The Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management^® (GSCFM^®)

The Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management (GSCFM)

The National Association of Credit Management (NACM) has been the leader in executive education for the credit and financial management community for more than 80 years. Today, NACM continues its dedication to the global promotion and enhancement of the business credit professional through its many educational programs, led by the GSCFM. Enrolling in NACM’s prestigious GSCFM program is one of the best investments you can make in your professional future.

Acknowledging the work/life balance, the Graduate School of Credit & Financial Management is now presented as a hybrid program. GSCFM consists of two live-online components and two in-person components.

Participants must complete all four components. Upon successful completion of the all components, students will earn the GSCFM Executive Award certificate.

Exclusive Opportunity to Earn the CCE Designation

At the conclusion of the program, the standard application process is waived and participants are given the opportunity to take the Certified Credit Executive ® (CCE) exam. All participants are eligible, even those without the typical years of experience or roadmap points.

The exam must be completed on one of the national test dates and successfully passed to earn the CCE designation within one year of completion of the program.

The GSCFM Curriculum

The GSCFM program focuses on four essential business and professional growth disciplines:

Advanced Financial Statement Analysis
Legal Environment of Credit
Advanced Negotiations
Leadership

Advanced Financial Statement Analysis

Instructor: Brian Lazarus, CPA

The objective of this course is to make credit professionals better aware of the information contained in a firm’s financial statements and how to analyze it. An improved awareness equates to improved knowledge about credit risk. Skills employed include comprehension, analysis, critical thinking, computational, reasoning, synthesis of information, evaluation and communication. Through a combination of lectures, cases analyses, and exercises, the course will emphasize analysis and interpretation of cash flows, financial ratios, accounting fraud andirregularities--to assess a firm’s liquidity.

Legal Environment of Credit

Instructor: Jason Torf, Esq.

Comprehensive knowledge of business laws specific to the field of credit is critically important to each decision today’s credit executive makes on a daily basis. This intensive course will focus on a broad range of advanced legal issues affecting the credit decision. This course will encompass a combination of lectures, readings, case studies and interactive discussions to enable participants to increase their knowledge of the complex issues in corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships, contracts, bankruptcies, antitrust and negotiable instruments as they impact credit decisions.

Advanced Negotiations

Instructor: Francis Eberle, PhD

All business dealings and transactions, whether small in dollar amounts or in the number of products purchased and sold, result from underlying negotiations which are generally memorialized in written agreements between the parties. To create effective agreements, a mastery of negotiation skills is essential, and is attained through practice. This course, though the use of readings, class lectures and negotiating problem-solving exercises, will help participants better understand and master negotiation skills.

Leadership

Instructor: Francis Eberle, PhD

Leaders set the tone for the organization. Ultimately, great leadership is a progression. High-performing leaders are on a continuing journey to understand themselves and their employees better, in order to get the best out of everyone. Through readings, case studies and class lectures, this course will help participants increase their leadership skills, improve their ability to be persuasive leaders and gain fresh insights into Emotional Intelligence and how to grow it as a leader. Participants will also complete a Behavioral Intelligence Profile and discuss the results during the program.

Distinguished Instructors

Brian R. Lazarus, CPA, CGMA, MBA

Brian R. Lazarus, CPA, CGMA, MBA

Brian R. Lazarus, CPA, CGMA, MBA has decades of professional experience in various levels of accounting, management and entrepreneurship as well as teaching courses in Accounting and Business, both in an online and traditional classroom format. He has served in positions ranging from Credit Analyst in a Fortune 300 company to Controller as well as Director of Accounting, in addition to establishing and managing his own consulting practice. He has a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, an MBA as well as a Graduate certificate in E Commerce. He is also licensed as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), equivalent to a Chartered Accountant (CA) in other countries. Professor Lazarus is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the American Accounting Association. He also serves on Members in Education Committee of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA). Furthermore, he had previously served on MACPA's Financial Literacy Advisory Board. He has also volunteered his time to serve as a judge in competitions for high school students, organized by the Future Business Leaders of America as well as volunteered his time with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Maryland. He has been honored multiple times for his student centric focus and excellence in teaching including being awarded the prestigious NISOD (National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development) Excellence Award. Professor Lazarus was recognized for his outstanding work by his peers who selected him for this high honor. Additionally, his excellence and service to the citizens of Baltimore resulted in Professor Lazarus receiving citations from both, the Mayor and Comptroller of Baltimore City.Furthermore, Professor Lazarus’ work on designing online courses has earned him the distinguished QM (Quality Matters) certification. Quality Matters is a global organization who is a leader in quality assurance in online and innovative digital teaching. Professor Lazarus and his wife, also a CPA, have collaborated to create a very successful series of 26 mini lectures on various accounting/finance topics. These highly acclaimed mini lectures are housed in You Tube and have received over 2 million hits. They have been viewed by tens of thousands of students globally who have benefitted from these lectures. Professor Lazarus is a voracious reader and takes a keen interest in World War II movies and books. He loves to play chess with his daughter and read to his young son. He lives in Maryland with his wife and two children.

Jason Torf, Esq.

Jason Torf, Esq.

Jason Torf is a bankruptcy and creditors’ rights partner in the law firm Tucker Ellis LLP. Jason regularly represents clients in helping them solve their problems with troubled customers, both in bankruptcy proceedings and otherwise. Jason is a frequent speaker to NACM and other credit groups to help them understand practical steps their companies can utilize to minimize risk and maximize their recovery when dealing with a financially troubled customer. For more information about Jason’s background and practice, please visit https://www.tuckerellis.com/people/jason-m-torf/.

