This course focuses on understanding the needs of small to medium size enterprises (SMEs). Participants learn to evaluate the credit worthiness of these enterprises, often in circumstances where they are dealing with unreliable or inadequate financial information.

Course Objectives
Participants will learn to:

• Identify the key elements that are used to derive a credit score.
• Evaluate a Dunn and Bradstreet report.
• Explain different corporate structures including: C Corporations, S Corporations, Partnerships, and Sole Proprietorships.
• Identify key accounts on the tax returns.
• Develop questions to ask about the accounts and trends on the tax returns.
  Describe macroeconomic factors that affect a business and its ability to repay a loan.
• Evaluate business, industry and management risk elements and their effect on loan repayment.
• Develop questions to ask about trends in the accounts on the financial statements.
• Analyze key ratios including liquidity, leverage, asset management, profitability and coverage ratios.
• Explain the cash conversion cycle.
• Construct and analyze cash flow statements.
• Identify the key elements of a global cash flow.
• Construct and analyze projected cash flow statements.
• Identify early warning signs of problems loans.
• Evaluate the risks associated with lines of credit, term loans, permanent working capital loans, and owner occupied real estate transactions.
• Describe the key elements used to structure a loan.
• Present their loan recommendations before a mock loan committee.

Format and Timeframe
We customize materials and cases to reflect the participant’s lending environment. Lecture and discussion are supplemented by case work, group exercises and role play that keep the course both fast paced and interesting. This is a three day course.

Who should attend?
Senior lenders
Commercial lending officers
Relationship Managers
Financial analysts and underwriters
Branch Managers