Credit Analysis Course

Lesson 1 • The Credit Lifecycle

Traces a credit obligation from origination through servicing, default, and closure. Provides the timeline framework used throughout the course.

Lesson 2 • Types of Credit Products

Surveys revolving, installment, open-end, and secured versus unsecured credit. Connects product structure to risk and reporting treatment.

Lesson 3 • What Credit Is and How It Works

Defines credit, debt obligations, and the time value of money. Establishes the conceptual base for all subsequent analysis of borrower-lender relationships.

Lesson 1 • Regulatory Framework for Credit Reporting

Outlines consumer rights, furnisher duties, and bureau obligations under fair credit reporting principles. Establishes the compliance context for all reporting activities.

Lesson 2 • Commercial Credit Reporting Differences

Contrasts commercial credit reports with consumer reports in structure, data sources, and use cases. Prepares students for business credit analysis in later chapters.

Lesson 3 • Consumer Credit Report Components

Breaks down each section of a standard consumer credit report. Students can locate and interpret every data element before moving to scoring.

Lesson 4 • Data Furnishers and Reporting Standards

Covers who furnishes data, what they are required to report, and the standardized formats used. Links furnisher accuracy obligations to downstream report quality.

Lesson 1 • Inquiry Analysis and Credit Seeking Behavior

Differentiates hard and soft inquiries and explains rate-shopping deduplication rules. Connects inquiry patterns to borrower risk signals.

Lesson 2 • Evaluating Derogatory Information

Covers late payments, charge-offs, collections, judgments, and bankruptcies. Students learn to assess severity, recency, and pattern of negative items.

Lesson 3 • Identifying Errors and Inconsistencies

Trains students to spot mixed files, duplicate tradelines, and stale data. Error identification is essential before any scoring or decision-making step.

Lesson 4 • Navigating Report Formats

Compares factual, merged, and tri-merge report layouts. Teaches students to orient themselves quickly regardless of the bureau or format encountered.

Lesson 1 • Major Scoring Model Families

Surveys generic bureau scores, industry-specific scores, and alternative data models. Students can select the appropriate model for a given lending context.

Lesson 2 • Score Range Interpretation

Maps score ranges to risk tiers and default probability bands. Connects score thresholds to typical lender cutoff and pricing decisions.

Lesson 3 • Commercial and Business Credit Scores

Covers business credit scores, payment index metrics, and financial stress indicators. Extends scoring knowledge to the commercial credit analysis covered in later chapters.

Lesson 4 • How Credit Scores Are Calculated

Explains the statistical basis of scoring models and the five primary factor categories. Provides the analytical foundation for score interpretation and improvement advice.

Lesson 1 • Trend Analysis and Comparative Benchmarking

Uses multi-period data and industry benchmarks to identify financial deterioration or improvement. Trend analysis elevates point-in-time ratios to dynamic risk assessment.

Lesson 2 • Liquidity and Asset Verification

Evaluates liquid reserves, asset documentation, and gift fund treatment. Connects asset adequacy to repayment capacity and collateral coverage.

Lesson 3 • Business Financial Statement Analysis

Applies ratio analysis to income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. Builds the commercial credit analysis skills required in the next chapter.

Lesson 4 • Income and Debt-to-Income Analysis

Calculates gross and net income, qualifying income, and front- and back-end debt-to-income ratios. These ratios are the primary quantitative inputs for consumer credit decisions.

Lesson 1 • Automated Underwriting Systems

Explains how automated underwriting engines process inputs and generate findings. Students can interpret system outputs and identify when manual review is required.

Lesson 2 • Mortgage and Installment Loan Case Studies

Applies all consumer underwriting skills to realistic mortgage and installment loan files. Reinforces decision-making through structured practice before advancing to commercial credit.

Lesson 3 • The Five Cs of Credit Framework

Applies character, capacity, capital, collateral, and conditions to consumer file review. Provides the organizing framework for all consumer underwriting sections that follow.

Lesson 4 • Adverse Action and Declination Procedures

Covers the legal and procedural requirements for declining credit and issuing adverse action notices. Ensures students can execute compliant declination workflows.

Lesson 1 • Commercial Loan Structuring Principles

Matches loan type, term, and repayment structure to the borrower's purpose and cash flow cycle. Proper structuring reduces default risk and aligns lender and borrower interests.

Lesson 2 • Cash Flow-Based Lending Analysis

Calculates global cash flow, debt service coverage, and free cash flow for commercial borrowers. Cash flow analysis is the primary repayment source evaluation for business credit.

Lesson 3 • Credit Memorandum Preparation

Teaches the structure, content, and persuasive logic of a commercial credit memorandum. The credit memo is the primary deliverable of commercial credit analysis.

Lesson 4 • Portfolio Monitoring and Annual Review

Establishes processes for ongoing commercial credit monitoring, covenant testing, and annual review. Extends analysis skills from origination to the full credit lifecycle.

Lesson 1 • Credit Loss Provisioning and Reserves

Explains expected credit loss frameworks, reserve calculation methods, and provisioning triggers. Reserve adequacy is a key indicator of portfolio health and regulatory compliance.

Lesson 2 • Emerging Risks and Strategic Credit Trends

Examines climate risk, digital lending disruption, and evolving borrower behavior as strategic credit challenges. Prepares students to anticipate and respond to future credit risk shifts.

Lesson 3 • Stress Testing and Scenario Analysis

Designs and interprets credit stress tests using adverse economic scenarios. Stress testing translates macroeconomic risk into portfolio loss estimates.

Lesson 4 • Credit Policy Design and Governance

Covers the components of a credit policy, approval authority matrices, and policy exception processes. Policy design translates risk appetite into operational lending standards.