Business Accounting Programs require Credit Management Professionals to Get Started
Are you highly organized and have the
ability to plan and prioritize? Are you comfortable dealing with numbers
and computers and have strong numeracy skills? In addition, do you
consider yourself a strong communicator, problem solver and decision
maker? If you answered ‘yes’ to these questions and have an interest in
working as a credit management professional, you may want to consider
taking the finance management courses offered in Centennial College’s
Business Accounting – Financial and Credit Management program.
Applicants
to this program must have completed an Ontario Secondary School Diploma
(OSSD) or equivalent, or mature student status (19 years or older). In
addition they should possess English Grade 12 C or U or equivalent, or
skills assessment and Math Grade 11 C, M or U, or Grade 12 C or U or
equivalent or skills assessment.
The Credit Institute of Canada,
the country’s most respected credit organization, and the only body that
grants official designations to Canadian credit professionals, has
partnered with Centennial College to deliver the Business Accounting program.
This collaboration signals to employers that Centennial graduates have
attained the knowledge and competencies the business community is
seeking. In addition, eligible graduates have the opportunity to enhance
their overall career success by obtaining the CCP designation granted
through the CIC.
Not only are the finance management courses
in Business Accounting developed but the CIC, but the offering also
shares a common first semester with Centennial’s Accounting program.
This allows students to grasp key accounting fundamentals before
specializing in credit management. As such, the first semester features
courses such as: Financial Accounting, Microcomputer Applications
Software, Mathematics of Finance, Strategies for Business Success and
more.
In the final three semesters, students gain comprehensive
knowledge in credit management concepts including: financial statement
analysis, securities, risk evaluation, collections, bankruptcy and
credit department reporting. Specific finance management courses during
this portion of the Business Accounting program include: Taxation
(offers a basic understanding of the Income Tax Act and regulations to
determine the Income Tax Liability as it applies mainly to individuals.
Also allows students to learn how to prepare a simple tax return and to
use the knowledge gained from this course to solve problems relating to
the taxation of individuals resident and non-resident of Canada);
Personal Credit (introduces students to the principles of credit
extension. Topics include consumer lending, mortgage lending and
financial statement analysis affecting particularly consumer loans and
mortgage applications); Corporate Finance (covers topics in the
financial management of profit-seeking organizations. A major objective
is to develop analytical and decision-making skills in domestic and
international finance, through the use of theory questions and practical
problems); and more.
Upon graduation from the Business
Accounting program, students become credit management professionals and
are responsible for overseeing the credit policies of an organization
from assessing credit limits to determining risk of an applicant. They
are essential to all businesses particularly banks, loan firms and
credit card companies who rely on them to ensure their operations run
smoothly. Titles in this field include: Credit Manager, Collections
Manager, Credit Supervisor, Credit Representative, Accounts Receivable
Manager and Accounts Receivable Representative. These professionals are
employed in areas such as: trust companies, banks, credit unions,
consumer loan companies, mortgage investment companies as well as
credit/collection departments within companies.
