Commercial Collection Agencies of America recently participated at the October meeting of the Credit Research Foundation held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The association addressed the membership of Credit Research Foundation, a nonprofit, research and educational organization, which advances the understanding, practice and development of technique and trends in business credit for the benefit of businesses worldwide by communicating the value of credit and receivables management. The membership consists of senior leaders/department heads from Fortune 1500 organizations.

The session, presented by Commercial Collection Agencies of America Executive Director, Annette M. Waggoner, stressed the relevance of the certification process of commercial collection agencies, as well as detailed operational standards and requirements which are paramount to protect the credit industry.

Waggoner illustrated what credit grantors should look for when enlisting the services of a commercial collection agency, outlining effective attributes of an agency. In addition, attendees learned about the history of certification and why now, more than ever before, codification of requirements is necessary.

She continued with an explanation of the five main sectors of the certification program of Commercial Collection Agencies of America which create the unparalleled program that the organization offers to elevate the standards in the collection industry.

“The certification requirements process and resulting Certificate of Accreditation and Compliance serve as the prototype and standard for third party commercial agency membership within the Credit Research Foundation,” added Bill Balduino, President of CRF.

“As a Platinum Partner of CRF, we were proud to present a relevant session which spotlighted the criticality of the implementation of effective requirements and stress why it is crucial to credit risk professionals, as well as the C levels and audit teams at their firms, to choose a collection agency that has qualified for certification,” stated Waggoner.

The session also addressed collection statistics and the impact that bad debt write-offs have on sales and provided attendees with useful industry reports.

When queried about the difference between certification programs, Waggoner offered that there are fundamental differences in the programs. She stressed that the promulgation of certification requirements must be done by a knowledgeable governing body and the implementation of those requirements must be dedicated, consistent and properly monitored-attributes which make the accredited program of Commercial Collection Agencies of America superior to others.

Commercial Collection Agencies of America is an organization of commercial collection agencies, creditors’ rights attorneys and law list publishers many of whom have been certified for over four decades. It is the only certifying body in which all agency members are certified.

For a copy of the program presented at Credit Research Foundation or to learn more, please contact Commercial Collection Agencies of America by emailing Executive Director, Annette M. Waggoner at awaggoner@commercialcollectionagenciesofamerica.com.