Fall 2009

When Every Dollar Counts
The economic downturn has only heightened the need for contractors to look for ways to save money and increase revenues. A top-to-bottom review of your operations may reveal some surprising areas where significant savings can be found. Read more...

Controlling Risk in Long-Term Contracts
Long-term contracts can be lucrative for contractors, but sureties can be nervous about the many risks associated with such commitments. Contractors can take a variety of steps to protect their businesses and reassure sureties when assuming the risks of long-term contracts. Read more...

Keeping Good Project Records Makes Sense
Contractors can take a variety of steps to minimize cost overruns, keep a project on schedule, and reduce the potential for litigation. One of the most effective is to keep detailed and timely records that cover every aspect of a project from start to finish. Here is an overview of the most important records you should keep for every project. Read more...

Tapping into the Expertise of Outsiders
Many business owners recognize that they need to spend time thinking about the big picture--the growth, direction and management of their companies. Unfortunately, they are either too caught up in the day-to-day work of running their businesses or too uncertain about their strategic planning skills to give important issues the attention they deserve. Read more...

Tax Benefit of Green Building Incentives - Special Rule for
Government-Owned Buildings
In the past several years, many federal tax incentives have been extended and enhanced for designing and constructing energy efficient buildings. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 allows a deduction for the cost of certain energy efficiency improvements installed on or in a depreciable building located in the U.S., effective for improvements placed in service after December 31, 2005, and before January 1, 2014. Read more...

Developments in Tax and Business
Towns Mandating ENERGY STAR as Code. Here’s a trend worth watching if you are a homebuilder: Some municipalities are requiring that every new home built in their communities be ENERGY STAR compliant. (ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy.) Reactions to the requirement are mixed, with some homebuilders’ associations supporting the measure and others opposing it on the grounds of cost. Read more...

Somerset Construction & A/E Team News
And the Survey Says! Our 2009 Indiana Construction Industry Financial Performance and Salary & Benefits Survey, based on 2008 financial results, is complete. Responses indicate Indiana contractors maintained strong financial performance in areas including gross and net profit, working capital, debt-to-equity, equity and cash flow. The economic recession and the trailing force on the construction community had not yet had much impact on local contractors in 2008. One indicator for most survey categories that a challenging environment was evident can be found in months in backlog. Not surprising the three biggest concerns identified were health care costs, sources of future work and federal tax legislation. Since December 2008, the economy has changed dramatically. Less work, more competition, reduced margins and slower pay has created the most challenging construction environment in years. Many contractors have diversified into new markets, cut expenditures, laid off personnel and/or reduced salaries and benefits. For a brief snapshot of our results, click here. For more information on this survey or to meet with us to review the full results, please contact us.

Congratulations. Jay Feller was recently named Treasurer of the Electric League of Indianapolis. Steve George was listed as Indianapolis 2009 Five Star Wealth Manager in Accounting that was recently published in Indianapolis Monthly. Pat Early, Valerie Brennan, Susan Naus and Roy Rice of Somerset were also on the list this year.

Conferences and Speaking Engagements. On October 21, Somerset is sponsoring the ACEC Indiana Energy Forum, which is being held at the Sheraton Indianapolis and is featuring Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman as the luncheon speaker. Visit ACEC Indiana's web site for more details and to register. Somerset will be exhibiting at the Axium User Conference in Portland from October 22 to 24. Ken Hedlund, Chris Mayfield and Jason Leveson will be presenting sessions at the conference, including "Financial Power Tools to Survive the Downturn," "Overhead and FAR Rules" and "Calculating and Understanding Financial Ratios." For more information and registration, visit Axium's web site. On November 17, Ken Hedlund will present "Surviving the Downturn for Contractors and & Performance Based Incentive Compensation Plans" at the ASHRAE meeting in Ft. Wayne. On November 19, Steve George will be presenting at the Indiana Construction Association's annual conference.

Tell Us How We Are Doing and You May Win Pacers Tickets. If you are a Somerset client, please take our Client Satisfaction Survey by October 15, and you will be entered into our drawing for a pair of tickets to the Pacers vs. Miami on Friday, October 30. Or take the survey by November 15 to be entered into our drawing for tickets to the Pacers vs. Dallas on Friday, November 27. Take our survey now.

Somerset Practical MBA Program--Attend in Person or Via Webinar. Our popular MBA program is scheduled through 2010. The next session is on October 28, 2009, when Michael Fritton will present "Four Ways to Grow Your Business." Ken Hedlund will present "Customer/Product/Service Profitability and Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis" on November 18, 2009. Click the image to the left see the full schedule and details. Please join us in person or via webinar.

Work-In-Process is provided by Somerset CPAs for our clients and other interested persons upon request. For additional information on the issues discussed, please contact Ken Hedlund, Jay Feller, Steve George, Chris Mayfield or Rebecca Ogle of our Construction & A/E Team. Learn more about our Construction & A/E Team by clicking the photo to the left to watch our video. Since technical information is presented in generalized fashion, no final conclusion on these topics should be made without further review. This document is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer.