Winter 2009
Getting the Final Payment
Most contractors have
experienced problems getting the final payment on a job. Sometimes the issue
is quickly resolved, while other times it can take months or even years for
that last payment to come through. If you are a homebuilder or remodeling
contractor, here are two key strategies that can help ensure that you
receive full payment for your work.
Read more...
National Economic Outlook
As expected, the last 60
days of 2008 revealed one dismal economic report after another in reflection
of the stunning crash of the stock markets in early October and the
breakdown in the credit markets. If there's a positive to derive from all
the bad news (and this is definitely a reach), it is that the negative
reaction by consumers and businesses was swift and decisive, which may
hasten the beginning of recovery. But in the meantime, the national economy
and construction markets will experience contraction. From among the litany
of gloomy data, several key areas of the construction economy are in very
different positions from the beginning of 2008 and bear watching. The most
telling of these are the status of the housing market, commercial
construction and architectural billings.
Read more...
Somerset
Financial Power Tools
The recent economic crunch
is forcing us to take a deeper look into ways of surviving this downturn in
hopes of thriving in the future. As part of our dedication and commitment to
the construction, architectural and engineering industries, we have created
unique, one-of-a-kind Financial Power Tools to assist you with saving money
in this tough market. Our "Tool Box" is designed to uncover opportunities to
help your business survive today and thrive tomorrow. Learn more about our
contractor-specific tools here. Learn more about our
A/E firm-specific tools here.
Contact
us for a free, no cost and no obligation consultation to see exactly how
Somerset's Construction & A/E Team can add value and save your business
money.
Handling Project Contract
Modifications
During times when project
starts are slowing and profit margins appear to be shrinking, contractors
have to examine every aspect of their operations to maximize their bottom
line. Project modifications deserve close scrutiny since they can
potentially reduce a contractor's profit margin and adversely affect cash
flow. Contractors can be proactive by developing procedures to minimize both
the frequency of project modifications and their impact. These suggestions
may help.
Read more...
New IRS Guidance on Employee
Tool Allowances
Do you provide tools
to your employees, or do you expect your employees to provide their own?
Companies that ask employees to arrive on the job with their own tools
sometimes decide to reimburse their employees for the cost of the tools.
Making the reimbursements under an accountable plan can provide tax
benefits. Expenses that are reimbursed under an accountable plan that meets
IRS requirements are income-tax free to employees and are not subject to
withholding or payroll taxes. Your company deducts the payments as a
business expense. If the accountable plan requirements are not met, the
reimbursements must be included in your employees' gross wages--and your
company will incur the associated payroll tax costs.
Read more...
Developments in Tax and Business
Shortage of Safety
Supervisors - Graduates of occupational safety and health programs are being
snapped up straight out of college by companies eager to staff their safety
departments. However, many graduates don't consider careers in construction,
a situation that is forcing contractors to become more aggressive in
recruiting graduates and in offering competitive wage and benefit packages.
Read more...
Somerset Construction & A/E Team News
Construction Industry Annual Financial Performance and Salary & Benefits Survey. The 2009 survey is now open for participation. The results are a reliable and valuable compilation of financial results and salary and benefits information, including over 20 key financial indicators and ratios and average balance sheet and income statements. Survey results are free to participants, and Somerset will also present a complimentary direct comparison of your company's specific responses as they align with the final results of all participants. Please contact us for more information.
Speaking Engagements. Ken Hedlund will be presenting "Financial Power Tools for Contractors" at several ABC of Indiana council meetings in the coming weeks. Please visit ABC's web site for details. Ken will be presenting "Surviving the Economic Downturn" on March 19 to ACEC of Indiana members in the morning and as a webinar sponsored by Axium software in the afternoon. Please visit Axium's web site to register. Ken will be giving the keynote address at the Axium Users Association conference in Fort Worth, Texas on April 24, and his topic will be "Financial Power Tools for A/E Firms."
Our
popular MBA program is scheduled through 2010. Howard Cox will present the
next session on February 25, 2009, and the topic will be "Perceived
Indifference & Customer Relationship Management." We will discuss how much
perceived indifference could be costing your business and ways to improve.
We will also discuss how you can develop a CRM strategy to profitably manage
relationships with your customers. Click the image to the right see the full
schedule and details. Please join us in person or via webinar.
Somerset
is proud to be a gold level sponsor of the Indiana Subcontractors
Association. We will be exhibiting at
their annual "Construction Networking Event of the Year" on Tuesday, March 10,
2009. Please stop by and see us at Booth #74. For more information about the
event, please
visit ISA's web site.
In Other News...
2009 Seminars. Our seminars calendar has been updated for 2009--including the Financial Literacy for Women series and the Financial Skills for Kids, Teens and Young Adults. Please go online to see the schedule to-date and register.
Somerset Client Satisfaction Survey. If you are a Somerset client, please take our survey concerning the services we have provided to you. Our goal is to improve our overall relationship and better serve you. Go to survey.
Somerset publishes a variety of newsletters in addition to Work-In-Process--such as Wherewithal, Real Estate Focus, Tax Times and several others. Please visit the Newsletters page of our web site to read the archives and sign up to have new issues delivered to your email inbox.
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.
Somerset CPAs, P.C.
3925 River Crossing Parkway,
Third Floor
Indianapolis, Indiana 46240
317.472.2200 • 800.469.7206
FAX 317.208.1200
www.somersetcpas.com
info@somersetcpas.com
