The Exuberant Accountant - Scott Heintzelman

•    Proposed Pennsylvania Budget update

•    State trends in corporate taxation and differences among states

•    Sales & Use Taxes – Construction Activities

•    Recent Commonwealth court cases

Another topic that we continue to see opportunity for businesses to reduce costs is by using an Insurance Captive.  An excellent presentation was done by Norm Basso of E.K. McConkey.  Norm covered such topics as:

•    Methods for Risk Handling

•    Risk Financing

•    Captives - An insurance company that provides insurance to and is controlled by the owners or members

•    Eligibility Guidelines

•    Captive Structure

•    Why are Captive Insurance Costs Lower?

Another key tax savings strategy is the proper selection of tax accounting methods. Lisa White, CPA, of McKonly & Asbury presented an update on this key area of construction accounting.  She covered such topics as:

•    Update on proposed section 460 Regulation – expanding the scope of "home" jobs eligible for completed contract method of accounting

•    Tax Accounting Methods – cash, accrual, or hybrid

•    Long-term contract tax accounting methods, including percentage-of-completion, completed contract, and POC or capitalized cost method.

•    The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

•    PLR 200930029 Update - Reimbursements to service technicians for trade equipment that can be excluded from wages 

•    LMSB Directive – focusing on improper usage of completed contract and determining when a contract is complete ("Super" Completed Contract Method)

Diane Tokarsky of McNees Wallace and Nurick provided an in-depth update on legal matters, covering the following:

•    Mechanics Lien Claims

•    Contractual Provisions

•    Joint Checks

•    Restrictive Check Endorsements

•    Waivers

•    Recent Cases

•    Prevailing Wage Update

•    Project Labor Agreement Litigation

•    Labor & Industry Trends

No construction seminar would be complete without an update on bond insurance.  Karen Mummert of E.K. McConkey provided a first-rate update on reducing subcontractor financial risk.  She provided insights on the following:

•    Surety Bonds

•    Benefits of Bonding Subs

•    Indemnification

•    Availability of Surety

•    Qualify the Subcontractor’s Surety

•    Establishing a Bonding Policy

•    2009/10 Surety Forecast

We also felt sharing about Web 2.0 and social networking would be a good topic for contractors to learn about.  This type of marketing is being embraced by nonprofits, the retail industry and by professional service organizations, but to date is largely ignored by the construction industry (and many others).  I was able to present an update covering such topics as:

•    Networking in general

•    Trust & Like - Building Relationships

•    Five Steps to Networking Success

•    Why Social Networking is Important

•    Creating a Social Network

•    Benefits of a Social Network – Greater ROI

Overall, a very exciting day and the attendee’s evaluation forms indicated that the seminar was well received.  If you would like more information on this event or would like us to email you the seminar handout material, please contact me.