i Have always dreaded this question for years . Your boss come's in to your office and says ."you have to cut your budget by 30% " this is your contribution to be business. Already Credit and collection is always seen as a cost center not a profit center for the business.
Luckily for me this has happen to me only once. The reason why i believe is that i have always taken the bull by the horn and work very hard to change this perception. Yes there is the classic argument that we help to maintain profitability because we limit the risk and therefore the possible losses. However i have elevated this problem to a new level by actually showing and working with sales to actually be perceived as a lead generation department. The reasoning behind  this is it's much easier if you generate lead and pre-qualify then for credit as well. So you can partner up with a credit bureau and a call center our event you own internal team to call potential customer to pre qualify them for sales. That way you become a leads machine that no one wants to cut budget . It's certainly sound easy to do but let me tell you it takes time and skill to be able to get some budget to get this done. What i usually do is find some saving within my budget to start this and usually as sales start to get good leads they become more and more interested. This usually leads to an increase in your budget for this part. Obviously you need to start this while things are good for your business. I have done it when the business was having difficulty but it's extremely difficult..
The rewards if you become proficient at this is huge. Now credit and collection not only saves the bottom line but also generate leads.

For more great information in credit and collections i recommend www.NCNjournal.com