise in this cash flow collections area Lydia takes a steady approach to training, induction, career development and quality results.

Lydia recently joined the AICM and has been participating in webinars. She is keen to further her career development and has nominated that she would like to participate in the Certified Credit Executive (CCE) program in the future.

She actively participates in webinars, listens to podcasts and is an avid reader of all books, particularly for professional development and personal growth.

Most recently she has taken the lead on a process mapping project within the business and rolled out a Lydia with AICM CEO Nick Pilavidis. training and standard operating procedure platform.

This has improved training and on-boarding of new team members, improved efficiency and, automated some work-flows that were previously managed manually. Lydia manages the new client assessment, on-boarding, monitoring, billing and collections. She has been instrumental in streamlining and automating certain processes in the business, She has a great training manner where she is able to share her 20 plus years of credit, collections and para-legal experience in our business.

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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New South Wales l Legal Representative of the Year – sponsored by Jirsch Sutherland

Terry Ledlin MICM of Ledlin Lawyers Pty Ltd

PINNACLE AWARDS

A lawyer for over 40 years, Terry has spent much of his professional career in Credit Management with exposure to Collections, Insolvency and Commercial Litigation.

His achievements in the last 12 months include: zz Continuing the growth of Ledlin Lawyers, the business he started with his daughter, Natalie Ledlin; zz Writing and publishing several legal and credit management articles for publication in the AICM magazine, Credit Management in Australia; zz Preparing and presenting a number of high-level webinars and seminars on the PPSA and the PPSR; zz Presenting at the 2018 AICM National Conference held at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne.

Terry contributes regularly to the Credit Forum to Terry receives his award from Andrew Spring of queries where he provides advice in a relevant, timely and Jirsch Sutherland. easily understood manner.

Terry represents his Clients in a very professional manner, taking pride in the reputation of the Firm.

l Senior Credit Officer of the Year – sponsored by Alloc8

Colin Shepherd of Cabcharge Australia Pty Ltd Colin will always put the team first before himself.

In October 2017 the cabcharge team restructured all ledgers and from Oct 2017 to June 2018 Colin reduced his 90+ Aging by 107% taking it from $171k in Oct 17 to -$11k in June 18.

Colin manages many of Cabcharge’s largest clients.

These results have assisted the team in achieving record low 60+ Day aging results since 2010 and record low late payment fee revenue billed, since 2010. Colin also manages all Legal and Debt Collection Agency Accounts as well as volunteering himself to be a Lead in the implementation and roll out of a new objective setting platform for our business called Objectives & Key Results.

During the last financial year and against $320m in revenue Cabcharge wrote off only $24k. That’s 0.0007%.

Colin finds time to on-board new account applications when required, and has assisted in the testing of our new online application portal. He also assists our technology team with various special projects.

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CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

Colin accepts his award from Ellen Singleton of Cosyn Software, regional distribtor of Alloc8.

New South Wales l Credit Supervisor of the Year – Sharp and Carter

Paula Inventor of Boral

PINNACLE AWARDS

Over the past 12 months Paula has completely transformed the results and profile of the Southern Region Trade Collections Team: zz Reduced overall operating cost and FTE by 25% zz Improved Delinquency in 60 Days+ by >25% zz Delivered average DSO in line with best practice zz Provided backup relief and support to Trade Credit Manager, Adam Clarke zz Assisted with numerous projects and process improvements reshaping the overall Credit Operation for Trade Credit zz Completely transformed the Profile of the Southern Trade Collections Team to a first class service Paula is innovative and finds solutions to resolve issues as well as help pave the way for a brighter future.

Paula is the ultimate professional and always balances the customers’ requirements with the business objectives.

Niall Hoolahan of Sharp & Carter with Paula.

l Credit Manager of the Year – sponsored by illion

Theresa Brown MICM CCE of Optus Theresa has shown great leadership and developed two of her team into senior credit officer and team leadership roles. She has excellent stakeholder engagement, and constantly receives feedback from the MD of SMB Sales around her ability to optimise profitable acquisition.

Theresa also credit manages a large Wholesale portfolio, and has ensured optimal cash flow with excellent securities in place. Theresa manages to balance credit risk with customer excellence and always develops long terms relationships.

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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Queensland l The High Five! Award

Ashleigh Mason MICM of National Collection Services

PINNACLE AWARDS

zz Ashleigh is a passionate credit professional, who has consistently been stepping up to support the broader credit community. zz Joining the AICM council, she has put her hand up to organise events, connected with her peers to both increase her knowledge, and to share it, and has been promoting the AICM to clients, bringing in new attendees, sponsors and members. zz Ash is a ball of energy and her dedication and willingness to help others is definitely worth celebrating!

Ashleigh with Qld Division Director Julie McNamara.

l Consultant of the Year

Katheryn Kershaw MICM of National Collection Services zz Katheryn is the National Client Services Director at National Collection Services and spends the majority of her time in Qld and Vic. zz Katheryn is always very prompt and efficient with any queries that are thrown her way and supportive of the company and the employees. zz Katheryn has consistently demonstrated her ability to think outside of the box, creating new methodologies to meet the demands of clients, creating new reports, highlighting trends before they become an issue and providing key advice from application to litigation zz She shares leads within the industry, is constantly at networking functions and has been an active participant with AICM for a number of years – and always with a smile!

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CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

To see more photos from the Pinnacle Awards please CLICK HERE

Queensland l Recruitment Consultant of the Year

Siobhan Reynolds of People2People

PINNACLE AWARDS

A commitment to continuous professional development by providing time, resources and on-going support to credit professionals.

Siobhan has been working in the industry for over 3 years’ and during that time she has interviewed and provided career guidance for over a 1,000 candidates.

Her approach is very consultative and goes beyond just an ‘’interview’’ for a particular position. She provides real career advice and works with candidates for the long-term.

Siobhan meets all of her clients to gain a comprehensive understanding of their business, their management style and the ‘ideal candidate’ that would suit their business for the long term.

Siobhan demonstrates engagement with clients and other professionals in the Credit Industry. Siobhan is actively involved in the AICM and is a strong ambassador for the organisation.

l External Collections/Mercantile Agent of the Year

Angela McDonald MICM of Optimum Recoveries Angela is a driven practise manager who really cares about her team and their business clients. She has a strong knowledge base of all recovery aspects and provides fast turnaround times keeping clients informed at every step of the way.

Angela dedicates her time and commitment to helping SME’s better understand their credit management processes and requirements, delivering workshops, and providing a great deal of 1-on-1 mentoring supporting a broad range of SME’s across diverse industries. She helps clients achieve a significant reduction of old debts including a successful 80% recovery rate for one client.

Angela McDonald with Qld Division Councillor Stacey Woodward

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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Queensland l Legal Representative of the Year – sponsored by Jirsch Sutherland

Craig Mason of Streten Masons Lawyers

PINNACLE AWARDS

zz Craig takes the time to understand clients and will often provide pro-active advice that helps the client prevent debt in the future by making sure that their terms, conditions, procedures and processes are not only secure, but practical in business. zz Craig regularly presents to different business groups about debt prevention, management and recovery and co-founded “The Business Legal Lifecycle” to help small business owners navigate their way from start-up to success. zz Craig’s skill and experience is multifaceted. He’s not only a Lawyer, but also obtained a degree in e-Commerce majoring in Accounting, placing him in a great position to understand credit and collection matters and pursue them successfully.

Chris Baskerville of Jirsch Sutherland presents Craig with his award.

l Senior Credit Officer of the Year – sponsored by Alloc8

Elizabeth Morris FICM CCE of Endeavour Foundation zz Elizabeth has sole responsibility for Endeavour’s Trade Debtor’s ledger. zz Her patience and tenacity has seen the ledger reduce substantially below target and has identified a number of processes to be streamlined or improved. zz Liz has reconciled a number of major accounts and has them back paying within terms. zz She willingly shares her wealth of credit management experience knowledge with her team members.

Trevor Middlteon Cosyn Software, regional distribtor of Alloc8 presents Elizabeth Morris with her award.

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CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

Queensland l Credit Supervisor of the Year – sponsored by Results Legal

Arash Najafi MICM of DHL Express

PINNACLE AWARDS

Arash has taken the average turnaround for resolving customer queries from over 20 days to being under 2.5 days.

Arash has improved the aged debt (over 60 days) average from over 20% of AR to around 11% throughout 2018.

Arash has ensured he has balanced this result focus with a respect focus within his team, always available to coach, develop and support team members where required.

Anna Taylor of Results Legal presents Arash with his award.

l Credit Manager of the Year – sponsored by illion

Jane Hay MICM of BGW Group Jane has been in credit management for just over 20 years with the most recent and current role spanning 11 years at the BGW Group in QLD. Jane manages the receivables function and is currently managing 16 staff.

Recently in 2018 Jane was given the responsibility of Credit Management for the entire company in Asia, where credit is provided in 5 different countries, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Korea.

Jane is part of BGW’s Risk Committee that is a subcommittee of the Advisory Board.

Implemented the risk management process now in operation; bad debts are now less than 1% of sales across the group for the last 5 years.

Division Concillor Stacey Woodward with Jane.

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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South Australia l Consultant of the Year – Sponsored by NCI Trade Credit Solutions

Dominic Cantone MICM

PINNACLE AWARDS

of Worrells Solvency & Forensic Accountants Dominic is a Chartered Accountant and a Registered Liquidator, with 17 years’ experience working in all areas of insolvency.

Dominic acts in a diverse range of fields, particularly the hospitality and building and construction industries, specialising in trade on management and Deed of Company Arrangement administrations. Of recent note is Dominic’s appointment as Voluntary Administrator and Deed Administrator of Concrete Supply Pty Ltd (Subject to a Deed of Company Arrangement) which when finalised, will return approximately $4 million to unsecured creditors.

Dominic is one of the most appointed liquidators in the state in the last 12 months.

Dominic accepts his award from David Baker of NCI.

l External Collections of the Year – Sponsored by Kemps Credit Solutions

Abby Poyzer MICM of Credit Solutions Abby has over 18 years’ experience within the credit industry in a diverse number of management roles from Account Manager to Call Centre Operations.

Abby currently manages a team of 12, overseeing a range of clients including high volume utilities accounts.

Abby has a deep understanding of how to manage successful recovery operations across the commercial, consumer, banking and finance, and government portfolios, which has driven the successful development and deployment of highly focused recovery solutions for clients.

Abby accepts her award from SA Division Director Gail Crowder..

