CMA has long recognized a need for a comprehensive resource guide for business credit professionals. The Encyclopedia of Credit was developed in 2000 by CMA volunteers and staff for the purpose of providing fast and easy access via the Internet to topics that impact the business credit industry. Available on the anscers.com Web site, the Encyclopedia has helped many CMA members with topics ranging from credit & collections, to international sales, to legal and accounting issues related to business credit.

The Encyclopedia of Credit is a living document that will continue to be updated and expanded to meet the changing needs of the business environment. To ensure that the Encyclopedia of Credit continues to be an effective and credible resource for credit professionals, CMA has contracted with professional credit consultant Paul Beretz, CICE, to work with staff and committee volunteers to maintain and grow the credit compendium. Paul recently presented CMA with a high-level critique of the Encyclopedia of Credit, which is being used as a guideline for upgrading the content, format, and organization of resource. Paul will work with the Encyclopedia Committee every month to provide ongoing consulting support for the Encyclopedia of Credit.

Paul Beretz was chosen for this project because of his extensive knowledge and experience with a wide range of business credit matters, as well as his experience in creating Web-based resource libraries similar to the Encyclopedia of Credit. CMA is very pleased to have Paul as a business partner in this ongoing endeavor to provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date business credit resource on the Internet. His biography appears below. CMA would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the significant content contributions of the National Association of Credit Management (NACM), the Credit Research Foundation (CRF), and author Michael C. Dennis, CBA, MBA.

Each month, content that is added or updated in the Encyclopedia of Credit will be noted in CMA News. If you or anyone you know would like to contribute articles to the Encyclopedia Committee for consideration, please email Mike Mitchell at mmitchell@creditservices.org.
 
Biography of Paul Beretz, CICE
 
Paul Beretz is Managing Director of Pacific Business Solutions (www.pacbizsolutions.com), a company he founded in 1999.  Paul brings over thirty years experience in global management and finance in high and low-tech industries: telecommunications, semi-conductors, forest products, chemicals, plastics and consumer products among others.  His expertise includes analyzing opportunities and providing resolutions in the order-through-collect cycle for manufacturers, distributors and service companies located in both the US and worldwide.
 
He has been an instructor in finance and business at the University of California at Berkeley and currently is a faculty member in the school of business at both St. Mary’s College of California and the University of Phoenix.  He serves on FCIB’s (Finance, Credit and International Business) Advisory Board and has produced and presented seminars and training programs for organizations such as CMA, NACM, FCIB and Dun and Bradstreet.  The topics cover a wide range of subjects from cash flow management techniques to customs and practices in international business.  In 2000 and early 2001 under FCIB sponsorship, he wrote and instructed in a two-week seminar for the Saudi Arabian government on selling into the global market.  In 2003, Paul – as Project Manager – is in the process of preparing a rollout of an on-line, certificate program in International Risk Management, sponsored by FCIB in partnership with Michigan State University and the U.S. Department of Commerce.  He has been an expert witness and has authored articles for trade publications, edited books on financial management and authored a book for the American Management Association.
 
Paul received his BBA from the University of Notre Dame, an MBA from Golden Gate University and the Executive Award from the Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management at Stanford University. In May of 2001, he completed the requirements for the CICE designation (Certified International Credit Executive), which was awarded by the FCIB association.