Francis Eberle, PhD

Francis Eberle, PhD

Francis Eberle, PhD, is leadership and organizational advisor, speaker and author. Francis believes that people development is business development. At Price Associates he coaches leaders, and teams to help them see things they may not see themselves, in particular those who may have run into a block or just want to up their game.

After spending more than 25 years as an executive, Francis is uniquely positioned to help individuals and organizations. He has successfully partnered with leaders and teams to improve their skills, plan strategically, solve complex problems, and grow financial and programmatic resources. He is also a facilitator and coach for The Complete Leader program.

Francis is an author, (his most recent book is Connected Leadership; Engage your workforce to lead themselves), as well as of blogs, white papers, and policy briefs. He has presented widely on leadership, organizational development, and education policy. He received a Bachelor of Science from Boston University, a Masters from the University of Connecticut, a PhD from Lesley University and a Harvard Business School Executive Management program graduate. He is certified as a coach and facilitator for a suit of psychological assessment tools, and virtual facilitation.

What to Expect from the NACM Graduate School

Rich in experience and diverse in expertise, NACM’s GSCFM students bring incredible insight and talent to the classroom. Your program peers will be a definitive part of your experience, offering valuable professional relationships you can rely on for years after completion.

As a rigorous program for advanced working professionals, the GSCFM program requires a full commitment from students. To be prepared, advance reading assignments may be given for each discipline. Participants are expected to complete any advanced reading assignments prior to the start of each course. A complete list of assignments, case studies and textbooks will be shipped at least 2-weeks prior the component’s start date. In addition, evening assignments may be given. Attendance at all scheduled sessions is mandatory, in addition participation in the discussion of the assignments and cases, and all outside assignments is required. Failure to meet any of these requirements will jeopardize the participant’s certificate of completion.

The duration of each course component may vary—typically between 2-5 days depending on the subject matter.

2025 Schedule of Course Components

Advanced Financial Statement Analysis
Virtual / June 23-27, 2025

Legal Environment of Credit
Virtual / August 4-6, 2025

Leadership
In-person / August 18-19, 2025

Advanced Negotiations
In-person / August 19-20, 2025

Registration and Tuition Investment

The GSCFM is presented as a hybrid program, broken into four components, presented both in-person (at the NACM HQ building in Columbia Maryland) and online (via Zoom). Tuition covers the cost of course materials, course instruction and meals during the in-person components. Travel and accommodation costs are the responsibility of the student for the in-person components.

Tuition must be paid in full prior to any materials being sent for a course.

Complete Program (4 hybrid components)

Advanced Financial Statement Analysis
Legal Environment of Credit
Advanced Negotiations
Leadership

Program Registration Deadline – May 30, 2025

Tuition Costs

Early Bird: By March 7, 2025	Regular: March 8, 2025 – May 30, 2025
Member Rate: $4,900	Member Rate: $5,500
Non-member Rate: $5,900	Non-member Rate: $6,500

Travel and Accommodations

Travel and accommodation costs are the responsibility of the student for the in-person components. NACM’s national headquarters is located at 8840 Columbia 100 Parkway, Columbia, Maryland, convenient to Baltimore and Washington D.C.

Hotel Reservations

Program participants may make their hotel reservations at The Staybridge Suites Columbia Hotel. The hotel is adjacent to NACM headquarters where the program is being held.

To secure the NACM meeting rate of $119 for a studio suite - make your reservations online by selecting NACM in the dropdown under Rate Preference.

To ensure you receive a room at the NACM meeting rate, make your reservation as early as possible. The meeting rate is based on availability. When making your reservation, be sure to review or inquire about the hotel’s deposit and cancellation policies. Check in time is 4:00 p.m. and check out is 12:00 p.m.

Transportation Information

The Staybridge Suites Columbia Hotel is conveniently located 12 miles from Baltimore/Washington International Airport. Transportation is provided by NACM for offsite dinners. Please contact BWI’s website for hotel transportation options to and from the hotel.

A Second Professional Designation Opportunity…
NEW! Spend less, learn more! with the ICRM Bundle

New this year, NACM and FCIB (The Finance Credit & International Business Association) are teaming up to offer a spectacular opportunity to complete both the GSCFM program and the International Credit & Risk Management ^SM (ICRM) online course for one discounted, bundled rate. This presents the chance to earn NACM’s Certified Credit Executive ® (CCE) designation and FCIB’s Certified International Credit Professional (CICP) designation… no additional forms or costs.

After completing the GSCFM program, move on to the ICRM online course with fellow students also choosing to enhance their professional skills and network even further. More education, more professional connections and more achievements… all in one valuable tuition. Why choose one, when you can have both!

Early Bird: By March 7, 2025	Regular: March 8, 2025 – May 30, 2025
Member Rate: $5,399	Member Rate: $5,999
Non-member Rate: $6,399	Non-member Rate: $6,900

In the Bundle option, the GSCFM program student and the ICRM student must be the same person. The offer is not transferable or divisible. The ICRM course is valid toward the January/Winter 2026 course after having successfully completing the 2025 GSCFM program.

Financial Scholarship Assistance

The NACM Scholarship Foundation, Inc. provides scholarships for financial assistance (*partial funding only) for GSCFM students. Scholarship amounts are determined based on need and availability of funds. Please visit the NACM Scholarship Foundation web page to learn more.

Refund and Cancellation Policy

Due to the inherent costs associated with this program, no refunds are available within thirty days of the course’s start date. Cancellations made prior to thirty days out are subject to a $100 administrative fee. For questions, comments or to confirm administrative policies, please contact the NACM Meetings Department at 410-740-5560.