Credit Spreading Program

We presently use Moody’s Financial Analyst credit spreading program. Moody’s, however, does not allow for Global Cash Flow analysis. Moody’s also has several other deficiencies described below. Moody’s and two other vendors, Sageworks and Baker Hill were reviewed as to their capabilities and options, with particular emphasis placed upon the Global Cash Flow issue.

I recommend that we go with Sageworks.

Sageworks:
Sageworks was formed in 1998 and is based in North Carolina. The company’s website is www.sageworksanalyst.com. The company’s focus is on small to mid-sized banks.

They have a web-based statement spreading program called Sageworks Analyst (SA). With the SA system, there is nothing significant to load onto our mainframe system. An unlimited number of our users simply logon to SA’s website. With Moody’s, since we have a Citrix environment, there is software that is loaded onto our computer system. There are also a limited number of users that we may have access for with Moody’s.

SA allows for Global Cash Flow Analysis. This allows us to enter the financial information once, and a number of reports can then be generated. All of the reports that Moody’s generates, Sageworks also has, plus SA has more. The Global Cash Flow capability is not available at Moody’s. Presently we have to do a two-step process to get a Global Cash Flow. For a Global Cash Flow analysis, we first must spread the financials on Moody’s. Then we must manually transfer certain financial information to an Excel program. With a two-step data entry process, the risks of data entry error increases. Also, labor time is increased.

SA also has a good stress test system for commercial real estate projects.

Although web-based, Sageworks maintains an SAS 70 Level 2 Compliance via a 128 bit encryption. It therefore appears to be secure.

Baker Hill:
I used Baker at a previous bank. Baker is now owned by Experian. Baker’s product is similar to Sageworks, but with several deficiencies. Baker has a four user limitation. They also have conversion fees, and a five year lease is required. One obnoxious feature with Baker is that you cannot print out a balance sheet that does not balance. This makes finding the error sometimes quite difficult. Baker does have a Global Cash Flow feature.

Moody’s
Moody’s does not have a Global Cash Flow product. Also, Moody’s is not web-based. The version that we presently use is an old version that Baker will not support after this year. This means that if we stay with Moody’s we must upgrade to a newer version for a fee.


Conclusion:

I believe it is best to go with Sageworks. I also prefer Sageworks over Baker. I'll send pricing.