Winter 2008 Newsletter articles
Positive Pay’ and Payroll Cards Can Help Bring End to Hot Checks
Despite popular perception, one of the nation’s oldest forms of larceny still creates more havoc for American companies than computer hacking or any other form of high-tech skullduggery.
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Do you really value your surety?
It’s important to remember that sureties aren’t looking for contractors to build a project; they’re looking for sound business people who run construction companies.With fewer construction companies competing for work in a still-healthy construction market, opportunities to expand market share are within reach for some.
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Fall 2007 Newsletter articles
Cash-Flow Blueprints Too Often Overlooked
For contractors, cash flow is what makes the world turn. In an inordinately cash-intensive business, consistent cash flow is mandatory if debt is to be kept in check and work is to continue on schedule.
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The Time Has Arrived for Disaster Recovery Plans
If a natural disaster hit your business, would it be able to survive? In the wake of disastrous hurricanes and wildfires, many businesses for the first are giving the question serious consideration.
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Summer 2007 Newsletter articles
Full Financial Reporting Strengthens Relationships With Lenders, Sureties
As financially risky as the construction industry is, contractors should always give priority to the relationships they share with their surety companies, banks, insurers, and other financial stakeholders.
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Selling Your Firm to Retire Requires Early Planning
For the baby boomers turning 60 this year - and those close behind - decisions relating to retirement should be addressed now.
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Spring 2007 Newsletter articles
Turning to Outside Advisors can bring Fresh Ideas - and Higher Profit
The vast majority of construction companies in Texas are privately held, with a large percentage of them having all shareholders from the same family. These shareholders, whether family members or not, fill most if not all of the senior management positions and seats on the board of directors.
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Poor Cash Management Is Kiss of Death in Construction Industry
For any business, mismanagement of cash flow usually proves fatal. Yet many companies continue to relegate day-to-day cash flow to their list of secondary concerns, assuming cash will continue to flow while they focus instead on net profit, market share and other chief features of their business plan.
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Winter 2007 Newsletter articles
Job Schedules Provide Clearest Picture of a Contractor’s Financial Viability
To measure their success, construction company executives turn more often than not to balance sheets and income statements for the validation they seek.
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Have You Been The Victim of Fraud?
For the past several years, corporate fraud has been one of the most reported crimes in America.
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Fall 2006 Newsletter articles
Is Your Company Forsaking Net Income for Higher Gross Revenues?
Is bigger always better when it comes to operating a construction company? The answer is a resounding no, but some company leaders continue to believe otherwise.
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Are You as Good as You Think You Are?
Everyone knows that construction is not a business for the faint-hearted. Contractors are focused, hardworking, and enjoy managing tough projects. If you are the owner of a construction company – or hope to become one – you already know that job one is to manage those projects, sometimes 24-7.
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Spring/Summer 2006 Newsletter articles
Claims Management Can Make or Break a Firm
In North Georgia, excavators know about changing site conditions. Even the region’s ancient mound builders occasionally ran into hidden outcrops of Stone Mountain granite.
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Some Considerations in Construction Software
About a third of construction contractors nationwide create job estimates using nothing but Excel. Does it work? Yes, but there are more efficient alternatives.
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Douse Disputes Fast With Alternative Dispute Resolution
When smoke-jumpers parachute onto remote Western slopes, time is of the essence. They know that a small brush fire, caught early, is easy to quench. But as a blaze grows, the difficulty of controlling it grows exponentially.
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Winter 2006 Newsletter articles
Agree Early on Buy-Sell Issues
Some of the emotions that go with launching a construction partnership are like those that attend a wedding — optimism and good feelings all around. There at the outset, toasting the new alliance, no one wants to dwell on the possibility that things could change.
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New Domestic Production Law Promotes Construction Jobs
Congress enacted the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 in large part to promote the creation of jobs in manufacturing sectors. But Section 199 of the Act, and the domestic production deduction (DPD) that it establishes, also offer benefits to construction and related firms.
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Fall 2005 Newsletter articles
Web-based Collaboration Is Here To Stay
The construction industry has rarely been the first to implement new technologies. The lag stems in part from a healthy conservatism: It’s often a wise strategy, in business as in life, to let “early adopters” test the Next Big Thing, and then step in to profit from their experience.
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Compensating With Stock That Isn’t
The principle of tying employee compensation to overall company performance is a well-established one, and company stock is its most common currency.
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Measuring Productivity Always Worthwhile
On the great job sites of medieval times — cathedrals, fortifications, shipyards — the owner was represented by the Clerk of the Works.
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Spring/Summer 2005 Newsletter articles
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
My people are the key to my success. Occasionally you’ll hear this comment from a construction company owner.
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Contractors Should “Look Back” Carefully
“Don’t look back,” advised Satchel Paige. “Something may be gaining on you.” The baseball Hall of Famer might have voiced the sentiment of construction contractors who neglect a provision of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) called the “look-back” rule.
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Other
Know the Red Flags of Employee Fraud
The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners has estimated that U.S. businesses lose an average of 6 percent of their revenue to fraud.
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Opportunity Knocks As Congress Renews Tax Credit
Contractors sometimes overlook an important federal program called the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), a straight dollar-for-dollar reduction in tax liability that can reduce your tax bill significantly.
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Protect Yourself Against Skyrocketing Materials Costs
In meteorological terms, a perfect storm occurs when several events occur simultaneously — events that in themselves might not be disastrous, but that when combined create a storm of exceptional strength.
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Who Qualifies for the WOTC?
Employers can qualify for a Work Opportunity Tax Credit for new hires who meet certain criteria:
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Best Practices in Risk Management: Safety Programs
An effective safety program makes a contractor more competitive and reduces insurance costs.
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If You Build It, Will They Pay?
Is there a worse investment than lending money for free? Probably not — except working for free.
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