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To see more photos from the Pinnacle Awards please CLICK HERE

South Australia l Legal Representative of the Year – Sponsored by Worrells Solvency & Forensic Accountants

Janelle Scott of Scott Lawyers

PINNACLE AWARDS

Janelle has more than 15 years’ post admittance experience in debt-related litigation, handling escalated recovery actions, dispute resolutions, commercial litigation and insolvency procedures on behalf of a wide range of clients, including major financial institutions and Government clients.

For the past eight years, her main role has been acting for Government and Commercial clients in all aspects of debt recovery. What she particularly enjoys about her current role is the interaction with clients, and the ability to bring satisfactory resolutions for clients in what are often stressful and frustrating situations.

l Credit Officer of the Year – Sponsored by Alloc8 Recruitment

Ben Morrison of Samex Australian Meat Company Pty Ltd Ben’s currently role is Finance Officer at Samex.

A short list of his accomplishments include: zz Streamlining documentation procedures zz Championing the transition into the company’s new accounting package zz Actioning payments to our shipping companies and resolving disputes efficiently and effectively zz Liaising with suppliers and regulating the payment process zz Overseeing customer credit applications zz Organising building repairs and ensuring completion to an exceptional standard zz Corresponding with bank on a daily basis to confirm trade deals.

Ellen Singleton of Cosyn, regional distribtor of Alloc8 presents Ben with his award.

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South Australia l Credit Manager of the Year – Sponsored by illion

Sandy Christpoulos MICM of Inenco

PINNACLE AWARDS

Sandy is the National Credit Manager at Inenco Group.

Her career objective is “to gain responsible and satisfying position where her skills and abilities will be utilised to their full potential.”

She currently Manages Risk, Compliance and Collections for 16 companies (across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia).

Sandy has extensive experience in Credit Management; working hard to ensure the needs of the business are always met.

During her time in the role she established an open, collaborative, ‘can do’ culture in her department and led, developed and implemented, several initiatives that made a major contribution to improving the efficiency of the Finance Stream for the business.

She is an excellent team player who is well respected by her peers and her team.

Sandy receives her award from AICM CEO Nick Pilavidis.

See you at AICM’s 2019 N A T I O N A L

CONFERENCE

16th - 18th October 2019, Marriott Gold Coast

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS 54

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

Western Australia l The High Five! Award

Hazel Vas of Instant Waste Management

PINNACLE AWARDS

Hazel has been with IWM for almost 7 years. She is a valued member of the IWM Collection Team and works hard to maintain good customer relations. Her ability to listen and engage with her client list is very commendable and customers often remark on her approach and understanding. Her knowledge of industry and software makes her a great team member.

Hazel receives her award from WA Director Rowan McClarty.

l External Collections/ Mercantile Agent of the Year

Trudie Walsh MICM of WA Insolvency Solutions With more than 17 years’ experience providing specialist business restructuring and insolvency advice across a diverse range of industries. Trudie assists individuals with personal insolvency matters and also provides presentations on insolvency-related matters to accountants and financial advisers.

To see more photos from the Pinnacle Awards please CLICK HERE

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Western Australia l Legal Representative of the Year – Sponsored by WA Insolvency Solutions

Raffaele Di Renzo MICM CCE of Nova Legal

PINNACLE AWARDS

Raff has significant experience in running large scale litigation actions in the Supreme Court of WA and the Federal Court of Australia relating to contractual disputes, director/shareholder disputes, oppression actions, restraint matters and recovery of recalcitrant debts (large and small).

Raff has also acted for creditors, debtors, directors, credit managers and insolvency practitioners in relation to corporate solvency issues. Raff has recently represented a minority creditor of a company in administration in the High Court of Australia on the issue of the validity of holding DOCAs. This matter has been reported on by several legal commentators and by ARITA. Raff has been a WA State sponsor for at least four continuous years and has presented at several breakfast and toolbox seminars.

l Senior Credit Officer of the Year – Sponsored by Alloc8

Sarah Reed of Water Corporation Currently Sarah is the acting team leader within the credit management team who deal with delinquent/not paying clients where she is learning more about dealing with new industries and developing internal and external stakeholder relationships in order for her and her team to address the states debt.

Her adaptability as a senior credit officer in the credit management team of the Water Corporation has given her new challenges and pathways for growth.

Her engaging nature and aspiration to get the best out of herself makes Sarah a valuable asset in any workplace.

Sarah receives her award from WA Division Director Rowan McClarty.

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CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

Western Australia l Credit Manager of the Year – Sponsored by illion

Jason Louis MICM CCE of BGC (Australia) Pty Ltd

PINNACLE AWARDS

Jason has been a part of the credit landscape for many years. A previous YCP Finalist for WA, Jason’s passion for all things credit, has given him the opportunity to lead teams for two of WA’s major players, Boral Limited and BGC. His ability to lead by example allows his teams to demonstrate an understanding of credit policy and its delivery for the good of the business in achieving results.

Jason receives his award from WA Division Director Rowan McClarty.

LET’S GIVE CREDIT TO YOUNG CREDIT PROFESSIONALS

DO YOU KNOW A TALENTED YOUNG CREDIT PROFESSIONAL WHO DESERVES RECOGNITION? The Young Credit Professional of the Year Award (YCPA) program is the largest and most prestigious Youth Credit Award program in Australia and provides a great opportunity for young Credit Professionals to gain recognition both for themselves and their employer.

By entering the YCPA program and discussing your career achievements and ambitions you will gain both valuable insight to the potential for your future advancement and support from young Credit Professionals like yourself and from experienced Credit Practitioners who are interested in assisting young Credit Professionals to achieve their potential.

The YCPA applications are now open!

To register your interest

CLICK HERE

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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Victoria/Tasmania l The High Five! Award

Interactive Billing & Credit Team of Interactive Australia Pty Ltd

PINNACLE AWARDS

They are a high-performance team that has provided exceptional customer service.

In the last 12 months the team have been able to reduce the DSO from 51 days to 39 days and improved the working capital cycle by 12 days.

The team continuously strive to ensure accuracy around billing and works closely with our sales team.

The team works together to continuously drive process improvements and to deliver exceptional customer service.

Interactive’s onboarding culture ensures new colleagues are supported and add value from day one.

All team members are given the opportunity to grow within their roles with regular reviews with both their manager and the client facing sales executive team.

Sherif Hussein accepts the High Five! Award on behalf of her team at Interactive Australia Pty Ltd

l Consultant of the Year – Sponsored by TurksLegal

Katheryn Kershaw MICM of National Collection Services As the Client Services Director, Katheryn supports the continued growth of the national business while maintaining truly collaborative relationships with the team and with clients.

Katheryn supports clients from creating the ideal process and methodology that works for them, through to onboarding, reporting, continued support and ensuring satisfaction along the way.

As a team player, she takes the time to mentor members of the team and encourages their personal and professional development, in and out of the AICM community.

Katheryn’s proactive nature and dedication ensures no stone is unturned and she delivers on her promises and then some.

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CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

To see more photos from the Pinnacle Awards please CLICK HERE

Victoria/Tasmania l Recruitment Consultant of the Year

Stephen Langhammer of Robert Half

PINNACLE AWARDS

Stephen has been employed with Robert Half more than 20 years having worked with them in Sydney, Edinburgh and for the last fourteen years in Melbourne.

Stephen is currently an Associate Director in Melbourne where he oversees the temporary and permanent accounting operations teams.

Stephen has shown a great understanding and knowledge within the recruitment area and has specialised in the credit field for over 25 years.

Stephen prides himself on building long-term relationships with both his Clients and Candidates and counts many AICM members as close friends.

l External Collections of the Year

Jeanne McArthur MICM of McArthur Commercial Recoveries Jeanne started her own collection agency to give specialist support to her commercial clients from ASX listed companies to small and medium companies. She continues to grow at a rapid rate with growing staff and locations and new clients, and most of them are from referrals.

Jeanne has come from a legal background stemming from Airforce Police and Government Investigations. She has an extensive knowledge base in legislation, contracts and agreements, and has always provided credit team training, credit risk assessments of ledgers and credit industry solutions.

She is a staunch supporter of the AICM and has been a member for years, and attends training and conferences VIC/Tas Division President Sherif Hussein with to ensure she is up to date with the latest solutions in the Jeanne. collection industry for her clients. The credit industry is an industry she prides her knowledge base on. Her close relationships over the years with Credit Managers ensures this only strengthens. Over the course of 2018, Jeanne maintained a 93% recovery rate and high recovery of costs and interest. Her clients are convinced that with her experience, that if she cannot collect it, it cannot be collected.

She continues to streamline her company to be up to date with all technologies and system processes to ensure effective recovery for her clients.

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Victoria/Tasmania l Legal Representative of the Year – Sponsored byJirsch Sutherland

Nathanael Kitingan of Macpherson Kelley

PINNACLE AWARDS

Over the past 18 months, Nathanael has successfully protected creditor clients from over 20 liquidator preference claims with 100% success.

As an insolvency specialist, Nathanael regularly acts for insolvency practitioners, creditors and debtors in all areas of both corporate and personal recovery and has had successful outcomes on litigious debt recovery matters throughout the year.

Nathanael has successfully implemented internal credit control practices and policies with various clients, including PPSR advise. As a result, he has successfully recovered significant stock for a client creditor during a voluntary administration due to proper PPSR advice and registration.

Nathanael recently settled a dispute at mediation by bringing into the negotiations a share portfolio that neither party had previously considered.

Whilst his technical ability and knowledge of the law is a cut above most, he focuses on practical and commercial outcomes which is why clients like him. With his approach, there are no surprises, and expectations are clear from the outset.

l Senior Credit Officer of the Year – Sponsored by Alloc8

Frank Fisher MICM of Australia Post Frank has extensive first-hand, frontline experience in Australia Post products and has been able to use this to his advantage in navigating through complex and challenging customer matters. Complex issues do not faze him, as he has a knack of compartmentalising the issue to achieve the desired result.

Not only has Frank liaised with a diverse range of stakeholders including; directors, insolvency practitioners and lawyers, but also key people within our business.

Frank has a well-earned reputation to be tenacious, methodical and diligent in his approach and as such is regularly sought out by other areas in the business, to leverage off his expertise and strengths to our organisation’s advantage.

Frank has the courage to hold both our organisation Frank receives his certificate from Trevor Middleton and our customers accountable, with the clear aim of of Cosyn, regional distributor of Alloc8. encouraging them to do the right thing.

Frank has an outstanding work ethic which positively impacts on those he interacts with. Frank is undoubtedly one of the key ingredients in the success of the team.

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Victoria/Tasmania l Credit Supervisor of the Year – Sponsored by Sharp & Carter

Lisa Wilson MICM of Dindas Australia Pty Ltd

PINNACLE AWARDS

Lisa has supported management, overseeing a team of four in credit Lisa is service orientated and makes relationships her priority. Not only does she know and understand their business, she knows their family, their staff and their financial situation.

