The four variables that make up a firm’s credit policy are (1) discount amount and period, (2) credit period, (3) credit standards, and (4) collection policy. Cash discounts generally produce two benefits: (1) they attract new customers who view discounts as a price reduction, thus sales would increase, and (2) they cause a reduction in the days sales outstanding (DSO) since some established customers will pay more promptly to take advantage of the discount, thus the level of receivables held would decline. Discounts might encourage customers now paying late to pay more promptly. Of course, these benefits are offset to some degree by the dollar cost of the discounts. The effect on bad debt expense is indeterminate. If the firm tightened its credit policy it is unclear what the firm would do with its cash discount policy. The firm could decrease the discount period and keep discounts unchanged.
Credit period is the length of time allowed all “qualified” customers to pay for their purchases. The shorter a firm’s credit period, the shorter the firm’s days sales outstanding, and the lower the level of receivables held. A shorter credit period might also tend to decrease sales, especially when a competitor’s credit period is longer than the firm’s own credit period. The effect of the credit period on bad debt expense is indeterminate.
In order to qualify for credit in the first place, customers must meet the firm’s credit standards. These dictate the minimum acceptable financial position required of customers to receive credit. Also, a firm may impose differing credit limits depending on the customer’s financial strength. Tight credit standards would tend to decrease sales (fewer customers would qualify for credit), decrease the level of receivables held, and would cause a decrease in the amount of bad debt expenses. The level of receivables held would be decreased due to the lower level of sales and also the probability that customers now qualifying for credit would take less time to pay. Bad debt expenses should decrease due to raising customers’ minimum acceptable financial positions.
Finally, collection policy refers to the procedures that the firm follows to collect past-due accounts. These can range from a simple letter or phone call to turning the account over to a collection agency. A tight collection policy would decrease the level of receivables held, as customers would decrease the length of time they took to pay their bills. A tight collection policy would also cause a decrease in the amount of bad debt losses the firm incurred.
A tightening of credit policy would tend to decrease sales, decrease the level of receivables held, and decrease the amount of bad debt expenses.