Credit risk is rarely black and white. You have customers who pay well but have reached their limit, and you have customers with shaky financials who land massive contracts. If you rely strictly on unsecured credit lines, you end up saying no to good revenue or yes to bad debt.

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The job sheet is the middle ground. It allows credit teams to approve exposure based on the project's merit rather than the customer's balance sheet. Shifting a customer from a general open line to a job-specific account is a strategic decision that protects the company while allowing the customer to grow.

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This framework outlines when to cap unsecured limits and when to demand job sheets, ensuring you can support sales without exposing the company to unnecessary risk.

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The Reality of Limited Credit Info

Credit managers frequently encounter situations where traditional credit checks do not support the required credit limit. The pressure to approve the order remains, but the financial data says stop. The job sheet becomes the only viable mechanism to bridge this gap.

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Credit teams report common blockage scenarios: the shop credit line (unsecured) is capped, but the customer has work to do. Without a job sheet, the answer has to be no. With one, the answer can be yes.

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Exposure cannot increase without better security. Credit managers require job sheets for additional exposure when limited credit information makes unsecured line increases impossible.

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Existing customers with payment issues often need to be migrated to a safer model. Teams use job sheets to rehabilitate slow-paying accounts, treating them as a corrective tool. By reducing unsecured credit limits to encourage job sheet usage, credit managers help customers stay current on unsecured AR while isolating project-specific risk.

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When the risk is too high for any flexibility, the policy becomes rigid: no changes in unsecured credit lines, the customer must use job sheets for any exposure.

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Why Is This Decision Difficult?

If job sheets are safer, why doesn't everyone use them for everything? The friction usually stems from process and technology limitations.

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ERP Rigidity

Many ERP systems treat a customer as a single entity with one global credit limit. Segmenting General Account (unsecured) vs. Job Account A (secured) often requires manual workarounds, such as creating sub-accounts or dummy customer codes. This administrative burden discourages teams from using job sheets for smaller projects.

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The Sales Handoff

Sales teams generally prefer the speed of an open credit line. A job sheet requires data entry (project address, General Contractor info, bond details) which slows down the order entry process. If sales teams view job sheets as paperwork rather than deal enablers, they will push back against the requirement.

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Risk Aggregation

Without job sheets, all debt is unsecured and pooled together. If a customer defaults on one job, the entire balance is at risk. Job sheets isolate the risk, but they require a change in workflow that customers often resist until they are forced by a credit hold.

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A Framework for Decision Making

To manage this effectively, Credit Managers need a clear policy (a decision matrix) that dictates when to trigger the job sheet requirement. This removes emotion from the negotiation.

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The Growth Gap Trigger

Scenario: A customer requests a credit limit increase to cover materials for a specific new project, but their financials do not justify a higher unsecured limit.

Strategy: Deny the unsecured increase but approve a job account for that specific project value. The credit is underwritten against the project funding and potential lien rights, not the customer's liquidity.

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The Rehabilitation Strategy

Scenario: An existing customer has a history of slow payments or has recently fallen behind on their general account.

Strategy: Reduce the unsecured shop line to a bare minimum (e.g., $1,000 for tools and consumables). Force all major material purchases onto job sheets. This isolates new risk. If they default on the shop account, you still have lien rights on the project materials to recover the bulk of the debt.

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The Exposure Isolation Method

Scenario: A customer works on large commercial projects with complex payment cycles (paid-when-paid).

Strategy: Treat unsecured credit as a pool and job sheets as buckets. By moving high-value orders into buckets, you protect the pool. If one job goes bad (e.g., the GC disputes the work), it isolates that dispute to the specific job account. It does not necessarily freeze the customer's ability to buy small items on their shop account, provided they keep that current.

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Strategic Impact: Why This Matters

Implementing a strict job sheet policy for high-exposure accounts changes the risk profile of the entire AR ledger.

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Securing Lien Rights

The job sheet is the precursor to the Notice to Owner (NTO). Without the data collected on the job sheet (Owner, GC, Address), you cannot effectively file liens or bond claims. The job sheet is the foundation of secured credit.

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Cash Flow Acceleration

Customers tend to prioritize vendors who have secured rights. When a customer knows you have the correct job info and will file notices, your invoices often get processed faster than vendors relying on a handshake.

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Customer Retention

Instead of cutting off a risky customer, you offer them a path to keep buying. You are not saying stop buying. You are saying buy this way. This preserves revenue while mitigating risk.

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The Credit Manager's Playbook

To move this from concept to policy, start with these steps:

1. Audit your Over Limit list: Identify customers who are constantly hitting their cap but have valid projects. These are your prime candidates for job sheets.
2. Define the Threshold: Set a dollar amount (e.g., $5,000 or $10,000) where a job sheet is mandatory regardless of credit standing. Make this a standard policy to reduce the customer's perception of personalization.
3. Train Sales: Explain that job sheets are the tool that lets them say yes when the credit score says no. Reframe the requirement as a sales enabler.
4. Verify the Data: A job sheet is only useful if the data is correct. Ensure your team verifies the owner and GC information before setting up the account.

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Job sheets are more than just paperwork. They are the primary mechanism for safely expanding sales in the construction trade. By separating project risk from customer risk, you create a more resilient credit portfolio.

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Customers requesting credit increases for specific projects, but financials do not support higher unsecured limits? Bectran's credit platform has project-based job account management capabilitesthat segments shop credit (unsecured) from job-specific exposure, automated job sheet workflows that collect Owner/GC/project address data, credit limit isolation by project (one bad job does not freeze entire account), Notice to Owner (NTO) filing tracking to secure lien rights, and exposure reporting by project vs. general account—enabling credit teams to approve project-based sales while protecting against customer-level default risk. See how Bectran's job sheet system works.