Category Archives: Finance

Deltek’s Clarity A&E Industry Report

The 39th Annual Deltek Clarity A&E Industry Report is ready, and Deltek has webinars for you to learn more about the data it has collected.

Register to attend one or all of their webinars.

More continuing education credits – only 5 months away!

SDA National is at it again! Here comes another EDConnect—a convenient way to get continuing education credits in all things A/E/C. It’s a three-day webinar conference that you and others in your firm won’t want to miss. Stay tuned for more details/registration.

IRS lowers standard mileage rates for 2017

Effective January 1, 2017, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) is:

  • 53.5 cents per mile for business miles driven (down from 54 cents for 2016)
  • 17 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes (down from 19 cents for 2016)
  • 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations (unchanged from 2016)

More info on the IRS website.

The A, B, C (and Ds) of Business Banking Relationships*

A: Always choose a bank that understands your industry, especially if you are in construction. Continue reading

Your time sheet is due!

TimeClockAccording to Stephanie Kirschner, Executive Director of the Society for Design Administration, one of the things she always hears from A/E/C administrators is, “What can we do to get our staff to submit their time sheet on time?”

Continue reading

Mileage reimbursement for personal vehicles

speedometer-498748_1920Another year, another change in the reimbursement rate for personal vehicle use. Effective January 1, 2016, the new mileage rate is $0.54 (down from last year’s rate of $0.575). Need to reimburse your consultant for using their own plane to get back and forth from a project site (or you want to get reimbursed by your client for using your own plane)? No matter the mode of transportation, you’ll find what you need to know here.

Try this to improve your cash flow

invoice-153413_1280In his webinar, “How the Best Firms Get Better,” Doug Rawson (Base Builders, LLC) shared tips for accelerating your cash flow. Continue reading

Should you fire your bad client?

FireSomeoneFire your bad client? Whoa, that sounds drastic! Why would you want to get rid of a client? June R. Jewell, CPA, President & CEO of AEC Business Solutions has done just that. Why? It’s one of 3 steps that can help you increase your fees.  Read her blog post here.

The financial reports you need

Steve Burns, FAIA (Chief Creative Officer at BQE Software, Inc.) knows all about the financial reports that can help you manage your firm’s finances. He presented “Effective Financial Management for Architectural Firms” at SDA’s EDConnect15.

Here’s his recommendation:

  • Billing Summary
  • Detail Bill Report
  • Cash Flow vs Revenue
  • Revenue Summary
  • Profitability
  • Budget vs Actual
  • Budget vs Actual Detail
  • New Business by Project Type
  • Work in Hand
  • Revenue Forecasting

Tangible Property Regulations

We had an excellent business practice presentation by Joshua Cohen of Bader Martin, speaking on the topic of the new regulations for tangible property. He left us with three take-aways for filing 2014 taxes:

  1. File Form 3115 to your return
  2. The Annual elections you have to file
  3. Retroactivity – look at prior assets