Practicum log template for credit controllers

Ten working days, every held item in the credit controller's ledger, one line each. The log records what the AI agent proposed (a chaser, an account stop, a payment plan, a credit note or a write-off), the controller's decision and reason, the supervisor's independent call, and whether a dispute or authority red line was in play. A filled example follows.

What is the log for?

It shows whether a credit controller can work alongside an agent that does most of the chasing. The agent sends routine reminders within rules at depth 3 and drafts escalation letters at depth 2. Proposals that are harder to undo, or that touch the ledger, are held for a named controller: stopping supply to a customer, agreeing a plan, raising a credit note, writing off a balance.

Those held items are where credit control judgement lives. A stop on the wrong account can lose a customer worth far more than the overdue invoice. A chaser on a disputed invoice damages a relationship the sales team spent years building. The log records each decision so the pattern, good or bad, is visible. The two weeks themselves are covered in how to run a two-week practicum for credit controllers.

How do you fill it in?

• Before day one, the supervisor writes the header: the ledger, the controller's practicum limits, and the red lines.
• For each item, the agent pre-fills customer, balance, ageing and its own proposal from the record.
• The controller checks the account notes, open disputes and the bank feed, then records a decision and reason.
• The supervisor records their own decision without seeing the controller's.
• At the end of each day, mismatches are discussed and the note column is completed.

One habit to build: check cash against the bank feed, not the remittance. A customer's remittance advice is external; the bank feed is sealed. Allocating cash on a remittance that has not arrived is a common way to release a stop too early.

The practicum log template

Header

1. Controller.
2. Supervisor and certificate.
3. Ledger and customer segments.
4. Practicum limits: credit notes up to an amount, write-offs up to an amount, stops on accounts below a size.
5. Dates.
6. Bar: at least 95 correct in every 100 decisions; no missed red line.
7. Red lines: chasing or stopping on an invoice under open dispute; a credit note or write-off above authority; releasing a stop on unconfirmed cash.

Per-item fields

1. Line number and date.
2. Customer and segment.
3. Balance and oldest item, in days.
4. Open dispute: yes or no, and since when.
5. Agent's proposal, verdict and deciding bound.
6. Cash evidence and provenance: bank feed (sealed), remittance (external), promise to pay (declared).
7. Controller's decision.
8. Controller's reason.
9. Supervisor's decision.
10. Match: yes, no or defensible.
11. Red line: none, caught or missed.
12. Note.

A worked example

Take a sample packaging manufacturer's credit control team. Values are illustrative.

Line 64. A trade customer, 18,000 overdue, oldest item 75 days. No dispute. The agent proposes a stop. Cash evidence: none. Controller: approve the stop and call the customer's finance director. Supervisor: same. Match: yes.

Line 65. A large retailer, 42,000 overdue, oldest item 60 days. Open dispute on one invoice of 6,000 for short delivery, raised three weeks ago. The agent drafts a final reminder for the full 42,000. Controller: edit to chase 36,000 and exclude the disputed invoice; ask the warehouse for proof of delivery. Supervisor: same. Red line: caught.

Line 66. A wholesaler on stop, 9,500 overdue. The customer emails a remittance for the full amount and asks for the stop to be lifted. The agent holds the release because the bank feed shows no receipt. Controller: release, trusting the remittance. Supervisor: keep the stop until cash shows on the feed. Match: no. Red line: missed.

Line 67. A small customer that has ceased trading, 1,100 outstanding. The agent proposes a write-off. Controller: approve, within the practicum limit of 2,000. Supervisor: approve. Match: yes.

Line 66 fails the bar, and it is a classic: the remittance was external, the money had not arrived, and the stop was the only lever left.

How does this connect to neighbouring roles?

Credit controllers and financial controllers often review the same items from different ends; the practicum log for financial controllers picks up write-offs and credit notes at period end, and how to run their practicum can be scheduled alongside. Credit analysts decide whether to lend in the first place; their practicum log shares the provenance column.

Where the Academy fits

Pryme Intelligence Academy's Certified Pryme Operator includes a two-week practicum of real review decisions, at least 95 in every 100 correct and no missed red line, signed off by a Pryme assessor. A business can make a controller's right to release stops or approve write-offs depend on a current certificate, depth by depth. More in AI literacy and certification for people who work with agents.