CFMA Benchmarker 2018 Preliminary Results

Jun 25, 2018 6:00am ‐ Jun 25, 2018 7:15am

Identification: DPG1

Description:
Learn about the key data from CFMA’s Construction Industry Financial Benchmarker and how it can impact your company. Learn and share Benchmarker best practices with your conference peers, and walk away with benchmarking techniques that can help you improve your company’s financial and operational performance.


Heavy/Highway: How to Mentor & Elevate Talent in Your Company

Jun 25, 2018 6:00am ‐ Jun 25, 2018 7:15am

Identification: DPG5

As the construction market heats up, everyone is struggling to find the best talent. Get together with your peers for a guided roundtable discussion about how to mentor and raise up talent in your company. 

This session will focus on mentoring programs across all aspects of the business from operations, estimating, survey, administration, and beyond. Come be a part of the discussion and discover some ways to build the future of your organization. 

• Learn how to build an effective mentoring program 
• Find key steps in building the leaders of tomorrow 
• Develop ways to identify future organization leaders


The Path to Your CCIFP Designation

Jun 25, 2018 6:00am ‐ Jun 25, 2018 7:15am

Identification: DPG2

What are the benefits of certification? Do I meet the eligibility requirements? What is the best way to prepare? What is required to maintain my certification? The answer to these questions and more will be answered during this session. 

Learn firsthand from your peers about the certification process and how achieving the industry’s only accredited certification for CFMs enhances your individual career and practice development for CPA firms. 

• Understand exam eligibility requirements, the application process, and certification maintenance 
• Identify exam preparation resources 
• Locate the most convenient test center 
• Take the next step in career or practice development


Presentation Pointers / Public Speaking 101

Jun 25, 2018 6:00am ‐ Jun 25, 2018 7:15am

Identification: DPG3

Whether you are speaking to a large group or a small one, face-to-face or virtually, here are some best practices to help you be more successful. Improve your presentation skills with tips and techniques designed to help you engage your audience and communicate more effectively. Receive the new Speaker Development Toolkit filled with simple suggestions, poignant pointers, practical ideas, guidelines for webinars and in-person presentations, and methods to improve your public-speaking confidence and competence. 

• Describe common elements of successful presentations 
• Identify and address the challenges of both in-person and virtual presentations 
• Take home tools and techniques that – when applied – will improve their platform skills, as well as increase their confidence and comfort speaking in public


Specialty Trade – When & How to Walk Off a Job & How to Identify the Leading Indicators

Jun 25, 2018 6:00am ‐ Jun 25, 2018 7:15am

Identification: DPG4

Many of us have had projects that have gotten to the point where you may think it is best to just walk off the job. The question is whether walking off the job (a possible breach of contract) will cost you more than the headache of completing it and knowing if walking off the job is even possible. 

• Identifying and avoiding problematic contract language 
• The value of knowing what your contract actually says 
• When is it time to walk off the job and when do you have the right to walk off the job 
• When you can – and can’t – walk away from your bid 
• What warning signs should you monitor that can alert you that your job is in trouble, including problems with change orders and construction change directives


Resilience at Work: Why Positive Psychology Is a Health & Safety Priority

Jun 25, 2018 9:30am ‐ Jun 25, 2018 10:45am

Identification: HR1

Are we doing enough to invest in worker resiliency? What does it mean to be psychologically hardy? With increasing demands to do more with less and perform with polish, people need coping tools and emotional inoculation to get them through life's challenges. Using humor and practical tips, this session looks at the issue of mental wellness and gives participants the tools to help themselves and others sustain a passion for living over the long haul. 

• Make a case for a resiliency as a health and safety priority 
• Define positive psychology and mental fitness 
• Articulate the four approaches to resiliency – be bold, belong, be well, and believe


Heavy/Highway – Improving Your Bottom Line with Equipment Management Metrics Overview

Jun 25, 2018 9:30am ‐ Jun 25, 2018 10:45am

Identification: H1

Learn how leading Heavy/Highway companies that utilize Best in Class equipment management practices are taking it to the next level by utilizing key metrics to continuously improve equipment profitability. 

In this interactive session, a leading construction equipment expert and a retired Heavy/Highway CFO will explain how to develop and use key equipment management metrics. Real-world examples will be used to show how these metrics can be used to improve results. 

• What are the really important equipment metrics 
• The critical difference between financial and operational metrics 
• How to get started with creating metrics that will improve your company's profitability


Driving Profits Using WIP Throughout the Construction Cycle

Jun 25, 2018 9:30am ‐ Jun 25, 2018 10:45am

Identification: ADV1

Learn the strategic use of WIP from the CFO perspective, including multiple interviews with CFOs from many areas of construction – vertical, heavy, and subcontractor. 

• Best practices for insuring WIP is a valuable company tool 
• What reports are most useful 
• What KPIs have proven useful 
• Use of WIP data to proactively manage current projects 
• Use of data – WIP/project analysis for profitable project acquisition 
• Use of data for accurate estimate and schedule input/analysis 
• Use of data for bid analysis reducing dollars left on the table along with profit decision-making 
• Strategic use of project data for long-term safe profitable projects


Gain a Competitive Advantage Through Health & Welfare Plan Management

Jun 25, 2018 1:45pm ‐ Jun 25, 2018 3:00pm

Identification: HR2

Three key areas in health plan management for financial executives are: 

1. Risk management
2. Labor (recruit & retain)
3. Cost controls. 

Even in a stable health care environment, employers struggle to manage these often competing priorities. 

The addition of uncertain legislative climate, increases in large claim costs, and skyrocketing specialty prescription costs only serve to complicate the matter. Contractors that effectively balance these priorities will gain a competitive advantage.

• Describe the critical steps to risk management for employer-sponsored health plans 
• Outline the strategy to designing a health plan for recruiting and retaining in tight labor markets 
• Learn the deployment of strategies/tactics discussed in this session through the use of real-world case studies 
• Describe how to use health and welfare plan management to gain/maintain a competitive advantage


Specialty Trade – Effective Cost Projections: Create a WIP Tool for Cash Flow & Project Performance Management, Part I

Jun 25, 2018 1:45pm ‐ Jun 25, 2018 3:00pm

Identification: S1

An accurate WIP schedule is the cornerstone of effective revenue reporting for any contractor – but it is only as good as the data that creates it. Having well-estimated and consistently updated cost to complete information is key – but is often easier said than done. 

If managed properly, the WIP schedule’s use can go far beyond revenue recognition and be a key component in cash flow projections and project performance management. 

• Examine the impacts of well managed estimated costs to complete on a WIP schedule 
• Explore strategies for keeping estimated costs to complete/cost projections updated in a timely and accurate manner 
• Provide tools for extrapolating the data from the WIP schedule into cash flow projections 
• Identify other ways that the WIP schedule can be used to indicate project performance issues