2026 March Forum Agenda

Platinum Partner Breakout Sessions

Four of our Platinum Partner will be offering optional Breakout Sessions on Monday morning between 8:00am and 10:00am. There is no additional cost to attend these sessions, but we do request that your interest in the sessions be noted on your Forum registration form.

CLICK HERE for details about the sessions being offered.

SAP Best Practices Round Table Session

Moderated by CRF

Learn and share experiences with others in this peer-to-peer best practices discussion. Bring your questions AND your experiences to share with the group. Discussion topics include (but are not limited to):

• What version/modules are you using?
• Implementation & Migration to S4/Hana
• And more!

CLICK HERE for details about this session.

Welcome/Opening Comments

When Trade Policy Hits the Balance Sheet: Tariffs and the New Bankruptcy Landscape

Presented by Jason Adams, Partner, Kelley Drye & Warren

As tariffs continue to drive volatility in pricing, supply chains, and margins, businesses across sectors are experiencing heightened financial pressure. This session explores how tariff related shocks can cascade into bankruptcy risk and highlights emerging trends in the financial indicators most commonly affected—helping credit managers stay aware of the shifting landscape.

AI as an Enabler, Not a Threat: A Practical AI Approach for Credit Leaders

Presented by Eric Ortner, Vice President of Sales, Handle.com

Most credit teams are bombarded with AI hype. This session focuses on the credit market. Handle will share what the market is telling us. Anonymized, peer sourced patterns from ongoing conversations and aggregated signals across suppliers, distributors, and rental companies. We’ll show how we translate those signals into practical AI workflows.

Break

Grab some coffee, tea, water or soda…chat with attendees…then return refreshed for another session!

Navigating Today’s Labor Market & the Practical Realities of AI & Automation

Presented by Timothy Lietz, National Practice Leader, Risk & Compliance, Jefferson Wells

As economic conditions evolve and labor markets continue to tighten, finance and operations leaders are being forced to rethink how work gets done. This session provides a grounded overview of the current employment and economic landscape, highlighting workforce trends, cost pressures, and productivity challenges impacting organizations today. It then shifts to a practical discussion on best practices for implementing AI and automation, focusing on where these tools actually deliver value and where they introduce new risks. Drawing on real-world experience and subject matter expertise and the recent CFO survey, the session emphasizes pragmatic deployment, governance, and change management, helping organizations separate sustainable automation strategies from short-lived experimentation.

Driving Business Impact: How Credit Leaders Build ROI-Backed Business Cases

Presented by Jordan Esbin, Founder & CEO, Credit Pulse; Melanie Albert, VP of Customer Success, Credit Pulse; Andrew Ceccorulli, Credit & Collections Manager, Laticrete

Credit and AR teams see their inefficiencies and risks every day, but translating those into a clear, CFO-approved business case is where most initiatives stall.

This session will break down how credit leaders are successfully building ROI-driven business cases for credit and AR automation. Using real practitioner examples, including a case study inspired by the Manager of Credit & Collections at Laticrete, a global manufacturer, attendees will learn how to identify the right problems to solve, quantify financial impact, and present a case that resonates with leadership

General Membership Meeting

As a member of the Credit Research Foundation, we invite you to hear from CRF’s President on the “state of the state.” Learn about the exciting things CRF is working on, what we’ve accomplished in the past year, and what projects the Research Committee is working on. Join us and be an informed member!

Networking Reception

Join us for a networking reception to cap off the first day of the Forum. Enjoy cocktails, appetizers and great company!

Breakfast

Supported by Handle.com

Fuel up with coffee and breakfast before heading into the morning sessions. This is also a great opportunity to chat and network with other attendees.

Opening Comments

Opening comments and reminders from the CRF team.

Rehypothecation Risk in Supply Chain Finance: The Hidden Leverage Credit Professionals Can’t Ignore

Presented by Scott Friedman, Chief Credit Officer, Pulse Ratings ​

Supply chain finance has quietly evolved from a working-capital tool into a layered leverage machine, with rehypothecation at its core. Credit professionals can no longer treat SCF programs as neutral or benign. The bankruptcy of First Brands exposed how receivables, inventory, and financing commitments can be pledged, re-pledged, and effectively monetized multiple times without suppliers or trade creditors fully understanding their true exposure. This session reframes supply chain finance through a risk lens, showing why rehypothecation amplifies counterparty risk, muddies priority in bankruptcy, and undermines traditional credit assumptions. For modern credit leaders, understanding where value is being reused, who actually controls the collateral, and how liquidity can evaporate overnight is no longer optional. It is table stakes for protecting cash, margin, and survival.

Assess & Manage SMBs at Scale, Without Losing Control

Presented by Altus Commercial Receivables, Nuvo

Extending credit to small and midsize businesses is increasingly complex. New business formation remains high. Ownership and locations change frequently. Many applicants have thin or incomplete credit files. At the same time, credit teams are expected to move faster and manage larger portfolios with limited resources.

In this session, learn how practitioners from Autozone, Nuvo, and Altus evaluate and manage SMB credit at scale with verified onboarding, real-time financial signals, and third-party collections working in concert across the customer lifecycle.

