How many C's are required to borrow or lend money.  The top 3 C's are Character, Capacity and Capital.  The 4 C's of credit, use the top 3 and add Credit..  The 5 C's of credit use the top 3 and add Collateral and Conditions (of the market).  We believe that Character is the most important.  Without character, Capacity and Capital may be window dressing.  With Capacity and Capital and no Character, lenders have been lulled in to not believing the first warning signs of an account going in the wrong direction or even the second warning sign. 

Cash is "King" only if you have enough time to gather the cash before it is consumed by bad management.  Credit has the 3 C's and business has the 3 M's - Money, Management and Market.  There is an opportunity to fix the first two if someone is called in to help at the first sign of trouble.  A bad Market normally brings the debtor to its knees and the lender a potential non accrual loan.