Lisa is a confident credit controller that understands that small businesses rely on their suppliers for cash flow; she takes the time to educate and empower them on how to protect their cash flow to minimise risk, in turn minimising her own and having a stronger ability to forecast due to the in depth knowledge she has of her ledger.

As a result, the business has had no bad debts in the past three years. She has transformed the collections team and as a result, the business has seen better sales results, secured sales, quicker payments, and all while maintaining close relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

l Credit Manager of the Year – sponsored by illion

Beverley Hartsorn MICM of Adecco Group In her role with Adecco as Credit Improvement Manager Bev has excelled in managing the credit ledger of large strategic accounts, including QANTAS & AMAZON. Managed the improvement of internal processes and mentored the credit team to target debt collections over 8 days past due from agreed trading terms, to a maximum of 10% on monthly debtors’ ledger of approximately $50M per month. Success resulted in average conversion per month of $20M from debtors to cash.

Beverley implemented the above strategy by working closely with the IT department in a change management process to make system and reporting enhancements.

She was part of the team for the ERP implementation and upgrade as the subject matter expert for credit and facilitated the smooth ‘end of end’ order to cash processes.

She built and mentored team members to assist developing a cash forecasting process for Adecco’s internal treasury to ensure that they met global requirements for cash pooling.

illion team congratulate Beverley on her win – Helen Fitzgibbon, Beverley and Rahul Grover.

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AROUND THE STATES

New South Wales President’s Report

Pinnacle Award Winners (L to R): Lydia Harris (Optimum Recoveries), Colin Shepherd (Cabcharge) Matt Jackson (CreditorWatch), Theresa Brown (Optus), Taylor Johnson (Baycorp), Paula Inventor (Boral), Sev Indrele (Southern Steel) and Terry Ledlin (Ledlin Partners).

Standing (L to R) Kylee Kiss and Novka Krnetic (both of Southern Steel).

Sitting (L to R) Ellen Singleton (Cosyn), Georgia Barbera (Rocla), Grant Morris (Southern Steel), Gregg Odlum (Automotive Holdings Group) and Dave Vassallo (Southern Steel).

Sharp & Carter team (L to R): Stuart Nichols, Vicky Wang, Niall Hoolahan, Jackson Lindsay, Taha Sayed, Rima Unver, Jonathan Daskalakis and Simon Cust.

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A warm welcome to our members and partners for 2019.

We are well and truly into what is shaping up to be a great year and for the first few months of 2019 the NSW Council have been working to ensure our members are engaged, energised and excited about the year to come. All of this is with thanks to our National and Divisional Partners for their continued support in ensuring that quality events and education is paramount.

In an effort to ensure that there is more consistency and uniformity with the level of education nationally, NSW was the first state to hold the National Insolvency Seminar. In conjunction with ARITA on 7 March the AICM held the NSW seminar with the other states to run theirs over the coming weeks.

The feedback from the members and participants was fantastic so an enormous congratulations to all those involved in the preparation of a wonderful professional development event.

By way of update we are all working to motivate our members who are eligible to sit the CCE exam, to do so and enrol in either the March or September exams.

We are steering away from the traditional NSW AICM Golf Day and instead, this year we will be hosting a fun-filled Holey Moley Golf afternoon in May. The dedicated WINC committee will be hosting the NSW luncheon on 24 May at The Establishment. The chosen charity we will be supporting is Share The Dignity. A fantastic charity dedicated to helping homeless women and victims of domestic violence. Share The Dignity collects thousands of sanitary and personal hygiene products every year for women experiencing homelessness and poverty. They also fund funerals for victims of domestic violence and campaign for justice for women in Australia. Please lock this date into your diaries as not only is it a wonderful afternoon with your credit professional colleagues, but you will be supporting a valuable charity.

We hope to see you getting involved and enjoying what the AICM has to offer at the abovementioned events over the coming months.

– Balveen Saini MICM CCE NSW Division President

New South Wales We’re thrilled to welcome our new division partner Esker as a supporter. Esker Director – Accounts Receivable Solutions, Eric Maisonhaute, recently met with NSW Division President Balveen Saini to discuss plans for 2019.

Esker is a global solutions based company headquartered in France with offices in every continent. Esker has solutions for us in the order to cash space and has a multi decade history of successful delivery to satisfied customers in Australia.

Don’t hesitate to give Eric a call and checkout their offering.

Pinnacle Awards A fantastic night to celebrate the credit industry at the beautiful Westin Hotel’s Heritage Ballroom. The mood was vibrant given that end of year and Christmas celebrations had begun and all attendees enjoyed the networking, catching up with colleagues and celebrating the winners of the categories.

Vanessa Baladi and Rochelle Hallasso (both of Force Legal).

Recruitment Consultant of the Year zz Keryn Speck MICM – Veritas Recruitment zz Taylor Johnson – Baycorp – winner zz Paul Clarke MICM – Trace Personnel

Credit Manager of the Year Sponsored by illion zz Adam Clarke MICM – Boral zz Luke Amos – Caltex zz Michael Murray MICM CCE – Electrolux zz Theresa Brown MICM CCE – Optus – winner zz Vaios Kortikis MICM CCE – Liberty Onesteel

Consultant of the Year Sponsored by TurksLegal zz Andrew Spring MICM – Jirsch Sutherland zz Eddie Smith MICM – ARMA zz Matt Jackson – CreditorWatch – winner zz Stella Hulm MICM – Credit Solutions

Credit Supervisor of the Year Sponsored by Sharp & Carter zz Matthew Bryant – Graincorp zz Michael Pearse MICM – Liberty Onesteel zz Paula Inventor – Boral – winner zz Stuart Nichols MICM – Dimension Data

zz Adam Mercurio – CreditorWatch zz Balveen Saini MICM CCE – BBW Lawyers zz Sev Indrele MICM CCE – Southern Steel – winner

Senior Credit Officer of the Year Sponsored by Alloc8

To see more photos from the Pinnacle Awards please CLICK HERE

zz Colin Shepherd – Cabcharge – winner zz Joanne Turnball – Liberty Onesteel zz Kylee Kiss MICM – Southern Steel zz Melissa Tokelau – Transurban zz Stephan Ellis MICM – Dimension Data

MEET A NSW COUNCILLOR

The High Five! Award

Theresa Brown MICM CCE

Legal Representative of the Year Sponsored by Jirsch Sutherland zz Chris Swanson MICM – Swanson & Symonds Lawyers zz Mathias Klepper – DSS Law zz Rochelle Hallasso – Force Legal zz Terry Ledlin MICM – Ledlin Lawyers – winner

External Collections of the Year zz Chris Hayes MICM – Elite Collections zz Eddie Smith MICM – ARMA zz James Smith MICM – ARMA zz John Lutherborrough – AMPAC Debt Recovery zz Lydia Harris MICM – Optimum Recoveries – winner zz Mark Logue MICM – AMPAC Debt Recovery

Theresa is our newest member on the NSW Divisional Council.

Theresa is currently the Associate Director of Corporate Credit Risk at Optus, covering all commercial portfolios within Optus worth $1.9Billion.

With over 20 years of credit and collections experience Theresa has worked in several industries including Telco, Consumer Electronics, Waste Management, Transport and Manufacturing. Theresa is no stranger to AICM. She first became involved when nominated for the YCP awards in 2008 and since then has been a regular contributor at the conferences and events and just recently received the 2018 NSW Pinnacle award: AICM Credit Manager of the year.

When asked about joining the council Theresa commented “This is something I have always aspired to do, the AICM has always supported me throughout my career and the timing felt right for me to give something back”.

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AROUND THE STATES

New Division Partner – Esker

AROUND THE STATES

New South Wales

(L to R) Dave Hunt (Fujifilm), Eric Milne (Uber), Felisima Manalo (Sanofi), Annette Smith (Baresque), Helen Alexis (Brennan IT), Nichola Robinson (SCEGGS), Grant Morris (Facilitator) and Karen Harrington (Brennan IT) who attended the Fundamentals of Credit Toolbox.

Toolbox training We continue with our regular toolbox training sessions for both experienced and new entrants to the credit industry with Toolbox sessions run at the office St Leonards. All sessions are very well received and a great opportunity to learn new skills or brush up on credit fundamentals.

5 February saw facilitator Grant Morris from Southern Steel train in (L to R) Nichola Robinson (SCEGGS), Susann Vella (Workforce), Grant Morris Fundamentals of Credit Collect with (Facilitator), Jessica Komlos (Atlas Copco), Christine Bowen (AHG) and Confidence and again on 19 Feb 2019 in Jelena Duric (AHG) who attended the Collect with Confidence Toolbox.

Collect with Confidence.

There were some really good contributions and we all through what was probably our most difficult hour. In October maintained the moral high ground on business communication 2016 Gregg was elected to Vice President of the Board and and customer service. has been our youngest ever VP. He continued to retain the Finance Directorship. After 2 years as VP and 4 years of great service Gregg stepped down from the Board in October 2018 leaving the AICM in a far better place than when he joined and Gregg Odlum – retiring something for which we are all very grateful.

Whilst devoting a fair chunk of his time and energy to the We in NSW and in fact all members across board Gregg has also managed to succeed at work where he Australia owe a huge vote of thanks to has been a significant stakeholder leading substantial change Gregg Odlum. Gregg joined the NSW in the two companies he has worked for during this time. In Council in 2011 following his winning of addition he has been busy with two new additions to his family. the National Young Credit Professional I am not sure how he does it all, but very grateful to him that he Award in 2010. Gregg followed this up has been able to manage it all. with obtaining his CCE in 2012. Many Gregg, a big cheers from your mates at the AICM and the would have been satisfied with the award and a stint on Council NSW Council (past and present). We hope to see the black to lend a hand but not Gregg. shirts around St Leonards for many years to come.

Gregg was keen to assist, lend a fresh and innovative view to all matters and learn from his peers. He held a number of positions on Council including that of President.

When Nick Pilavidis stepped down from the Board to New Director – Peter Morgan become CEO, Gregg was the obvious choice for the NSW Council to appoint as Director on the AICM’s Australian Board.

The AICM is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter All this for a bloke in his early 30’s and a real boost to the Morgan as its NSW Director, replacing Gregg Odlum who is board which has traditionally comprised far more grey headed retiring from the Board after serving four years. members.

Peter is a CCE and highly experienced, successful and Gregg was our Finance Director at a time when things well-regarded business leader who has gained Credit were tough and our financial position required an immediate industry experience at Kone UK and IBM Australia where turnaround. He stepped up to the plate and helped guide us he was working in Commercial Credit Management. Peter 64

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New South Wales away with your group, you’ll be able to interact with everyone around you. Getting approval from the (Boss) Pro to attend this event will be less of a hazard, it’ll be after hours and won’t take up the better part of a work day.

