For a number of reasons, joint ventures are becoming more prevalent in the construction industry. There are several matters you need to consider before entering a new partnership, including:

• Due diligence on your new partner
• Tax concerns
• Type of entity and structural matters
• Risk management, profits, and responsibilities of the joint venture agreement
• Administration, accounting, taxes, etc.
• Internal controls and review processes
• Closing out the venture

The IT audit is intended to provide assurances that your company’s IT is well-managed and standards and controls are followed. As the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and other standards continue to affect progressively smaller companies, it’s important to understand what’s involved in IT compliance. This session will focus on key areas that CFMs and senior management should be aware of and plan for. A conceptual framework for a simple audit will be presented.

This session will cover:

• IT governance
• Systems and infrastructure life cycle management
• IT services and delivery support
• Protection of information assets
• Business continuity and disaster recovery

Learn about the latest changes in financial reporting standards that impact the construction industry. Led by members of CFMA’s Emerging Issues Committee, specific topics in this session will include:

• Leases
• Multi-employer plan disclosures
• Changes to goodwill impairment testing
• Efforts by FASB to re-examine certain existing standards for private companies

This session will provide attendees with a comprehensive overview on various issues, initiatives, and solutions that encompass management succession and ownership transfer, including:

• Obstacles to continuity planning
• How to define goals and objectives
• How to develop a plan and make it work
• Risk, estate, and contingency planning
• Valuation techniques
• Techniques and issues that relate to ownership transfers and management succession

Topics in this session will include:

• Ten contract risks to avoid and how to do so
• New developments in standard form agreement and their impact on specialty contractors
• Indemnity, insurance, and bonding developments of which to be aware

There will also be a specialty contractor panel discussion on real- world contracting strategies.

Learn how a large contractor created accurate conceptual estimates for complex construction projects by:

• Analyzing completed projects to develop accurate cost models
• Utilizing macro BIM to rapidly visualize the project
• Integrating its detailed cost-estimating platform with BIM to produce accurate cost estimates

Don’t miss this session that will cover a variety of strategic planning ideas. Some key talking points include:

• Cost controlling strategies
• Bidding smarter
• Rethinking your business mix
• Managing your financial health

This session will provide everything you need to know about construction industry fraud, including:

• Preventing fraud by identifying the contributing factors
• Preventing and detecting common construction fraud schemes
• Identifying fraud indicators
• Responding to alleged frauds and investigation methodologies and techniques
• Instituting anti-fraud controls and current trends

This session will provide information and tools for labor and compliance on prevailing wage projects. Takeaways include:

• How to bid more competitively and/or more profitably on government projects
• Strategies and examples of how to reduce labor costs with bona fide benefits
• Department of Labor Wage & Hourly Division (DOLWHD) audit issues
• DOLWHD fines, penalties, and potential debarment risks and how to mitigate them
• How owners and key employees can get more from the company retirement plan

In this session, attendees will discover:

• Financial benchmarks and goals
• Internal controls that make your company money
• New approaches to equipment management
• How to build better surety and banking relationships
• Acquisition strategies for buying troubled companies