CICMQ
Prove Your Credit Management Excellence to Clients & Stakeholders
CICMQ is the only globally recognised B2B and B2C credit management accreditation that validates your commitment to best practice.
Trusted by leading organisations across industries
How would your team benefit?
CICMQ accreditation delivers tangible and measurable benefits for credit and collections teams, supporting both operational performance and professional development. Accredited organisations see real return on investment through improved cashflow, reduced DSO, and stronger bad debt management, underpinned by more robust policies, procedures and governance.
Accreditation provides formal recognition of excellence in credit and collections by the industry’s professional body, enhancing the profile, influence and credibility of the credit function within the wider organisation. Through the assessment process, teams gain detailed insights and clear, actionable recommendations from highly experienced credit management professionals, helping you to identify strengths, address gaps and embed a culture of continuous improvement.
CICMQ also supports people and culture. All credit and collections team members receive CICM Affiliate Membership, helping reinforce professional development, engagement and cohesion. Organisations benefit from stronger recruitment and retention of high-performing staff, alongside access to the CICMQ Best Practice Network – enabling benchmarking, shared learning and collaboration with other leading credit teams.
What's included in CICMQ?
CICMQ accreditation follows a structured, end-to-end process designed to assess current practice, identify opportunities for improvement, and recognise excellence in credit and collections.
As part of this, organisations receive:
CICM Affiliate Membership for all employees within your credit and collections team
CICMQ Self-Assessment Questionnaire, supporting internal review and operational readiness
CICMQ Discovery Review, including a summary report and review meeting
CICMQ Assessment, incorporating an on-site visit and a full Assessment Report
CICMQ Award Presentation following successful Accreditation
CICMQ Mid-Term Review at 18 months, including a written report to support continuous improvement
Membership of the CICMQ Best Practice Network, with priority invitation to Best Practice events
Inclusion on the CICMQ website as an accredited organisation
Eligibility to apply for Excellence in Credit Management
Trusted by Credit Leaders. Proven Impact. Proven Results.
Hear from CICMQ accredited organisations
What do CICMQ accredited organisations say?
Achieving CICMQ Accreditation provides formal recognition of our commitment to excellence in credit management and collections. The CICMQ Distinction sets us as a leader in the water industry by demonstrating we uphold best in class practices. We consider this boosts our credibility in the industry and assures stakeholders of our high standards.
We also believe this has been a motivational boost to our existing colleagues and it enhances our attractiveness to new colleagues and apprentices. It highlights United Utilities as an ideal environment for learning and career growth in credit and collections.
It has provided the opportunity to review our procedures, leading to improvements and in turn our customers benefit from the professional standards we are consistently demonstrating.
Being re-accredited with Distinction by the CICM is a significant achievement for our team, recognising all the hard work they've put in.
The process, supported throughout by our assessor and the CICMQ team, gave us a valuable opportunity to dive deep into our processes and systems, helping us identify areas of focus for the coming years. There are multiple benefits, including recognition of the hard work the team do, being able to measure ourselves against best-practice standards and allowing management to assess performance.
The accreditation has energised the team, and we're excited to continue working with CICM to see what we can achieve next.
Staff turnover has stabilised, too — in part because of the team’s growing sense of ownership and pride. CICMQ has created space for structured development and recognition, helping the organisation attract and retain skilled professionals in a competitive public sector labour market.
The accreditation has also reinforced a culture of continuous improvement. From knowledge-sharing to professional development, the CICMQ framework has helped embed new habits and create a stronger sense of purpose across the team.
Asked what advice he'd give to other organisations considering CICMQ, Nigel is clear: “Do it. The benefits are real — financially and culturally. It's helped us build a credit function that's not only efficient, but truly fit for purpose in a health and social care context.”
The CICMQ experience has been extremely positive, not only for me as a Credit Manager but also for the team as a whole - it has been a genuinely collaborative journey, and the success is very much the result of a collective team effort.
The experience has further strengthened the team's cohesion and pride in their work, reinforcing the value they bring to the wider business.
Need more information?
Download the CICMQ brochure to explore the framework, process and benefits in more depth.