Swing a putter while enjoying a platter, sink a drink and a ball. This social event will bring everyone together for some putt putt while enjoying some food and drinks.

This event is bound to be a hole in one. Tickets available soon.

What really gets my goat Creditors who fill in a proxy for a creditors meeting and grant that proxy to the chairman as a general proxy ie allowing the chair to vote in any fashion he/she likes. If you don’t have an opinion then don’t send a proxy (and don’t just fill one in as a special proxy directing the chair to vote in a particular fashion unless you have read the report and formed a decision as to what is truly in your best interest – if you are interested and are not sure what you want to do then attend the meeting which quite handily should be available by teleconference).

The Australian Institute of Credit Management welcomes our Partners for 2019.

National Partners

Upcoming Events APRIL Work is currently going on to finalise our next professional development seminar. Early evening on the 11th April will see us return to the popular, relaxed and very cool board room of Matthews Folbigg Lawyers in Parramatta.

One topic is Comprehensive Credit Reporting and at time of going to press we are busy finalising other topics and high class speakers around Payment Timeframes, Hardship etc.

Put the date in your calendar now and watch out for your opportunity to register shortly!

Divisional Partners

MAY A little birdie told me that there was something different happening with the golf day this year…

If you’ve ever dreamed of being Happy Gilmore, now’s your chance. This year we will be teeing off at Holey Moley Golf Club Darlinghurst! With 27 themed holes, over three courses, sprawling two levels, you’re in for the craziest round of mini golf you’ve ever played.

Mini Golf is fun and inclusive – it caters to all skill levels.

Bring along colleagues, clients and caddies, regardless of skill everyone is sure to have an evening they will never FOREget!

Why the swing away from the traditional golf day? The mini golf environment gives everyone a greater opportunity to network. It’s going to have a different feel, but we are sure that it will be up to par. At Holey Moley you won’t just have to putter

Official Division Supporting Sponsors

Our National, Divisional and Professional Partners support and work with the AICM to promote the Institute’s activities, represent the Credit Industry and develop the careers of all Credit Professionals. As these organisations support your Institute and your Industry please consider them when you require assistance.

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AROUND THE STATES

is the founder and Director of a specialist Accounting and Finance Recruitment company with its forte in credit and collections.

He has been a supporter and sponsor of the AICM for over 10 years and has been an active Council Member on the NSW Council over the last 6 years. Peter’s contributions to the AICM have included being behind the initiative of the Pinnacle Awards. The Pinnacle Awards have now been successfully rolled out nationally; rewarding and honouring the standout contributions of all credit professionals in our industry. Peter has also been a consistent contributor to a strong NSW Council that has won the President’s trophy twice in the last 4 years and seen consistent membership growth.

An active contributor to the community, Peter has joined business and community leaders from around Australia to take part in the 2016, 2017 and 2018 ‘Vinnies CEO Sleep Out’, raising awareness and vital funds to support services for the thousands of men, women and children experiencing homelessness across the country. Peter has also been an active supporter of a number of other initiatives, organisations and charities.

Peter has very significant business experience and expertise in growing and improving companies with an emphasis on partnering and customer relationships. He is a people and customer centred individual with a strong history of creating highly engaged teams, which ideally suits him to AICM’s very strong culture. He has excellent business experience, and the drive to help us continue to innovate and grow the AICM’s offerings to members.

AROUND THE STATES

Queensland Presidents Report If you have never been on an AICM state council, I hope that I can convince you to have a crack, or even to volunteer to help when you can. The worst that can happen is that you will have great fun with some amazing people, and gain exposure to events and knowledge you might not otherwise.

Another big year ahead for AICM Qld, which has already gotten started with excellent events and membership engagement. Given the “home ground” AICM National Conference, the Qld Council is looking to keep all members aware of what is coming up, how to get Senior Credit Officer of the Year Finalists: Tayler Patton (Nexxa Portfolio Management), Melissa Bartley (ERM Power), Elizabeth Morris (Endeavour the best from their AICM membership, Foundation), Julie Thomas (Workpac) and Jenaya Mackay (Lindsay Australia). and to be sure to get along to National Conference 2019.

Just some of the superb contributions and achievements by our brilliant Councillors are: zz I just wanted to repeat what a superb event the Pinnacles Award night was last year. Excellent numbers and well deserved winners. Our sponsors for the event also did an excellent job in providing judges before the day, which was an extremely difficult task given the very high calibre of candidates. Councillor Ashleigh Mason is Qld’s member on the National Committee and will be sure to do another excellent job in 2019. Thank you Ashleigh, and I know it will be even bigger and better this year. zz CCE Breakfast in February. Who ever said 7am is too early to go to the pub never went to a CCE Breakfast. Superbly MC’d by our wonderful Qld VP Decia Guttormsen, more than 27 members attended an excellent presentation of how and why to be a CCE, and how one can study and have a wine at the same time. Even a couple of nonAICM members attended. We are hoping to have a new supporter join AICM following the event, as they were very impressed with the professionalism, fun and collegiality displayed at the event. Thank you also to Trevor and AICM Stacey Woodward (Provet), CCE Dux 2018 Pauline Dey National for their guidance and financial support of this (BDO) and Nick Pilavidis (CEO AICM). event. zz YNN Barefoot Bowls at “the Boo” was another success story. Special thanks to our Sponsor (Results legal) AICM members) who have kindly donated the use of their and prize donor (SLF Lawyers) for their assisting in this excellent premises for this event. Tickets will likely be special event to introduce our younger members to the sold out quickly, so make sure you book early to avoid networking benefits and fun of AICM. We had about 36 disappointment. Special thanks also to our VP Decia and people attend, which was even more fantastic given Director Julie McNamara for attending all of the telephone Brisbane had Cyclone Oma knocking on our doors. conferences, and to Nick and all other states for putting Special kudo’s and thanks to Roger “Cowboy” Masamvu, together a brilliant seminar and line up of speakers.

Ashleigh “Fun” Mason (again), Carly “Gets it done” Raezz An article on the interplay between the Family Law Act and Orth, Stacey “Gets it done two” Woodward, Scott “2018 creditors in this month’s AICM magazine is a must read.

Qld YCP” Reimers, and Natalia “Uber Organiser” Mizerski Superb writing by our councillor Mark “Davidson” Harley. for a cracker of an event.

Thank you for keeping us all up to date with this piece zz Preparation for 22 March half day Insolvency Seminar. In Mark. conjunction with all other states, we have a cracker line zz YNN Brewery Event in April. Natalia and a superb team of up of speakers and topics which should not be missed. helpers are putting together another YNN event. I have A BIG thank you to Mike McCann and Cam Charlton already seen the planning and it looks fantastic. It may even beat “the Boo” barefoot bowls for numbers.

(Grant Thornton Accountants – ARITA and soon to be 66

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Queensland AROUND THE STATES

zz WINC Councillor position filled by Maria “I did it last week” Schandl.

Maria is and always has been an inspiration for anyone who might think that they do not have enough time to be on Council. This year’s Qld WINC will be even bigger, fun-ner and better, so give Maria a call if you would like to be involved, support, or just like to book early. zz AICM National Conference Golf Event planning. Stay alert, as it will be a fun-tastic event for everyone who can make it. Thank you to Stacey for starting the ball rolling.

So what are you waiting for – call me or any of the councillors anytime and make 2019 your chance to shine.

Thank you to again to all of our Partners for continuing their generous support of AICM Qld in what will be another successful year.

The High Five Award Finalists: Tim Sullivan (Optimum Recoveries), Jon Lillis( DHL Express), Ashleigh Mason (National Collection Services) and Julie McNamara (Boom Logistics).

– Peter Mills MICM CCE Queensland Division President

Pinnacle Awards The QLD Division’s Pinnacle Awards were held on Friday 23rd November in the Alice Room at Cloudland. The event space oozed of elegance and oldworld charm with a distinctively modern edge and was an exciting change of venue for our annual gala end of year awards. Not only did the venue not disappoint, the field of nominees, finalists Legal Represtative of the Year Finalists: Mark Harley (Boss Lawyers), Mark and winners were amazing and it was Smith (SLF Lawyers), Kristy Walsh (SLF Lawyers), Craig Mason (Streten Masons outstanding to see the support for our Lawyers) and Anna Taylor (Results Legal). leading performers in the credit industry throughout the year that was 2018. The talent across each category was fierce zz Anna Taylor MICM – Results Legal and we take our hats off to the winners who took home the zz Dan Ryan – Davidson Ryan Lawyers prestigious trophies. zz Kristy Walsh MICM – SLF Lawyers Before we get into the Pinnacle nominees we must zz Mark Harley MICM – Boss Lawyers congratulate our own Pauline Dey 2018 CCE Dux who was zz Mark Smith MICM – SLF Lawyers presented with her certificate AND bottle of Grange courtesy of NCI. Well done Pauline and more on CCE later.

External Collections/Mercantile Agent of the Year zz Angela McDonald MICM – Optimum Recoveries – Winner zz Alex Croce MICM – National Collection Services zz Foga Tagatanuu MICM – National Collection Services zz Tim Sullivan – Optimum Recoveries

High Five! Award zz Ashleigh Mason MICM – National Collection Services – Winner zz Jon Lillis MICM – DHL Express zz Julie McNamara MICM CCE – Boom Logistics zz Tim Sullivan – Optimum Recoveries

Recruitment Consultant of the Year

Legal Representative of the Year Sponsored by Jirsch Sutherland zz Craig Mason – Streten Masons Lawyers – Winner

zz Siobhan Reynolds – People2People – Winner zz Sasha Webster – Page Personnel zz Sam Wood – Troocoo zz Natalie Nicolaou – Robert Walters March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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Queensland

Jenaya Mackay (Lindsay Australia) and Foga Tagatanuu (National Collection Services).

Maria Schandl (Stoddart Group), Anna Taylor (Results Legal) and Zara Mends (NCI).

