A credit manager is defined as an individual who is responsible for the monitoring, planning and directing the output of the individuals employed by an organization in the credit department and makes decisions concerning credit limits, acceptable levels of risk and monitoring portfolio of clients. The functions of a credit manager are guided and controlled by the credit policy of each particular organization.
One of the key roles of a credit manager is the provision of informational to both internal and external stakeholders. To internal stakeholders, the credit manager gathers qualitative information such as the character of potential clients as well as the nature of business they carry out and quantitative information derived from financial statements and proof of income. This helps in making decisions in granting credit by eliminating clients with traits that are undesirable. Information such as performance of sectors granted credit helps internal stakeholders such as the marketing department to focus on more performing sectors to boost sales and reduce the exposure from non performing sectors. In the case of banks, the information to external stakeholders such as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe includes people who are extending credit lines to the bank for due diligence purposes as well as the loan book quality for inspection purposes and size and split for the assessment of the lending practices. The information in turn helps the RBZ to shape the macroeconomic fundamentals through policy by directing lending to required segments in order to sustain the economy.
It is a major role of the credit manager to review and analyze periodically the accounts of customers and update the credit information in the customer files including information from external sources such as the credit bureau. This is critical on decision such as granting of exceptions and whether to reschedule non performing accounts to improve the collection process.