One of the most overlooked strategies to manage your cash flow is to take time to determine the terms of the sale upfront and then getting a deposit or working out a payment plan that is fair based on their credit profile.

In the B2B market trade credit is standard practice and a useful tool to help your sales team to acquire new business, the challenge is how do you make sure that you do not over extended yourself in the process?

Credit Application

Formalizing the process of opening new accounts by requiring a credit application and then using the information provided to check their payment habits with other suppliers and using information obtained from third-party credit history services.

Use Third Party Information to Check Credit References

At dnbexpress.ca you can search the largest global business database of over 110 million companies, absolutely free. Once you search for a company, you can purchase a variety of credit reports on the company, ranging in price from as little as $7.

Credit reports available are all reasonably priced for the peace of mind gained. D&B provides reliable, high quality business information that is unmatched in the industry.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how many different reports are available. Look at the wide array of reports available:

• Comprehensive Report
• Business Information Report
• Financial Stress Score Report
• Payment Profile Report
• Credit eValuator Report
• Credit Check
• Business Verification Report
• Supplier Qualifier Report

Sample Reports

You can view sample reports and additional detailed information to help familiarize yourself with the options available and decide which report you would be most helpful in making your credit granting decision.

If you are serious about managing your cash flow then you have to formalize your credit granting process and the dnbexpress.ca website should be a key component when you are gathering information, check it out today.

And, until November 5, 2006, you'll be automatically entered into the D&B Two Ways to Win Sweepstakes with every report you purchase!* For details visit dnb.ca/twoways.