Consultant of the Year

that you continue to get involved and be mindful of those who positively impact you throughout the year and deserve to be recognised. We would also like to thank our sponsors for this event – illion, Results Legal, Alloc8, Jirsh Sutherland and SLF Lawyers.

zz Katheryn Kershaw MICM – National Collection Services – Winner zz Zara Mends MICM – NCI (Brokers) Pty Ltd

Senior Credit Officer of the Year Sponsored by Alloc8 zz Elizabeth Morris FICM CCE – Endeavour Foundation – Winner zz Jenaya Mackay MICM – Lindsay Australia zz Julie Thomas – Workpac zz Melissa Bartley – ERM Power zz Sarah Batzloff MICM – DHL Express zz Stuart Paterson – ERM Power zz Tayler Patton MICM – Nexxa Portfolio Management

Credit Supervisor of the Year Sponsored by Results Legal zz Arash Najafi MICM – DHL Express – Winner zz Harry Preston – Workpac zz Ruthven Underhill MICM – Cetnaj zz Veirene Reynolds – Workpac zz Vicky Sprecak MICM – Southern Qld Steel

Credit Manager of the Year Sponsored by illion zz Jane Hay – BGW Group – Winner zz Alison Beythien MICM CCE zz Catherine Stenshagen MICM – DHL Express zz Decia Guttormsen MICM – University of Qld zz Doug Ventham MICM – Workpac zz Linda Ridsdale MICM CCE – SPAR Australia Pty Ltd zz Michelle Kirkby MICM – ERM Power zz Pauline Dey MICM CCE – BDO zz Teresa Brown MICM – Beaumont Tiles Congratulations to all of the Winners and Finalists! This event allows us to shine a light on high performance and enables us all to get behind our colleagues and associates to celebrate a job well done. This night wouldn’t be possible without your nominations so we thank you all for your contribution and hope 68

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To see more photos from the Pinnacle Awards please CLICK HERE

CCE Breakfast and upcoming exam QLD Division started off the New Year with a CCE Breakfast on the 13th of February at The Regatta Hotel. We had an amazing turn-out and it was great to see a lot of people with a New Year resolution to focus on career development and acknowledge that it is essential for continual development and learning from others in order to maximise your worth to your employer.

While enjoying a hot breakfast, we invited current and aspiring CCE’s to join 2 of Qld’s highest performing CCE’s and Credit professionals: zz CCE Dux 2018 – Pauline Dey, Credit Manager at BDO, and zz CCE Dux 2015 – Alison Beythien, National Credit Manager at Iplex Pipelines Pauline and Alison shared their experiences as Credit Professionals and the value of achieving CCE status with the AICM, along with how it felt to take out the National Award of CCE Dux and how this accolade was received by their Employers and Senior Management within their place of work.

Everything you needed to know about the CCE qualification, exams, and eligibility was covered during this event and if you missed this and are interested in our next exams which are being held in March, please get in touch with Head Office aicm@aicm.com.au and they can put in touch with our CCE representative Decia Guttorsmen who will assist you with all you need to know in the lead up to the next exams.

The next exams will be held on: Option 1 – online

8th – 11th March

Option 2 – Classroom

15th – 18th March

Queensland

Barefoot Bowls champions: Nicholas Boyce (Results Legal, Scott Reimers (Nightlife Music) Stacey Woodward (Provet) and Justin Watson (Credit Solutions).

ONLINE TIME: Starts Friday 8 March 3:00pm and concludes Monday 11 March 3:00pm

Everyone had a ball with Justin Watson (Credit Solutions) and Nicholas Boyce (Results Legal) taking out the top two places in the final elimination round, both winning a bottle of Moet donated by the team at SLF Lawyers. Fun was had by all and we cannot wait for the next YNN in April followed by our trivia event in May!

COST:

$82.50 (Inc. GST)

CLASSROOM: 11th March 2019 2:00pm – 5:00pm VENUE:

To be advised

As part of every Credit professional’s career development, Certified Credit Executive (CCE) status should be achieved as soon as a member is eligible. Why waste years not maximising your worth to your employer?

The Australian Institute of Credit Management welcomes our Partners for 2019.

National Partners

Barefoot Bowls Our first Youth Network Night of 2019 was held at ‘The Boo’ Bowls club in Newstead on Friday 22nd February. Thankfully Cyclone Oma was downgraded in the lead up to this outdoor event so we are very grateful that she went easy on us QLD’ers!

Not only did we have an enjoyable night of bowls, we were also lucky enough to have had Lee Crockford, co-founder of SPUR, speak to us about Mental Health. Lee is a social impact specialist working to solve complex global challenges and creating global solutions for sustainability, fairness and wellness.

He was recently named as a Pro Bono Australia Impact 25 Finalist for 2019 and has been awarded as an UNLEASH Innovation Lab winner, an Australian representative to the G20 Youth Entrepreneurship Alliance, a TEDx Speaker, and was also named as “One of 20 Young Australians on the cusp of greatness.

We were so excited and grateful to have him join us for our first YNN Event for 2019.

To keep us engaged Lee planned an interactive game with us, learning more about Mental health and how it affects us in the workplace. The winner of this mini quiz was Andrew Power (JHK Legal) who walked away with a bottle of Moet kindly donated by the team at Results Legal who also sponsored this wonderful event.

After Lee’s presentation and formalities were out of the way we assembled on the green to pick teams and team names!

Divisional Partners

Official Division Supporting Sponsors

Our National and Divisional Partners support and work with the AICM to promote the Institute’s activities, represent the Credit Industry and develop the careers of all Credit Professionals.

As these organisations support your Institute and your Industry please consider them when you require assistance.

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AROUND THE STATES

CCE Breakfast: Pauline Dey (BDO), Alison Beythien (Iplex Pipelines) and Decia Guttorsmen (UQ).

AROUND THE STATES

South Australia

NCI team: David Baker, Daniel Mackintosh and Tom Shaw.

Worrells team: Ryan Osborne, Clare Venema, Neil Fennell and Nicole Cantone.

President’s Report

With a busy AICM calendar, the Adelaide V8 races, The Fringe, The Adelaide Festival and WOMAdelaide – enjoy your Mad March!

Well done to all those who helped make 2018 such a successful year for SA division of AICM. The year finished off with our first Pinnacle Awards, which was a spectacular event at the Cathedral Hotel. Congratulations to the nominees and the winners.

A special thanks goes out to Alice Carter and Suzi O’Connor for their organisation and to James Neate who, as always, entertained us with in his role as MC. Thanks too to Nick Pilavidis for making a special trip to Adelaide to join us.

2019 has started with a bang! We have already had two successful Toolbox sessions, Collecting with Confidence and Understanding Credit Risk. On 14 March we have our first networking evening at The Stag Hotel, followed by the hit Fringe show, “Baby Wants Candy, The Completely Improvised Full Band Musical”.

We are putting the finishing touches on the AICM National Insolvency half-day seminar, which will be held in Adelaide on 16 May at the Mayfair Hotel. We will have an exciting line-up of expert speakers and panellists which will be announced shortly.

On the SA division council, we are pleased to have Neil Fennell from Worrells Solvency & Forensic Accountants join us as our State Treasurer. Neil has had many years working in the insolvency profession and heads up Worrells SA’s Eyre Peninsula office. He has studied and worked in Whyalla, Alice Springs and Darwin and has a previous career as a property valuer. Neil is an AICM member and has supported AICM events for many years and we are pleased to have him part of our division council.

I also take this opportunity to thank Kevin Hollister, who retired from the SA division council last December. Kevin has been a wonderful attribute to the AICM over many years, particularly in the marketing portfolio with his numerous connections. He will be missed! However, Kevin has offered to help out and we will certainly be taking up his offer to call upon him.

Thank you also to Suzi O’Connor who has stepped down for the SA division council. Likewise, she made a valuable contribution and we look forward to continuing to see her at the various AICM events.

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– Nick Cooper MICM SA Division President

Pinnacle Awards South Australia’s Pinnacle Awards recognise the leading performers in our industry throughout the year. We held our inaugural event at the Cathedral Hotel on the 22nd November 2018 and as this was our first year of participation, we received a high calibre of nominees for each category.

The Torrens room was the perfect venue providing a great atmosphere to mingle and network whilst trying to surmise who the winners would be! We would like to thank the staff at the Cathedral Hotel for the excellent service they provided. We are also grateful to our sponsors of the evening who contributed to this event being a great success.

James Neate (Partner, Lynch Meyer Lawyers) was our emcee and he gave a very warm welcome to the attendee’s and kick started the event by introducing Nick Pilavidis (AICM Chief Executive Officer). Nick discussed the direction of the AICM and our involvement with government and industries bodies aiming to improve conditions in credit and have our say from a national perspective.

For a comprehensive review all the photos please click the gallery link http://aicm.com.au/training-events-calendar/ gallery/

Credit Manager of the Year Sponsored by illion We had a fantastic number of nominations for our first year including: zz Anne Wilkins FICM CCE – FMG Engineering zz Cheryl Guthrie – Cold Logic zz Corrine Axon MICM – Northline Partnership zz Elizabeth Mitchell – Adelaide Brighton Cement Ltd zz Helen Lipitkas MICM – Bickford’s Group of Companies zz Janelle Muegge MICM CCE – P & R Electrical Wholesalers Pty Ltd & Electrical Xpress Pty Ltd

South Australia

Corrine Axon (Northline) with Life Member Christine McMahon.

zz Jayne Gurney MICM – Bendigo & Adelaide Bank zz Joanne Murtagh MICM – Hoshizaki Lancer zz Julia Humphreys MICM – Cavpower Pty Ltd zz Kaden Davies MICM CCE – Samuel Smith & Son zz Lisa Anderson MICM CCE – Banner Mitre 10 zz Merna Spain MICM – Brice Metals Australia Pty Ltd zz Paul Westo MICM – Toro Australia zz Rachel Coomblas MICM – Walker Stores Pty Ltd zz Sandy Christpoulos MICM – Inenco Group – Winner

Membership Milestones

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Elizabeth Mitchell and Julia Humphreys (both of Adelaide Brighton Cement).

During the course of the evening Membership Milestones were announced (as below) and presented to those members that attended the event. Well done to all members achieving milestones, we appreciate your support of the AICM and commitment to your development as credit professionals. zz Anne Wilkins of FMG Engineering (20 years) zz Kaden Davies of Samuel Smith & Son (15 years).

Credit Officer of the Year Sponsored by Alloc8 zz Andrew Francis – Northline Partnership zz Ben Morrison – Samex Australian Meat Company Pty Ltd – Winner zz Emma Colborne MICM – Pernod Ricard Winemakers zz Georgia Mazzocato – Northline Partnership zz Pina Noto – Adelaide Fuel Distributors

The Australian Institute of Credit Management welcomes our Partners for 2019.

