Family-owned construction businesses often face distinctive challenges when it comes to succession planning. Emotions can run high, and the business owner’s lifelong working legacy may be at stake. Once you’ve chosen a successor, and put a basic succession plan in place, it’s important to respond quickly if trouble starts brewing. Form your team Succession problems…
Late last year, the Financial Accounting Standards Board granted a one-year reprieve from new lease accounting rules to private companies that comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). This means that GAAP-compliant construction businesses with a calendar year end now have until 2021 to implement Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 842, Leases. (Contractors with a…
After reaching a certain level of success, many construction companies struggle to keep up with employment and human resources (HR) tasks such as recruiting and hiring, payroll processing, and employee benefits and workers’ comp administration. One solution may be to outsource these functions to a professional employer organization (PEO). How it works When you partner…
Determining the market value of your construction company may be necessary or desirable for many reasons. Examples include a sale or merger, financing, succession planning, tax and estate planning, insurance claims, divorce, or setting up an employee stock ownership plan. Whatever the reason, it’s important to consult an experienced valuation professional. Some contractors use rules…
Would you recognize an indirect cost if you saw one? Indirect costs can have a substantial impact on a construction company’s financial picture and bottom line. But they’re not always the easiest things to “see.” Let’s zoom in to bring indirect costs better into focus. Viewing the numbers It helps to first define project costs…
Companies that qualify as “small businesses” enjoy several tax benefits, including simplified tax reporting and the ability to defer taxes under certain circumstances. Your construction company’s eligibility for these advantages depends on your gross receipts, including those earned by certain related entities. Previously, the gross receipts threshold was $5 million ($10 million in some cases)….
Tariffs on steel and aluminum have recently contributed to rising materials costs. There are many other factors that can cause prices to escalate, too, including shortages brought about by building booms in other parts of the country or world; environmental issues, such as loss of forestlands; and rising fuel and other transportation costs. What can…
The skilled labor shortage has been a problem for so long that you might be tired of reading about it. Yet, on a nationwide basis, the fact remains that construction businesses face a great challenge in hiring and retaining well-trained and experienced workers. If your construction company has good people on board right now, you’ve…
Is your construction business organized as a sole proprietorship or pass-through entity (such as a partnership, S corporation or limited liability company)? If so, the new 20% “pass-through” deduction can be a valuable tax break. But the deduction is subject to complex limits and restrictions. That’s why it’s important to review your situation carefully to…
Benchmarking is the process of comparing one’s business processes and performance metrics with your own historical data or those of other, similar companies. Through this process, you can identify the “best in class” business practices in the construction industry, or in another industry where similar processes exist, and compare these approaches and results with your own. In doing so, you’ll hopefully…