Whether it’s a visit from a loved one, a gift to remember, or a card from an old friend, surprises are a treat at Christmas, but for anyone in business, they are rarely welcome at any time of year!
At the moment, I’m sure most of you would prefer a period of stability so you can think long-term and develop a strategy for investment and growth. Of course, plans have to be flexible enough to respond to changing circumstances, but few companies can afford to be at the mercy of events.
Take the sudden failure of a major company. A financial shock of this kind can leave its suppliers struggling to increase turnover just to make up for the loss or even derail their own businesses.
Unfortunately, the first time that many companies know that a trading partner is in trouble is when they are already on the verge of administration. By then, it is often too late or more difficult to extricate themselves from the business relationship.
This is where Coface’s Debtor Risk Assessments (DRA) can give you a huge advantage. Because we calculate the probability of payment default over a twelve-month period, not just the likelihood of insolvency, we can help you spot potential difficulties at a much earlier stage, both domestically and overseas.
Coface provides risk coverage in over 190 countries, and our underwriters make up to 10,000 decisions every day. The nature of our business demands that we dig deeper than publicly filed accounts, so we take into account business intelligence from a wealth of sources, including our database of 130 millioncompanies, payment incidents notified by our 50,000 credit insurance clients, our global network of information partners, and the latest updates from our risk analysts on the ground.
With our DRA, you can see the probability of default expressed on a scale of 0-10 (the lower the score, the higher the risk), so you can decide whether you want to do business with them. The moment we detect any cause for concern, we adjust the score and our credit opinions accordingly to alert you in sufficient time. Our aim is to guide you away from high-risk business and navigate towards lower risks.
The DRA is one of the unique insights available on URBA 360, Coface’s new online risk management tool. URBA provides an easy-to-understand graphic picture of a company’s risk. From the dashboard, you can instantly see the vital statistics for a trading partner and then drill down to the finer details, including 26 different financial ratios and relevant macro-economic analysis. The intuitive interaction means you can find what you need with a click, rather than wading through pages of information in a business report.
While it is impossible to eliminate all trade risk, Coface’s expert analysis helps ensure you won’t be blindsided by the loss of an important customer or supplier at a critical moment. An early warning system could be the best present you can give your business this year.
Find out more about how your business can benefit from the DRA or URBA, request a demo.