National Partners

Legal Representative of the Year Sponsored by Worrells Solvency & Forensic Accountants zz James Devonish FICM CCE – Oakbridge Lawyers zz Janelle Scott – Scott Lawyers – Winner zz Shane Sankey MICM – Wallmans Lawyers

Divisional Partners

External Collection/Mercantile Agent of the Year Sponsored by Kemps Credit Solutions zz Abby Poyzer MICM – Credit Solutions – Winner zz Brenton Hooper – AMA Commercial Collections zz David Lewis MICM – Mercantile CPA zz Daryl McKenzie MICM – NCI Commercial Collections

Official Division Supporting Sponsors

Business Consultant of the Year Sponsored by NCI Trade Credit Solutions zz Austin Taylor MICM – Meertens Chartered Accountants zz Dominic Cantone MICM – Worrells Solvency & Forensic Accountants – Winner zz Gemma Haggett MICM – NCI Trade Credit Solution zz Karen Foundas – Return to Work SA

Our National and Divisional Partners support and work with the AICM to promote the Institute’s activities, represent the Credit Industry and develop the careers of all Credit Professionals.

As these organisations support your Institute and your Industry please consider them when you require assistance.

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Victoria/Tasmania

Christmas Dinner, from front left to right: Jeff Hurst, Lou Caldararo Robyn Erskine, Catrina Galanti, Donna Smith, Frank Gambera and Mary Petreski.

Presidents Report Welcome to 2019, we have kick started our year on a high with our calendar full of great events and Professional Development.

What’s next around the corner for VIC/TAS – Toolbox series, WINC and the Half Day Insolvency seminar will help you grow, network and develop. If you haven’t already locked in your work development don’t forget to include some of these as part of your professional development.

If you are working in Tasmania reach out to us if you are looking at booking our Toolbox series in March.

The Toolbox series is aimed at Credit Professionals with extensive real-world experience suited for new members of credit teams seeking an introduction or established credit professionals seeking a refresher or a non-credit professional seeking to better understand credit these sessions are for you.

After 20 years of being involved with AICM, Jeff was awarded life membership of AICM inSeptember 2017 for all of his contribution, endless hours of volunteering and shaping our institute when he was our director. On behalf of the VIC/ TAS Council we wish you all the best and we are grateful that you have been a part of our lives. We will miss you Jeff and we will continue to support you with staying connected with our industry and growing your Trade Bureaux business across Australia.

– Sherif Hussein MICM CCE, VIC/TAS State President

A word from the VIC/TAS Council Now we are over the New Year, and well and truly stuck into 2019, I wanted to thank all the VIC/TAS Members and Sponsors for their support in 2018. 2018 was another strong year for VIC/ TAS in so many ways. We produced a great networking and professional development program; we gained lots of new members and some new vibrant faces on the council. A very successful year both professionally and financially. We wish you every success in the coming year and we hope to see more of you at our professional and networking events.

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volunteers? We donate our time, knowledge, expertise, energy and ideas to help to run the annual divisional program, which includes running the finances and bringing you all the annual events; everything from the networking events, the Young Credit Professional Awards, the Golf Day, the magazine articles, the professional development seminars, the Women in Credit Lunches, to the Pinnacle Awards and much more.

Thank you to all the members of the council for all their hard work, commitment and dedication to the advancement of the AICM VIC/TAS Division.

SPONSOR IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Katherine Higgins MICM (Lawyer, Commercial Disputes and Transactions) TurksLegal Without our State Sponsors, like TurksLegal, not only financially supporting the AICM, but donating their time, venue and expertise, we would not be able to provide members with the value they currently receive.

Therefore I would like to take Katherine Higgins – the opportunity to extend our TurksLegal warmest thanks to VIC/TAS State Sponsor TurksLegal, by introducing you to one of their up and comers in the Melbourne office, Katherine Higgins. Katherine joined TurksLegal in 2017 and is a Lawyer in the Commercial Disputes and Transactions group.

Outside of work, Katherine and her partner Vince live for travelling. Katherine has traveled to most continents including, Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East.

Katherine’s next dream destination is Borneo! When I asked about her favourite travel destination she said she’s torn between two. She recently returned from Africa (her third trip

Victoria/Tasmania AROUND THE STATES

Carlie Williams (Robert Half), Jake Wilson (Slater & Gordon Pty Ltd) and Wendy Plummer (Robert Half).

Mitchell Walls, Paula Lloyd, Brendan Lloyd (Austral), Jill Malek, Alison Malek (TurksLegal), Katherine Higgins (TurksLegal), Vincent Tran and Nader Malek.

there!) and fell in love with the Massai Mara National Park in Kenya. Her second favourite destination is Northern Thailand.

Katherine volunteered there when she was 17 years old and it has since become a second home. She simply loves the people, the food and the culture and says it is truly a special part of the world.

When asked about music and movies, Katherine said that she was born with an old soul. She loves Elvis, Aretha Franklin and the Beach Boys. When she gets time she enjoys nothing more than a good book, especially when it’s about travel and adventure. The Beach by Alex Garland is an all-time favourite (along with the movie of course!).

Katherine is definitely a dog person. She has a family dog called Jax, who is the most beautiful American Staffy x Rhodesian Ridgeback. She said her mother treats Jax like he is king of the family!

‘AFL or Rugby?’ was the next topic tackled. The day Katherine was born, a Melbourne Demons (AFL) jersey was put on her and she has been a mad Demons supporter ever since.

She said it would be a dream come true to see the ‘Dees’ win a flag next year!

An achievement Katherine is most proud of since joining TurksLegal is that after studying for almost nine years (Bachelor of Social Science and Master of Law (Juris Doctor)), she was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Victoria and her admission was moved by a very special mentor of hers, George Beaumont QC. This was an exceptional moment in her career. Also, Katherine recently assisted with a High Court Appeal which was a challenging and unique experience.

A fun fact that most people wouldn’t know about Katherine, is that despite her love of travelling and having travelled all over the world (including taking the world’s most dangerous flight to Everest Base Camp in Nepal), she has a serious fear of flying, which she has had since she was a kid.

When you next see Katherine at an event, please go up and introduce yourself. She would love you to talk to her about her travels, movies and books and her love for the Demons Football Club.

Thank you for sharing all that fantastic and fascinating information with us Katherine, and thanks again to TurksLegal for their continued support of the AICM.

Megan Han (Kings Transport), Trevor Middleton (Cosyn Software) and Tamara Henriques (Kings Transport).

VIC/TAS Division 2018 Pinnacle Awards Members and guests attended the 2018 annual Pinnacle Awards for the VIC/TAS Division, held at the RACV Club in Melbourne. Thank you to the staff at the RACV Club, the food and service was of a high standard. Networking opportunities were availed of before commencement of the sit down dinner, as members and guests eagerly awaited the announcement of the winners of the 2018 Pinnacle Awards.

Our evening was hosted by Lou Caldararo VIC/TAS representative as Director on the National Board, assisted

by Sherif Hussein, VIC/TAS President and Billing & Credit Manager for Interactive Pty Ltd. Our president delivered a brief presentation, thanking the event sponsors and members and guests for their attendance, before Lou went on to announce the nominees and winners for the event. Much appreciation is due to our award sponsors illion, Sharp & Carter, Alloc8, Jirsch Sutherland, and Turks Legal. Without these great supporters of the AICM these events would not be possible.

It is a great honour just to be nominated for the Pinnacle Awards. Our congratulations go out to the nominees for their participation in this year’s Pinnacle Awards, and hats off to our winners for 2018! Our 2018 nominees and winners were as follows (winners highlighted and denoted “winner”).

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Victoria/Tasmania Credit Manager of the Year Sponsored by illion zz Andy Liyanawaduge MICM (13CABS) zz Beverley Hartsorn MICM – Adecco Group – Winner zz Nunzio Settinelli MICM – MM Electrical Merchandising zz Ross Casey MICM – Dahlsens Building Centres

Credit Supervisor of the Year Sponsored by Sharp & Carter zz Andrew Cuff – Joval zz Katrina Bromley MICM – Spicers zz Lisa Wilson MICM – Dindas Australia – Winner

Sherif Hussein (VIC/Tas President) presents Length of Service Pins to David Condello (Auspost), Beverley Hartsorn (Adecco), Ralph Ziccarello (Snowden Developments & Pivot Construction Group), Maxwell Eliyathamby (St Michaels Grammar School), assisted by Jeff Hurst (Trade Bureaux Australia).

Senior Credit Officer of the Year Sponsored by Alloc8 zz Anoop Agarwal MICM – EFM Logistics zz Eric Gannon – ResourceCo Material Solutions zz Frank Fisher MICM – Australia Post – Winner zz Stacey Feaver – Silver Chef

Legal Representative of the Year Sponsored by Jirsch Sutherland zz Alison Malek MICM – TurksLegal zz Frank Gambera MICM – McMahon Fearnly Lawyers zz Nathanael Kitingan – Macpherson Kelley – Winner zz Rebecca Fahey MICM – SLF Lawyers Tony Kyriacou (Surdex Steel) Liam Bellamy (Jirsch Sutherland) Adrian Coughlan (Rinnai Australia), Lilian Bougiouklis (Ball & Doggett), Helen Fitz-Gibbon (illion), Malcolm Howell (Jirsch Sutherland), Robert Barrese (King & Whittle) Neale Paterso and Abbey Paterson (AAA Superannuation).

External Collections of the Year zz Andrew Smith MICM – ARMA Group zz Brendan Lloyd MICM – Austral zz Dale Hannan MICM – National Collection Services zz Jeanne McArthur MICM – McArthur Commercial Recoveries – Winner

Recruitment Consultant of the Year zz Daniel Close MICM – Sharp & Carter zz Stephen Langhammer – Robert Half – Winner

Consultant of the Year

Toolbox – Collect with Confidence: Ashay Shah (Continental Tyres), Diana Velez (Urbis), Trainer: Donna Smith (Reliance Recoveries), Erin Gannon (ResourceCo Material Solutions) and Jeanine Purdie (Repaid Collections).

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Sponsored by Turks Legal zz Damian Arena MICM – IODM Limited zz Enzo Amato – Arthur J Gallagher zz Jason Sutherlin – CreditorWatch zz Katheryn Kershaw MICM – National Collection Services – Winner zz Prudence Chang MICM – NCI (Brokers) Pty Ltd

Victoria/Tasmania

To see more photos from the Pinnacle Awards please CLICK HERE

Membership Milestones During the course of the evening Membership Milestones were announced (as below) and presented to those members Carole McTavish, Frank Fisher and David Condello (all Australia Post) with that attended the event. What an exceptional Helen Fitzgibbon and Rahul Grover (both illion). achievement to Jeff Hurst who has reached 30 years membership with the AICM! Well something new from the training. It is highly recommended done to all members achieving milestones, we appreciate your training for staff new to collections and even experienced support of the AICM and commitment to your development as collectors wanting a refresher or a different perspective. credit professionals.

