Case Studies

Building a Structured Credit Governance Framework

profile

Background

A Mumbai-based FMCG distributor network with operations across western India faced increasing credit risk exposure due to rapid expansion into new markets.

Credit approvals were largely relationship-based, resulting in:

  • Inconsistent credit limits
  • Weak documentation
  • Rising overdue payments

Finvigil Insights was engaged to design and implement a formal Credit Policy Framework.

Key Challenges

The company lacked:

  • Defined credit eligibility criteria
  • Structured approval hierarchy
  • Standard documentation requirements
  • Risk-based credit limits

Additionally, sales teams were often granting credit without finance approval.

Finvigil Solution

Finvigil implemented a three-layer credit governance system.

  1. Credit Risk Scoring

Customers were evaluated using a proprietary scoring model including:

  • Financial strength
  • Payment history
  • Industry risk
  • Market reputation
  1. Credit Approval Matrix

Credit Exposure

Approval Authority

Up to ₹10 lakh

Credit Manager

₹10–50 lakh

CFO

Above ₹50 lakh

Credit Committee

  1. Documentation Framework

Mandatory documentation included:

  • Financial statements
  • GST compliance verification
  • Bank reference checks
  • Trade references

Outcomes

Within one year:

  • Overdue receivables declined by 42%
  • Bad debts reduced by 65%
  • Credit approval cycle reduced from 14 days to 5 days

Strategic Insight

A formal credit policy converts credit decisions from intuition into structured risk management.