Application Process

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do you have consistent evidence of working in a credit/collections dept. over about 3 years?
• Can you evidence examples of you managing debts and risks, assessing customer profiles, advising colleagues on credit policies?
• Is most of your focus on day to day activity, with some planning/projects that reach 6-12 months?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do you have consistent evidence of managing the credit cycle in an organisation over a period of about 5 years?
• Can you evidence examples of working with other departments, developing credit/collections policies and procedures, managing customer credit files?
• Do you work to timescales of around 12-18 months (such as planning business activity over a financial year or managing long projects)?
• Can you demonstrate your commercial understanding of your organisation?

Ask yourself these questions: 

• Do you have evidence of developing, delivering and implementing wide-reaching and long-term credit strategy?
• Can you evidence the impact of this strategy through evaluation of business outputs such as business metrics, financial measures?
• Can you evidence examples such as advising the organisation on all aspects of credit/risk management, leading credit-related projects, developing and implementing a quality scorecard, monitoring the organisation’s overall credit/collections performance?
• Do you work to timescales of 2 years or longer?

Associate Mandatory requirements – three years’ current experience:

1. Applying and administering credit/collections processes and policies.
2. Working either in commercial/consumer/export credit/collections department or a credit related organisation.
3. Focusing on day-to-day activity, as well as working on projects that plan for the immediate future: 6-12 months.

Associate Additional requirements – three years’ current experience:

1. Making an informed decision as to whether to extend the provision of credit to a customer.
2. Managing the debts and risk of current debtors.
3. Assessing and monitoring customer risk profiles.
4. Ensuring customers pay to terms.
5. Advising colleagues and managers on credit policy and processes.
6. Dealing with internal queries about payments.

Throughout your application the assessors will be looking for evidence of:

• All Mandatory requirements
• At least 50% of the Additional Requirements
• Your underpinning knowledge

Member Mandatory requirements – five years’ current experience:

1. Managing the credit management cycle
2. Working either in commercial/consumer/export credit/collections or a credit related organisation (as an employee or a consultant)
3. Focusing on current work and planning for the future, thinking 12-18 months ahead.

Member Additional requirements – five years’ current experience:

1. Managing the credit department/process and making decisions concerning credit limits, acceptable levels of risk and payment terms.
2. Managing relations with collection/reporting agencies and third parties.
3. Working closely with the sales and other relevant departments.
4. Developing and ensuring compliance with the credit/collections policy, recommending changes to senior management.
5. Creating a credit/collections scoring model.
6. Managing customer credit files.
7. Investigating high value/risk customer credit applications.
8. Visiting high value/risk customers to establish relationships.
9. Monitoring credit reviews.
10. Using business metrics and feedback to measure the effectiveness of credit/collections activity.
11. Demonstrating excellent commercial understanding of your organisation and business environment.
12. Managing compliance with relevant legal and regulatory frameworks, such as Data Protection and FCA.Please note you do not have to be line-managing a team to achieve MCICM status.

Throughout your application, the assessors will be looking for evidence of:

• All Mandatory
• At least 50% of the Additional Requirements
• Your underpinning knowledge

Fellow Mandatory requirements

1. Leading the design, development and implementation of credit/collections and business strategy.
2. Working either in commercial/consumer/export credit or a credit related organisation (as an employee or a consultant).
3. Focusing on current and future risks, working and planning for the future: the next 2 years plus.

Fellow Additional requirements

1. Ensure organisation-wide credit/collections policies and procedures are consistently interpreted, understood and applied, and that all deviations are appropriately reported, escalated and approved.
2. Advising the organisation on all aspects of credit risk/collections management, including policy review.
3. Ensuring that the organisation understands the risks associated with credit and collections which impact on cash flow, capital, investments, earnings, reputation, business operations and opportunities.
4. Delivering insightful management information to the Board.
5. Maintaining relationships with key service providers such as credit reference agencies.
6. Engaging with external bodies to set “industry leading” credit/collections policies.
7. Undertaking client visits to better understand the business/client environment.
8. Working closely with other areas of the organisation to develop business insights to influence future credit/collections policy development.
9. Developing and implementing a quality scorecard, monitoring the organisation’s overall credit/collections performance.
10. Leading projects to ensure compliance with relevant legal and regulatory frameworks.
11. Using credit management expertise and knowledge externally: publishing articles or texts, research, teaching, lecturing or promotional work.
12. Participating in CICM national or branch affairs, holding office or serving on a committee.

Throughout your application, the assessors will be looking for evidence of:

• all Mandatory
• at least 50% of the Additional Requirements
• your underpinning knowledge