EOR - EASEY Online Rating - a roadmap of a free of charge online service for small businesses

Status

completed

Summary

Motivation

With a sequence of projects, financed by the Jubiläumsfonds of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) and the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology, it could be proved, at least for companies listed on the stock exchange, that corporate sustainable development (‘Nachhaltig Wirtschaften') boosts company's value (= project hypothesis). ‘EOR roadmap' continuous this project sequence with the intention a verification of the above mentioned assumption can be applied for small companies needs and to be integrated into a Basel II rating system.

Objectives and Goals

The EOR concept study (EASEY Online Rating) is to be categorised as a business idea to ‘product service system: non profit'. The aim was to answer the question whether a free of charge service for preparing small businesses (SB) for their bank rating is feasible.

Usually the relation between bank and SB starts as a talk for mutual orientation - on the one side about acceptance and on the other side about conditions. The SB provides figures and quantitative and qualitative data about future profitability (e.g. self assessment). The bank decides on this base whether it should start the business relation. In case of a positive decision it analyses the provided information by a rating of the creditability.

For that purpose the bank uses a rating model in different variants but always with the same aim to classify the risk of a credit default. Basle I requires only hard facts, a financial statement. Quantified data come from a balance sheet or documented flow of payments. Basle II requires more soft facts, non financial data. This is affecting especially SB's because they use accounting systems lesser than medium or bigger size companies.

The stronger weighting of soft facts for credit rating is justified by the EU regulation on capital adequacy which requires much more orientation on future than in the past. That is the reason why soft facts should be conceptualised according the state of the art in rating or assess sustainable development of enterprises. Rating concepts for the needs of capital market assess the probability to sell securities with profit also in long term perspective. Rating concepts for the needs of credit market assess the probability of planned bank profits to given control costs.

In future credit rating for SB's could gain relevance beyond the immediate covering financing needs when it's results can be easily fed back to the management or it can be used as a tool for self assessment and strategy development. At least freedom of choice becomes obvious and can help to identify available as well as missing organisational abilities, which is information for assessing capacity to respond changing market and societal environment.

The planned EOR service will use existing programs to analyse financial statements. At least liquidity is the only decisive criterion for the market relevance of a company in the most cases sanctioned by society. Therefore the assessment of ones ability to gain profit can not get obsolete.

The planned EOR service will use existing rating concept (EASEY model) elaborated in previous capital market oriented research projects. Further steps has to into account the usability for SB's as well as a concise linking to payment flows regardless the level of accounting system in use.

In middle and long terms soft facts will affect hard facts, by linking so to say. The planned EOR service will support analysing and understanding by provision of additional and framing service products. The above mentioned from banking view defined hypothesis can be changed from SB's view to the following:

Soft Facts of today are the Hard Facts of tomorrow.

Results

Our EASEY X rating model for analysing sustainability performance of stock quoted corporations was the bases for adoption to an EOR model. The web search for e-rating services caused ten results but no one includes sustainable development features. Parallel we asked for the willingness of market participants to co-operate with the research team for maintaining the EOR service. We have found four banks interested in.

Project management

Dr. Reinhard Paulesich
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Inst. f. Regional- und Umweltwirtschaft

Project or cooperation partner

• Martin Beinstein
  Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Inst. f. Regional- und Umweltwirtschaft
• Mag. Regina Haberfellner
  Soll&Haberfellner, Unternehmens- und Projektberatung
• Dr. Bernulf Bruckner
  Liquidity & Research, Training, Beratung und Forschung
• Herbert Masopust
  Geschäftskundenkredite, BA CA Direktor i.R.

Dr. Reinhard Paulesich
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Inst. f. Regional- und Umweltwirtschaft
Nordbergstrasse 15, 1090 Wien
Tel.: +43 1 31336 5721
Fax: +43 1 31336 709
E-Mail: reinhard.paulesich@wu-wien.ac.at