What does a credit director do?
A credit director oversees an organization's credit-granting activities, ensuring operations adhere to credit policies and standards. Their responsibilities include making decisions in adherence with the company's short- and long-term goals, setting priorities, establishing timelines, conducting regular reviews and assessments, negotiating with external parties, and coordinating managers and supervisors. They may also manage employees to achieve these goals.
Credit director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real credit director resumes:
- Manage a staff of 50+ FTE.
- Partner with small and entrepreneurial business to develop business plans and assist business owners with achieving payroll.
- Communicate collection concepts to associates using FDCPA guidelines and the company training guide.
- Developed/Share best practices, including collection practices and FDCPA rules/regulations training.
- Approve and prepare attorney cases for processing, guardianship, Medicaid eligibility and/or litigation.
- Major focus are on risk and DSO, integrating acquisitions, national accounts, high-risk customer visitations/negotiations, and trend identification/remediation.
- Automate new business process to verify bankrupt, decease and Medicaid/Medicare eligibility information on files.
- Develop standardized AR follow-up processes and diminish outstanding AR relate to Medicare and other healthcare payers.
Credit director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 6% of Credit Directors are proficient in Credit Policy, Oversight, and Credit Card. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Credit Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Credit Policy, 6%
Implemented letter of credit policy for handling and reducing accounts receivable risks for international accounts.
- Oversight, 6%
Complete oversight of Accounts Receivable with a balance exceeding $80 million.
- Credit Card, 5%
Developed process to accept credit payments using all 3 major credit card companies (American Express, Visa, MasterCard).
- Process Improvement, 5%
Collaborated with stakeholders and senior leaders concerning process improvements.
- Receivable Portfolio, 4%
Monitor, manage and analyze Corporate Collection Private Pay Receivable Portfolios.
- Credit Risk Management, 4%
Organized and managed the conceptual design and planning of a $10MM enterprise-wide credit risk management system.
"credit policy," "oversight," and "credit card" are among the most common skills that credit directors use at work. You can find even more credit director responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a credit director to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "to assist executives in making decisions, financial managers need to evaluate data and information that affects their organization." Additionally, a credit director resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "organized credit department for greater productivity and efficiency by utilizing key account concept of credit analysis. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform credit director duties is communication skills. Credit directors responsibilities require that "financial managers must be able to explain and justify complex financial transactions." Credit directors also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "negotiated and maintained all contracts and communications with outside collection agencies. "
Detail oriented. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of credit directors is detail oriented. This skill is critical to many everyday credit director duties, as "in preparing and analyzing reports, such as balance sheets and income statements, financial managers must be precise and attentive to their work in order to avoid errors." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "conduct detailed credit limit reviews for accounts with suggested credit limits in excess of $100,000. "
Math skills. A big part of what credit directors do relies on "math skills." You can see how essential it is to credit director responsibilities because "financial managers need strong skills in certain branches of mathematics, including algebra." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical credit director tasks: "developed and implemented month end and quarter end credit reporting and benchmarking statistics to track overall company performance. "
Organizational skills. Another common skill required for credit director responsibilities is "organizational skills." This skill comes up in the duties of credit directors all the time, as "because financial managers deal with a range of information and documents, they must have structures in place to be effective in their work." An excerpt from a real credit director resume shows how this skill is central to what a credit director does: "plan and provide leadership, direction, and support to direct reports and staff members in order to meet organizational objectives. "
The three companies that hire the most credit directors are:
- U.S. Bank33 credit directors jobs
- BMO Capital Markets7 credit directors jobs
- Citi5 credit directors jobs
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Compare different credit directors
Credit director vs. Accounts payable manager
An accounts payable manager is in charge of supervising a company's financial activities, particularly in all payable matters. Their primary responsibilities revolve around managing and assessing staff performances and overseeing check and payroll disbursements. They also take care of maintaining and securing records of employees, clients, and company finances, and implement company objectives while ensuring accuracy in all operations. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to uphold all company policies and regulations, all while leading and encouraging staff in a joint effort to accomplish goals and tasks.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between credit directors and accounts payable manager. For instance, credit director responsibilities require skills such as "credit policy," "oversight," "receivable portfolio," and "credit risk management." Whereas a accounts payable manager is skilled in "customer service," "purchase orders," "vendor invoices," and "financial statements." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Accounts payable managers really shine in the finance industry with an average salary of $70,221. Comparatively, credit directors tend to make the most money in the finance industry with an average salary of $114,191.accounts payable managers tend to reach lower levels of education than credit directors. In fact, accounts payable managers are 8.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Credit director vs. Accounting manager
An accounting manager is responsible for supervising and monitoring the overall accounting department operations. Duties of an accounting manager include reviewing account information and account statements, processing invoices, analyzing financial data, performing account reconciliations, assisting with tax processing and audit reports, and generating financial reports for presentation with the board. An accounting manager must have excellent knowledge of the accounting principles and legislation to assist the team with the company's financial goals. Accounting managers must have the outstanding analytical, critical thinking, and decision-making skills to develop the best competitive financial strategies.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, credit director responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "credit policy," "oversight," "receivable portfolio," and "credit risk management." Meanwhile, an accounting manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "cpa," "gaap," "customer service," and "payroll processing." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Accounting managers earn a lower average salary than credit directors. But accounting managers earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $99,773. Additionally, credit directors earn the highest salaries in the finance with average pay of $114,191 annually.In general, accounting managers achieve similar levels of education than credit directors. They're 4.4% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Credit director vs. Finance manager
A finance manager is responsible for monitoring the financial system of a company. Their tasks include handling their organization's financial status, generating cost estimates and budget goals, identifying business opportunities to increase revenues and profitability, improving financial strategies, reducing costs, analyzing account statements, processing invoice as needed, analyzing market trends, searching potential partnerships, and presenting reports. A finance manager must have excellent analytical skills and knowledge of the accounting and financial industry. They are responsible for providing the best recommendations for the organization's growth.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from credit director resumes include skills like "credit policy," "oversight," "credit card," and "receivable portfolio," whereas a finance manager is more likely to list skills in "financial analysis," "cpa," "customer service," and "hyperion. "
Finance managers earn the highest salary when working in the finance industry, where they receive an average salary of $118,926. Comparatively, credit directors have the highest earning potential in the finance industry, with an average salary of $114,191.When it comes to education, finance managers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to credit directors. In fact, they're 1.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Credit director vs. Risk manager
A risk manager is responsible for analyzing potential risks that may affect the organization's operations, reputation, and market credibility. Risk managers identify risk controls and discuss business contingency plans for unforeseen circumstances to prevent delays in operational services. They also develop compliance training and programs for all the employees to provide them the awareness of the safety and security regulations within the company premises. A risk manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially on handling and investigating cases that might compromise the business stability and financial status.
Types of credit director
Updated January 8, 2025