Please direct any queries in relation to the Toolbox Series zz Nikki Dennis (5 years) of Credit Training to Andrew Le Marchant by calling the head zz Beverley Hartsorn (5 years) office on 1300 560 996 or emailing andrew@aicm.com.au . zz David Condello (10 years) zz Malcolm Howell (20 years) zz Ralph Ziccarello (25 years) Inspirational Quote of the Week zz Maxwell Eliyathamby (25 years) zz Jeff Hurst (30 years) “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – Members and guests expressed their appreciation and enjoyment you’re right.” of the evening, and complimented the AICM on the event. The – Henry Ford VIC/TAS council would like to take this opportunity to thank the event organisers for their hard work in organising the event.

It’s All in the Submission! Pinnacle Awards 2019 Did you know that the Pinnacle Awards are actually awarded on merit? Nominees with the best submissions actually win the award, the voting only figures into a small fraction of the each nominees’ score. So, if you are interested in nominating yourself or someone else for the 2019 Pinnacle Awards, do them a massive service by compiling the most exceptional submission for their nomination. Include and detail all of their strengths and achievements that you have observed of them whilst they have been in the role. Please include details of awards or recognitions they may have achieved both in and out of the workplace. Also, gather testimonials from customers and stakeholders that highlight what makes the nominee a standout in their role. Ultimately, the better your submission, the better the nominees’ chances are of winning the award. Keep that in mind when nominations open in October for the 2019 awards.

The Australian Institute of Credit Management welcomes our Partners for 2019.

National Partners

Divisional Partners

Official Division Supporting Sponsors

Toolbox – Collect with Confidence – 19 February 2019 The AICM’s Toolbox Series continues to deliver for credit professionals in VIC/TAS. Attendees from a range of backgrounds and experience continue to have great things to say about the delivery and content of the Toolbox Series.

Every participant has gained some new perspective or learnt

Our National, Divisional and Professional Partners support and work with the AICM to promote the Institute’s activities, represent the Credit Industry and develop the careers of all Credit Professionals. As these organisations support your Institute and your Industry please consider them when you require assistance.

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The High Five! Award zz Interactive Billing & Credit Team – Winner zz Jeff Hurst LICM CCE – Trade Bureaux Australia zz Lou Caldararo LICM CCE

AROUND THE STATES

Western Australia/Northern Territory Presidents report

Belinda Parkinson – Veolia Environmental Services, Lauren Garvey – Golder Associates, Jason Louis – BGC, Nicholas Mansfield – Price Sierakowski Sarah Reed – Water Corporation, Stephanie Hughes – Cloud Collections, David Hurt – WA Insolvency Solutions, Hazel Vas – Instant Waste Mangement Raff Di Renzo – Nova Legal, Natalie Walker – Vocs Communications.

Harish Bhudia – Perth Airport Pty Ltd, Jason Louis – BGC, Stephanie Hughes and Trevor Greenhill – Cloud Collections, Chris Meadwell – Mediterranean Shipping Company.

Belinda Parkinson, Caris Baker, Anja Bonnard all of Veolia Environmental Services.

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Hello Members and Friends of the WA Credit Community.

2018 is done and dusted and we look forward to stepping up to the plate again in 2019.

We welcomed a new member to the Council in January, Mel Cooper. You will see her bio below.

We are always looking to grow the local team. We invite members to give thought to join us on Council to deliver quality education programs and fun social activities. Your ideas and suggestions help us continue driving the WA Division forward.

2019 will be a great year for West Australia. In February we rolled out ‘Jack Attack’ at the Manning Bowls Club.

A switch of venue was nice change.

We were well looked after by Shane Knott the current No.1 ranked player in WA. Team WA appreciate the time he afforded us before his next competition in NZ where he will be representing the Perth Suns in the APL. March will give all members an opportunity to brush up on their collection skills. Troy Mulder, Credit and Payments Manager for Alinta will be delivering “Telephone Techniques”.

Always well received, this toolbox is a must for those new to the collection industry and a great way to brush up on your skills for those who have been around a while.

We will be welcoming Alan Langford from Bankwest back in April to have a look at the budget. With the National Election not far off the horizon, we will want to know how it will affect Western Australia, its businesses and the electorate as a whole.

WA Council have been working closely with National to bring back the AICM Roadshow. This year, National in conjunction with WA will be presenting an Insolvency Seminar in May. We are all very excited to be part of this initiative.

Keep your eyes peeled for a Save the Date notice in your inbox.

June will be the month for the female members to get together. This year we will be hosting the Women in Credit event at International on the Water at Rivervale. The venue looks great and overlooks the Swan River. We are very pleased to be able to find new and different locations that showcase the city of Perth.

Western Australia/NT – Lisa Marr MICM WA Division President

Pinnacle Awards The Christmas drinks and Pinnacle Awards night was held on 6 December at The Pagoda Resort in South Perth. It was our second time of hosting the awards and it was good to see the nominees getting the recognition for their hard work and achievements over the past year.

It was a successful night that provided a great opportunity to network and catch up with people across the credit network in Perth. Congratulations to all our nominees and our winners on the night!

Over the past 6 years working in the Credit Management industry, I have gained sound knowledge and experience in the credit industry working with both a national and global customer base and have the enthusiasm to grow further.

With that, I am currently undertaking a qualification in Credit Management through the AICM to improve my professional development. I have also been honoured to be nominated as one of the WA YCPA State Finalists from 2013 to 2016.

Outside of the office, I enjoy catching up with mates and enjoying a good cocktail and some pub grub or relaxing at home invested in a Netflix series. I also have a strong passion for the best footy club in the west – The Fremantle Dockers.

I am excited to join the WA Council, expanding my networking circle, providing me the opportunity for further development and to also add value and influence within the industry.

Credit Manager of the Year

Membership Milestones

zz Jason Louis MICM of BGC – winner zz Lauren Garvey MICM of Golder & Associates

At the Pinnacles dinner the following members service was recognised and they were presented with pins

Credit Supervisor of the Year zz Belinda Parkinson MICM of Veolia zz Sarah Reed of Water Corporation – winner

Legal Representative of the Year zz Nicholas Mansfield of Price Sierakowski zz Raffaele Di Renzo MICM CCE of Nova Legal – winner

External Collections of the Year zz Natalie Walker MICM of Vocus Communications zz Stephanie Hughes of Cloud Collections zz Trudie Walsh MICM – WA Insolvency Solutions – winner

5 Year Pin

Harish Bhudia

10 Year Pin

Byron Savage

15 Year Pin

Cheryl Dickinson

25 Year Pin

Mary Noons

25 Year Pin

Laurence Torpy.

The Australian Institute of Credit Management welcomes our Partners for 2019.

National Partners

The High Five Award zz Hazel Vas, Instant Waste Management – winner

To see more photos from the Pinnacle Awards please CLICK HERE MEET NEW COUNCILLOR Divisional Partners

Melissa Cooper MICM After searching for a change from the hospitality industry, I began working as an admin officer at AMCAP Distribution Centre. Within a year, I progressed into the Accounts Receivable department as a Credit Officer, a position I held for 4 years before leaving Amcap to take up a credit controller role at MiX Telematics, who provide Fleet Management, driver safety and vehicle tracking services and solutions.

Official Division Supporting Sponsors

Our National and Divisional Partners support and work with the AICM to promote the Institute’s activities, represent the Credit Industry and develop the careers of all Credit Professionals.

As these organisations support your Institute and your Industry please consider them when you require assistance.

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I better leave it there or I’ll give away too much for my next magazine write up. Looks to be a busy and eventful 2019 for WA. Can’t wait to see you all there.

AROUND THE STATES

New Members The Institute welcomes the following credit professionals who were recently admitted to membership in December, January and February.

New South Wales

South Australia

Gregory Aroutunian Ecolab Pty Limited Christine Bowen AHG Refrigerated Logistics Robert Byrnes Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd Christopher Carman Vamon Financial Blake Carter Equifax Nikita Cillero Ecolab Pty Ltd Ranka Cvetkovic ESV Accounting & Business Advisors Maja Dunimaglovska Equifax Thomas Greeley Equifax Peter Greening Eaton Industries Pty Ltd Peter Hermez St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney Sarah Hunter Ecolab Pty Ltd Aijay Lamela-Villasenor Ecolab Pty Ltd Amy Meekin Dell Financial Services Pty Ltd Rebecca Novak Collexa Recoveries & Investigations Josie Panapa Modern Star Pty Ltd David Quinn 3 P Partners Pty Ltd William Rainey Southern Cross Protection Pty Ltd Christine Saidhum Ecolab Pty Ltd Maria Salatyan Ecolab Catherine Salei Sony DADC Australia Pty Ltd Sheikh Shahariar Equifax Harjasmeet Sindhu Equifax Angela Smith SLF Lawyers Celestte Thistlethwayte CSR Ltd Yilun Wang Sharp Corporation of Australia Pty Ltd Sophie Wright Equifax Ivy Xu Ecolab Pty Ltd

Matthew Brennan Kim Mansfield Natalie Sampson Courtney Taylor Tegan Turner

Queensland Lena Adams Samanta Arakaki Bezerra Sheshna Chand Zhi Chen Cameron Clough Cameron Crichton Rhys Kasper Jasmine Lim Danielle McLachlan Bruce Patane William Simon Margaret Smith Kristy Walsh Kai Yu

JBS Australia Pty Ltd JBS Australia Pty Ltd JBS Australia Pty Ltd JBS Australia Pty Ltd Results Legal Pty Ltd Grant Thornton SLF Lawyers JBS Australia Pty Ltd Results Legal Patane Lawyers Pty Ltd Aurizon Operations Ltd JBS Australia Pty Ltd SLF Lawyers JBS Australia Pty Ltd

Victoria/Tasmania Venugopala Birlangi Brittany Bowd Christopher Brown Max Catenacci Desmond Chan Shane Cremin Corey Duong Kirsten Glasson Mariska Grimshaw Sharath Gundu Nathan Healey Sarah Hogan Mary Jalocha Jasmine Kua Barbara Meriton Linda Nicholls Warwick Oman Steve Pinirou Craig Riley Traci Schwerin Chris Sertic Muhammad Yasin Sindhu Abhinav Sood Benjamin Teycheney Natalie Williams Danielle Wood

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EFM Logistics Carpet Court W Coogan & Co Pty Ltd Club Assist Pty Ltd Moula Rodgers Reidy Moula RACV Carpet Court Pty Ltd Wilson Parking Moula Moula Bunzl Outsourcing Services Ltd Moula Tasman Chemicals Pty Ltd Sealed Air Australia Pty Ltd QBE Sealed Air Australia Pty Ltd Moula Moula Equifax Coogans Australia Post Zipform Digital Australia Post Sealed Air

Western Australia Shane Dirou Pioneer Credit Limited David Hodgson Grant Thornton Kristy Scaf Dowell Windows Daniella Tanasic Southern Steel Group

Overseas Mike Pettyjohn

Equifax N/A Creditsoft Solutions Grant Thornton CCC Financial Solutions Pty Ltd

Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd

Unlock the potential in your credit career credit staff

Consider an AICM Qualification course If you aspire to achieve greater heights in your credit career or want to get the best from your credit staff, then a qualification course can help you achieve your targets. Offered nation wide, you can study in your own time (24/7), with support available.