The discussion focuses on practical approaches credit teams can apply when most of their volume comes from small, dynamic accounts.

Break

Grab some coffee, tea, water or soda…chat with attendees…then return refreshed for another session!

Part Acquisitions, Divestitures, & the Hidden Realities in Accounts Receivable: What Credit Leaders Should be Considering and Planning For

(A Two-Part Credit Leader Series: Post-Close Execution, TSA Realities, and Long-Term AR Risk)

Presented by Bob Anderson, Director – Order to Cash, Hubbell; Andrew Behlmann, Partner, Lowenstein Sandler LLP

As M&A activity accelerates in an uneven economy, the Accounts Receivable function may be called upon to evaluate and/or execute upon acquisitions and divestitures that impact your portfolio. This session brings together experienced practitioners and professionals to unpack the operational and financial issues that surface during acquisitions and divestitures. Panelists will discuss a myriad of issues that practitioners may face pre and post close, including AR quality, risk categorization, unrecorded credits, customer mix/concentration, bad debt reserves, systems, processes, and people. The discussion will cover potential issues/opportunities within a Transition Services Agreement (TSA) that likely will be in place post-close. These topics will all be covered with an eye to the all-important workforce implications and how best to embrace the change with your team. Participants will walk away with practical guidance to strengthen due diligence, guard against hidden liabilities, and ensure a smoother integration or separation process.

Lunch

Refuel and refresh to prepare for the afternoon sessions. And network while you fill your stomach!

Strategic Risk Leadership (Not Risk Avoidance)

Presented by Yesinne Alvarez, Trade Data, Partnerships & Alliances, Creditsafe USA Inc

Credit used to be about saying “no” in neat spreadsheets. Now it’s about steering the business through uncertainty with internal, external and unstructured data . Leaders will be judged on how they balance growth with genuine risk insight. This session will explore how you can use risk as a growth enabler and how to maneuver through the organizations risk appetite and escalation discipline.

Economic Outlook 2026: Labor Markets, Regional Strengths, and the States Poised for Growth

Presented by Paul Hill, Chief Economist, Job Search Intelligence

Paul Hill, Chief Economist at Job Search Intelligence, will guide attendees through a data-driven examination of the U.S. economy using labor analytics, mobility trends, industry hiring patterns, and state-level performance indicators not commonly available in mainstream forecasts. Hill will highlight where underlying economic strength is emerging, which sectors are creating sustainable demand, and which regions are positioned to outperform over the next several years. This session provides a grounded perspective on opportunity, risk, and the shifting dynamics of the workforce, helping credit and finance leaders better anticipate regional performance, customer stability, and market expansion potential.

Break

Grab some coffee, tea, water or soda and a snack…chat with attendees…then return refreshed for the final sessions!

Profit From the Fine Print: Turning Unconventional Strategies into Real Cash Flow and Revenue

Presented by Matt Neibart, Finance Sr. Manager, PepsiCo; Steve Strong, Sr Director, eCommerce & Payments, Zillow Group

This session cuts to the unconventional strategies to implement that drive cash-flow optimization and revenue recognition, showing finance leaders how to turn fees into real working-capital gains without impacting customer relationships. Practitioners will explore data-driven forecasting, governance safeguards, and profit-recovery tactics that strengthen budgets and reduce DSO, while repositioning credit and AR teams as true value creators. Participants walk away with practical, high-impact approaches to non-core revenue, plus a clear sense of which emerging tactics drive results.

A Practical Guide to Improving Collections Practices to Optimize Working Capital & Mitigate Risk

Presented by Gary Brown Founder and CEO, Chris Caparon, Chief Revenue Officer and Board Advisor, and Melanie Morcelle, Vice President Enterprise Partnerships, North America, Debt Register

As the collections process continues to evolve from a call-driven to omni-channel practice, how have you and your team adapted? In this session, we will discuss how to modernize your collections strategy resulting in immediate improvements in working capital and risk reduction.

Join us for this interactive session to help identify where your organization is and what you need to understand to be successful with this new collections strategy.

Breakfast

Join us for coffee/tea/juice and breakfast to fuel up for the final day of the Forum!

2026 Economic Update

Perspective provided by Steve Isberg, Ph.D., Chair of Accounting Department, Towson University

Dr. Steve Isberg, Senior Research Fellow at CRF and Chair of the Accounting Department at Towson University, will explain current economic indicators and how to interpret that information to make informed credit & risk management decisions.

Open Forum

The Open Forum is often one of the most highly rated sessions at our live events. This is an open discussion session giving all attendees a chance to participate – ask questions and/or provide answers to others. As always, this Open Forum session allows for immediate feedback from your peers on the questions/topics that are important to YOU!

Please be sure to submit any questions or topics you would like to discuss on the registration form or send them directly to Angela McDonald.

National Building Materials Wholesale Best Practices Group Meeting

This is an independent, members-only group for senior level Credit & A/R professionals to engage in best practice processes and benchmarking conversations in an anti-trust compliant environment. The meeting includes lunch followed by an Economic overview presentation focused on the Construction and Building industries delivered by Macro-Economist, Richard Hastings.

For information about this group, to become a member or join as a first-time guest, please contact Matt Skudera.