Character, Capacity, Capital, Conditions, and Collateral

Character – This relates to the motivation of the borrower to repay a debt obligation. It is unlike any other financial performance indicator found in the financial statements. Determining character is a judgment call derived from careful interviewing of the applicant and study of the applicants’ historical credit reputation. Background checks and interviews with others having business relations with the applicant are useful to make a fair appraisal.

Capacity – “Cash is King”. Loans are repaid from cash generated by the business’ operating cycle. Can the borrower manage their cash efficiently enough not only to repay the loan, but all other debts simultaneously? Historical financial performance is evaluated to determine how the borrower handles their debts and expenses. Sources to review include the Income Statement, Statement of Cash Flows, and partially the Balance Sheet. A new or very young business is difficult to judge because they have not yet accumulated enough historical data to review.

Capital – It is the funds available to operate a business. The two primary conditions in this area involve the amount of owner’s equity (OE) and efficient uses of the capital to operate the business. It is not good when borrowed capital (credit) is greater than OE. Careful scrutiny of the Balance Sheet is required in this area. The purpose of capital is to maintain operations. Borrowing funds to augment operations is normal. However, too much borrowed capital is a sign that something is wrong.

Conditions – These are external factors relative to the industry of the business. The current state of the economy is a good example. Industry events and situations (current and predicted) are taken into consideration as to how it affects the business. For example, if a key supplier of the business experiences a labor strike, further investigation is needed to consider the affect on the business. Interviews with key officers and the business owner can shed light on what is happening. Additional resources like trade journals, industry news reports and the like are useful tools.

Collateral – Lenders want repayment from cash, not property. The last thing a lender wants to do in a default is take the property pledged backing up a loan. Property pledged is only a means to offset weaknesses in the other Cs. It is a safety net of last resort should a loan default a secondary source of repayment. A collateral pledge is completely irrelevant if the loan request contains too many negative signs in the foregoing credit assessment areas.