If you have industry experience or prior education, you may be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) credits to fast-track your qualification. If you’re an employer, you may qualify for a training grant. Talk to AICM today to discover your course options.

Diploma of Credit Management

Certificate IV in Credit Management

Certificate III in Mercantile Agents

Key credit issues such as personal & corporate insolvency, developing credit policies & compliance.

Issues relating to credit applications & securitisation, compliance, managing bad & doubtful debt & customer service.

All aspects of enforcing payment obligations & obligations of mercantile agent & debt collection activities.

Take the first step to a better career & talk to AICM today

Call 1300 560 996 or vist aicm.com.au

AICM Marketplace Directory of services For information, options and pricing please contact Andrew Le Marchant on +61 2 8317 5052 or E: andrew@aicm.com.au ADVISORY

COLLECTION SYSTEMS

AICM Divisional Partner

AICM Divisional Partner

SV Partners Suite 7, Ground floor, 26 St Georges Terrace Perth WA 6000, GPO Box 2527, Perth WA 6001 Tel: 08 6277 0026 Fax: 07 3229 7285 Email: perth@svp.com.au SV Partners is a national specialist accounting and advisory firm, with offices in the metropolitan and regional areas of each state, across the eastern seaboard. Our expert accountants and advisors have the skills and experience to assist across a wide range of areas, including insolvency, turnaround and advisory services for accountants, financial institutions, corporations, financial and legal advisors, and their clients.

INFORMATION

CreditorWatch Esker Australia Pty Ltd Suite 1502, Level 15, 227 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Tel: 02 8596 5126 Email: info@esker.com.au Web: www.esker.com.au Cash is the heartbeat of your business, so give your AR department the tool they deserve! Esker’s AR solution help companies reduce costs for invoice delivery, accelerate their cash collection process and automate the reconciliation of payments.

Contact us to easily achieve your cash collection goals, tackle root causes of payment delays and reduce collection disputes while improving customer relationships.

GPO Box 276 Sydney NSW 2001 Tel: 1300 501 312 Web: www.creditorwatch.com.au CreditorWatch is a leading commercial credit reporting bureau used by over 50,000 businesses across Australia. CreditorWatch offers a variety of products including customer monitoring/alerts, credit reporting, an indepth trade program and online credit applications to assist with customer onboarding and decisioning. Contact us today for more information or to organise a FREE TRIAL of any of products.

AICM National Partner

COLLECTIONS AICM Divisional Partner

CONSULTANCY

illion

AMPAC Debt Recovery

EDX

Level 5, 35 Clarence Street Sydney NSW 2000 Tel: 1300 426 722 Email: info@4ampac.com.au Web: www.4ampac.com.au

Tel: 03 9028 8278 Email: enquiries@edxppsr.com.au Web: www.edxppsr.com.au

Trust AMPAC, we guarantee to give you the right advice……

AMPAC provides a complete range of debt recovery and receivables management services to big business, government and thousands of SME’s nationally, so next time you are deciding how to deal with that difficult customer, pick up the phone and call us. We are ready to help you too.

COLLECTION SYSTEMS

Tel: 13 23 33 Web: www.illion.com.au

EDX is the market leader in PPSA consultancy and registration, with over 15 years’ experience in Australia and New Zealand. We have helped hundreds of Australian businesses adjust to the PPSA by providing no-nonsense practical advice, coupled with first class PPSR registration capability and registry management. Whether you have high volumes and need a software solution or simply wish to outsource, EDX has a solution to meet your needs.

Dun & Bradstreet has changed. We are now illion.

Bringing data, analytics and insights to life is at the heart of what we do, and we will continue to break new ground in the product development and innovation space. Our commercial and consumer databases enable Australian businesses and consumers to make informed decisions, based on real time data drawn from an extensive range of sources. We remain a reliable and trusted partner to a wide range of global organisations, who use our solutions for credit reporting, risk management, sales and marketing and receivables management.

AICM Divisional Partner

AICM National Partner

AICM Divisional Partner

Kemps Credit Solutions OnGuard Tel: 1800 123 613 Web: www.onguard.com OnGuard’s Credit management solution will help you hit your collection targets – each and every month.

By working smarter and providing better visibility, OnGuard will help you reduce your DSOs. Why not give your staff a friendly solution that will make their life so much easier.

Contact us to show you how OnGuard has made life a whole lot easier for our customers.

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50 Grenfell Street Adelaide 5000 Tel: 08 8418 1450 Email: gcrowder@kemps.com.au Web: www.creditsolutions.net.au/kemps Kemps Credit Solutions. A debt collection partner you can trust. Working with some of the country’s leading providers of information management and data intelligence solutions.

Since 1965 Kemps Credit Solutions has set the benchmark for providing quality collection and recovery services to South Australian businesses and government.

CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • March 2019

Equifax Tel: 13 83 32 Web: www.equifax.com.au Equifax is a global information solutions company, providing data and insights that help organisations and individuals make more informed decisions. As a leading provider of credit information and analysis in Australia and New Zealand, Equifax serves key markets in risk management, marketing services and HR solutions.

Drawing from trusted sources to compile and process data, Equifax helps its customers see things and make connections that others can’t.

AICM MARKETPLACE

AICM Marketplace Directory of services For information, options and pricing please contact Andrew Le Marchant on +61 2 8317 5052 or E: andrew@aicm.com.au INSOLVENCY

LEGAL

RECRUITMENT

AICM Divisional Partner

AICM Divisional Partner

Insolvency Intel Tel: 1300 265 753 Web: www.insolvencyintel.com.au Email: answers@insolvencyintel.com.au Insolvency Intel: a subscription-only provider of insolvency and turnaround services for credit managers. Backed by national firm Jirsch Sutherland, our friendly team is just a phone call or email away, providing members with practical, strategic advice about corporate and personal insolvency. Free initial consultation; networking opportunities; training and presentations; knowledge database access; regular newsletters.

Register now for a free subscription.

AICM Divisional Partner

Nova Legal

Sharp & Carter

Level 2, 50 Kings Park Road West Perth 6005 Tel: 08 9466 3177 Web: www.novalegal.com.au

Web: www.sharpandcarter.com.au

Nova Legal can assist with the recovery of problem debtors (large and small). Founding director Raffaele Di Renzo acts for creditors, debtors, directors, credit managers and insolvency practitioners in relation to solvency issues and dispute resolution.

For any assistance with Credit recruitment, please call Melbourne – Chris Belegrinos on 03 9616 2622 Email: cbelegrinos@sharpandcarter.com.au Sydney – Taha Sayed on 02 8315 8800 Email: tsayed@sharpandcarter.com.au Sharp & Carter will tailor candidate sourcing strategies to suit your company’s needs, taking into account factors such as time frame, budget, level of role and availability of candidates in the market.

We are committed to achieving a successful outcome for every assignment on which we work.

AICM Divisional Partner TECHNOLOGY

Vincents

CreditSoft Solutions

Level 34 Santos Place, 32 Turbot Street Brisbane QLD 4000 Tel: 1300 VINCENTS

(07) 3228 4000 Web: www.vincents.com.au

Results Legal

We live in a world of increasing complexities; the need for true expert advice is now more evident than ever. Established for more than 25 years Vincents is an Australian firm of accounting experts and business advisers specialising in assurance and risk advisory, business advisory, corporate advisory, financial advisory, forensic services, and insolvency and reconstruction. Gain insight and take control with Vincents.

Results Legal is a national firm with a focus on promoting and protecting the rights of trade creditors.

Our clients are some of Australia’s largest trade credit companies who rely on our assistance for legal recovery, dispute resolution, preference claim defence and PPSA rights. Results Legal are the obvious first choice for companies seeking a national solution to resolve commercial disputes and pursue swift, successful and cost effective legal recovery action.

AICM Divisional Partner

AICM Divisional Partner

Level 4, 183 North Quay Brisbane QLD 4000 Tel: 1300 757 534 Web: www.resultslegal.com.au

Worrells

TurksLegal

Suite 1103, Level 11, 147 Pirie Street Adelaide SA 5000 Tel: 08 8214 0500 Email: adelaide@worrells.net.au Web: www.worrells.com.au

Tel: 02 8257 5700 Web: www.turkslegal.com.au Contact: Daniel Turk

Worrells is dedicated to solvency management, insolvency administration and forensic investigation. Worrells have been providing high quality corporate and personal insolvency services for over 40 years. We pride ourselves on offering reliable and practical solutions to those burdened with debt. With 24 partners and over 100 staff in 26 locations across Australia we are resourced nationally but focussed locally.

TurksLegal is a specialist commercial law firm with 33 Partners and over 160 staff across our Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane offices. We are proud to look after the interests of trade creditor suppliers and financial institutions in: l Portfolio debt recovery using our market-leading, real-time client interface, ‘TurksFocus’ l Resolution of complex debt disputes l PPSA recovery l Defence of unfair preference claims l Supply documentation and guarantees.

AICM MARKETPLACE

Tel: 1300 720 164 Email: info@creditsoft.com.au Web: www.creditsoft.com.au CreditSoft specialises in providing credit managers with innovative products that will save your business significant operating costs and allow you to manage your time and resources more efficiently. We offer contact, tracing, payment, reporting and analytic solutions that redefine the way credit departments operate. Our goal is to ensure you achieve the best possible return on your investment.

TRADE CREDIT INSURANCE National Supporting Sponsor

National Credit Insurance Brokers Tel: 1800 882 820 (freecall) Email: info@nci.com.au Web: www.nci.com.au National Credit Insurance Brokers (NCI) has established itself as the premier trade credit insurance broker in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Trade credit insurance is a highly specialised area of insurance and, with its 30 years of experience, National Credit Insurance Brokers has developed an unmatched depth of expertise in arranging the right protection at the best price for your particular trading needs.

March 2019 • CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA

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The Publication for Credit and Financial Professionals

IN AUSTRALIA

Level 3, Suite 303 1-9 Chandos Street St Leonards NSW 2065 PO Box 64 St Leonards NSW 1590 Tel: 1300 560 996 Fax: (02) 9906 5686 www.aicm.com.au