Fall 2007

Keep an Eye Out for Payroll Fraud
 
Fraud is a potential problem that contractors can’t afford to ignore. In fact, a recent national study of occupational fraud and abuse conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners reported that the construction industry had the second highest median loss per scheme ($500,000) among all industries surveyed. Read more...

Managing Backlog Is a Must

It’s easy to assume as a contractor that the more backlog you have, the better off you are. You may think that a large backlog of projects is a sign of continuing financial health and a vote of confidence in your company by property owners and developers. In fact, you may believe that a large backlog is as good as money in the bank. However, that’s not always the case. What’s more important than the size of the backlog is your ability to manage it effectively. Read more...

Putting Together a Workable Incentive Compensation Plan

Attracting and retaining employees whose skills and commitment contribute significantly to growth and profitability should be a priority for every business. While high-performing project managers, supervisors and engineers are typically driven by their own high standards, a satisfactory compensation package can often motivate them to continue performing at peak levels. Read more...

New Tax Law Impacts Construction Industry

The Small Business and Work Opportunity Tax Act of 2007, which was signed into law by the President on May 25, 2007, contains several provisions that have an impact on the construction industry. Here’s a brief overview of some of those provisions. Read more...

Developments in Tax and Business

Pay for Travel Time
Construction workers who were employed on an airport extension project were required to pass through a security checkpoint on the tarmac and to travel on authorized, company supplied buses and vans in order to reach their worksite. Read more...

Somerset Construction & A/E Team News

We welcome Steve George to our Construction & A/E Team. 

Steve is a senior manager and has over 15 years of extensive experience providing consulting, tax and audit/accounting services to general and specialty-trade contractors. You may contact him at 317-472-2722 or sgeorge@somersetcpas.com.

Somerset is pleased to announce that Ken Hedlund has been named Chairman of the BDO Seidman Alliance Construction Industry Group (BDO CIG). As Chairman Ken will lead activities designed to unite the construction industry strength and experience of individuals from Alliance firms and BDO Seidman into a nationwide team of professionals, working together to attract and serve clients.

Chris Mayfield will be presenting "Best Practices in Project Management" at the Midwest Healthcare Engineering Conference on Wednesday, November 7, 2007. We hope to see many of you at the conference.

Jason Leveson and John Dighton presented "Project Management - Why, Why, Why," "A/E Industry Reporting Savvy" and "Protrax Custom Report Writing" at the 2007 Axium User Conference last month. If you would missed the conference and would like to discuss these topics, please contact us.

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. 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

The Indiana Subcontractors Association presents:

The Construction Networking Event
of the Year!

Thursday, March 6, 2008 Indianapolis Convention Center - Sagamore Ballroom

Visit Somerset associates at Booth #17 during the trade show.  Somerset is also a proud sponsor of the GC of the Year Awards.
 Click here for more details.

Congratulations to all the firms that were recognized at the 2007 ABC Merit Shop Construction Awards Banquet! 

Visit ABC's web site to see the winning projects.

Where can you find event information from more than 25 local construction and design trade associations?

Go to the Consolidated Industry Calendar on Building Excellence's web site.

Axium is a software solution specific for the Architectural and Engineering industries with in depth project management and financial accounting features. Somerset is an authorized consulting partner for the Axium family of software solution products, which includes Ajera, Portfolio, Protrax and iTime & Expense. Contact Jason Leveson for more details.