A credit analyst is a person employed by an organization to analyze the creditworthiness of customers and potential customers and to assist in the ongoing management and modelling of credit risk thereafter. What a credit analyst does is mainly related to gathering and analysing financial data about clients. These professionals are tasked with evaluating the data and recommending a course of actions for individuals or businesses..
A credit analyst will assess several factors, to decide whether or not a customer is likely to default on payments or not.
How to become a credit analyst
To qualify and venture into a career in this field, a professional requires:
- A bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting.
- This profession also requires aptitude in ratio analysis, basic accounting and other skills.
- Additionally, one is required to have quantitative skills, along with knowledge of industries. This is because as a credit analyst, one may need to have an understanding of various sectors.
- Being able to multitask also comes in handy.
- Knowledge of financial software is also advantageous.
Credit analysts are sought out by organisations as their roles are essential to mitigate risk.
Roles of a credit analyst:
- Reviewing credit applications
- Projecting sales
- Evaluating credit risk
- Analyzing financial data, statements and trends
- Setting new customer credit limits
- Recommending credit limits based on company credit policies
- Performing credit reviews of existing customers
- Maintaining customer files with financial statements and bank reference information
- Resolving credit issues
- Monitoring risk trends on behalf of management and sales personnel
