Commercial Collections Blog

Burt & Associates joins the Inc. 500 Class of 2007

We are proud and excited to announce that Burt & Associates has once again been selected as an Inc. 500 company.

Burt & Associates joins the Inc. 500 Class of 2007 and is pleased to receive this honor for the second year in a row. As you may know, the Inc. 500 recognizes America’s fastest growing private companies.

The formal list comes out in the September issue of INC. Magazine.

Thank you for being a part of our continued success. Together, let’s strive for bigger goals.

Warm regards,

Jerry Curtis
President & CEO

Educational Tidbits For Today’s Credit Executive
The ABC’s of Secured Lines of Credit for Businesses

Secured credit line financing is a flexible form of working capital that all businesses should consider. It is critical for cash flow management because it provides access to a line of credit that can be used anytime a need arises. This means that your regular business operations will not have to stop while you wait for the cash flow to come in that you need to pay employees, pay for inventory, pay for advertising, and more. Timing is essential for a business. You want to make sure you can make all of your required payments on time to minimize disaster.

A secured credit line gives your business security that funds are available if times aren’t good for a short period of time for your business. Sales are always fluctuating, especially for new businesses, so it is important that you have a backup plan so your business doesn’t fail.

A secured credit line functions just like a credit card in that you are given a credit limit and you can make purchases on that line of credit. You are only charged interest on what your business actually uses instead of on the whole line of credit like a loan. You can also make small or large payments on your line of credit each month, instead of being locked into a monthly rate much like a standard loan. This again gives you flexibility to either pay the minimum or pay the balance in full each month. Another thing to keep in mind is that once you are approved for a credit line you will not have to reapply. This eliminates any hassle involved with getting approved for loans, and again gives you the peace of mind that you always have this line of credit to fall back on.

Credit lines can be open-ended (like a standard credit card account), or they can be due at the end of a specified term.

Personal vs. Commercial Credit Lines

A line of credit can be a personal loan or a commercial loan. Many small businesses, especially start-ups, rely on personal credit lines to finance their companies. A home equity credit line is a good example of a secured personal credit line. Unsecured credit lines are also available, but their interest rates are usually higher.

Commercial lines of credit are preferable to personal credit lines because they use company assets, rather than personal assets, such as collateral. Also, you typically have greater borrowing power with commercial lines of credit, although these are generally harder to obtain.

Both types of loans have set borrowing limits. The amount, however, can vary greatly based on a company’s collateral and cash flow needs.

The Credit Manager’s Q&A Corner

Question: Explain mediation as a form of alternative dispute resolution.

Answer: Mediation is where parties either voluntarily or by court order meet with an independent party who attempts to effect the settlement of a dispute. Most of the time, mediation is nonbinding and it is only an attempt to reach a settlement.

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