Ten Red Flags that Signal Financial Distress in Business Customers

15 Jul 2026
10:00 AM PDT | 01:00 PM EDT
60 Minutes
Five years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses are still in recovery, e.g.,  contractors from continuing disruption in their materials supply chains, cinemas still trying to lure back moviegoers, and department stores competing with online shopping.  In fact, business bankruptcy filings have been rising in recent years, pushed up by higher interest rates and inflation. Whether the business is a customer, supplier, or borrower, evaluating its financial health is essential to maintaining a satisfactory relationship with the firm. This session offers ten red flags to identify ailing firms before they file for bankruptcy protection.

WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND?

Attendees will benefit from this presentation’s relevance and timeliness:
  • These red flags warrant close attention and force participants to understand that their organization’s relationships with its own suppliers and customers open them to possible losses from above and below
  • The continuing volatility and uncertainty in the economy necessitate that creditors and lenders evaluate a borrower’s depth and breadth of its supply chain—quality and quantity of goods and services substitutes, reliability of alternate suppliers, trade credit costs, modes of transportation, delivery times, etc.
  • The suggested red flags are likely to get bankers and suppliers thinking of other distress indicators to monitor and improve the ability to avoid, lessen, and prevent credit losses before bankruptcy is declared.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After attending this presentation, participants will be able to
  • Identify ten red flags for identifying, evaluating, and  monitoring financial distress
    • 1-ailing industry
    • 2-declining financial condition and operating performance
      • decreasing sales, gross profit margins, net profits
      • shrinking liquidity, rising leverage, eroding solvency
    • 3-organizational volatility
      • management and director turnover
      • employee layoffs
    • 4-professional changes
      • Law firm
      • Accounting firm
      • Insurance agent
    • 5-asset disposition
    • 6-change in ownership
    • 7-credit deterioration
      • COD terms, judgments, liens
      • Overdrafts, default, foreclosure
    • 8-declining communication
    • 9-major casualty loss from weather-climate elements—fire, flood, etc.
    • 10-negative media coverage—complaints, poor online product-service  reviews, lawsuits, arrests
  • Understand the interconnections among these red flags, e.g., change in ownership and management, employee turnover, declining liquidity, and slower trade payments
  • Take appropriate action to mitigate any adverse impact from potential failure

WHO WILL BENEFIT?

  • Credit Managers
  • Accounts Receivable (AR) Teams
  • Finance Directors and CFOs
  • Sales Managers and Account Managers
  • Business Owners and Entrepreneurs
  • Risk Management Professionals
  • Commercial Lenders and Bankers
  • Trade Credit Insurers
  • Procurement and Supply Chain Leaders
  • Investors and Financial Analysts
Attendees will benefit from this presentation’s relevance and timeliness:
  • These red flags warrant close attention and force participants to understand that their organization’s relationships with its own suppliers and customers open them to possible losses from above and below
  • The continuing volatility and uncertainty in the economy necessitate that creditors and lenders evaluate a borrower’s depth and breadth of its supply chain—quality and quantity of goods and services substitutes, reliability of alternate suppliers, trade credit costs, modes of transportation, delivery times, etc.
  • The suggested red flags are likely to get bankers and suppliers thinking of other distress indicators to monitor and improve the ability to avoid, lessen, and prevent credit losses before bankruptcy is declared.
After attending this presentation, participants will be able to
  • Identify ten red flags for identifying, evaluating, and  monitoring financial distress
    • 1-ailing industry
    • 2-declining financial condition and operating performance
      • decreasing sales, gross profit margins, net profits
      • shrinking liquidity, rising leverage, eroding solvency
    • 3-organizational volatility
      • management and director turnover
      • employee layoffs
    • 4-professional changes
      • Law firm
      • Accounting firm
      • Insurance agent
    • 5-asset disposition
    • 6-change in ownership
    • 7-credit deterioration
      • COD terms, judgments, liens
      • Overdrafts, default, foreclosure
    • 8-declining communication
    • 9-major casualty loss from weather-climate elements—fire, flood, etc.
    • 10-negative media coverage—complaints, poor online product-service  reviews, lawsuits, arrests
  • Understand the interconnections among these red flags, e.g., change in ownership and management, employee turnover, declining liquidity, and slower trade payments
  • Take appropriate action to mitigate any adverse impact from potential failure
  • Credit Managers
  • Accounts Receivable (AR) Teams
  • Finance Directors and CFOs
  • Sales Managers and Account Managers
  • Business Owners and Entrepreneurs
  • Risk Management Professionals
  • Commercial Lenders and Bankers
  • Trade Credit Insurers
  • Procurement and Supply Chain Leaders
  • Investors and Financial Analysts
Currency:
Webinar Option
Live + Recorded Session
Live + Transcript
Live + USB
Transcript (PDF Transcript of the Training)
Downloadable Recorded Session
USB
Group Session Participants + Recorded

Live Session with unlimited participants. Invite any number of attendees to join.

Speaker Profile

ins_img Dev Strischek

A frequent speaker, instructor, advisor and writer on credit risk and commercial banking topics and issues, Martin J. "Dev" Strischek principal of Devon Risk Advisory Group based near Atlanta, Georgia.  Dev advises, trains, and develops for financial organizations risk management solutions and recommendations on a range of issues and topics, e.g., credit risk management, credit culture, credit policy, credit and lending training, etc.  Dev is also a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB’s) Private Company Council (PCC).  PCC’s purpose is to evaluate and recommend to FASB revisions to current and proposed generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) that are …

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