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Minutes of: Construction Contractors Committee Meeting Convened: Thursday, January 12, 2006 Location of Meeting: NYSSCPA, 3 Park Avenue, 18th Floor, NY 10016
Time of Meeting: 8:40 am Meeting Adjourned: 10:20 am Presiding Officer: Kenneth Gardiner Members Present: Thomas Finnelli, Kenneth Gardiner*, William Hughes*, Edward Johnston*, Tom Leyden, Jerry Massimino (filled in for Frank Petitto), Vance Natoli * via teleconference Members Excused: Michael Maggio, Frank Petitto, Richard Romer, Danielle Thompson Members Absent: Mitchell Chosak, James Dunn, Ronald Eager, Thomas Goodfellow, Carl Kennedy, Stephen Mannhaupt, Others Present: Tamara Samilenko, NYSSCPA Staff
Roger Smith, Marketing Manager, NYSSCPA
MINUTES: It was suggested to add a meeting to the month of April in order to have the additional opportunity to finalize conference details. (After this meeting, it was confirmed that a meeting has been added on Thursday, April 20, 2006). It was determined that the 2006 CMFA exam does not conflict with the May 18, Construction Committee meeting. Since the last meeting, Tom Leyden examined participant comments from the conference evaluations from the past three years and summed up that Tony Dannible has been a big hit every year. Additionally, another favorite year after year has been Mark Klein with his sales tax update. 2006 Conferences: 2006 Conference dates: Rochester, August 8, 2006: NYC, August 16, 2006: - An additional possible topic to address at the conference was introduced: FASB 154 now includes a "sleeper" in the pronouncement that states that you now must disclose a particular amount. Previously, the wording had been "recommend" and now has been changed to "required". This small but significant change will affect most of the financial statements of 2006. This change will go into effect in August, 2006.
- WithinWithin FASB 154, a change in depreciation is now considered a change in estimate. This change in estimate directly affects material and a presentation on the subject would benefit the construction community. However, one committee member said the topic would best be incorporated into a technical update session rather than stand alone as a separate topic.
- Tom Finelli gave a report on the cocktail reception held immediately following the Real Estate Conference held at the Marriott Marquis on January 10, 2006. It was decided at the November 17, 2005 Construction Committee meeting that Mr. Finelli would investigate whether the reception was a success and if so, the Committee would decide if that were a plausible idea for the construction conferences. Mr. Finelli reported that the cocktail reception did not spark enough interest from the participants to warrant the committee to investigate further. However, table-top sponsorship may be a great way to attract sponsors and more participants. Both the Holiday Inn Rochester Airport and the Helmsley Hotel in New York City can accommodate three table-top displays comfortably.
Roger Smith, NYSSCPA Marketing Manager, joined the discussion and discussed marketing techniques and sponsorship insights. A draped table-top display including electricity costs $600.00. There was a sponsor at the New York City 2005 conference; Chair Gardiner requested that the name of the sponsor and contact information be researched after this meeting and included in the minutes. (Cost Recovery, Inc. was the sponsor and the contact person is Ken Bachrach, 914 694-3800). Mr. Smith said Northfolk Bank would like to be more involved in sponsorship of NYSSCPA conferences. - Chair Gardiner suggested that the committee reach out to the following companies for possible sponsorship of the 2006 conferences: Northfolk Bank, Aon Insurance, ADP, Insurance Brokerage. Tom Finelli said the committee should think about what the sponsors are looking for in return. He then said he would speak with Greenpoint Bank (a sponsor of the Real Estate Committee Conference on January 10, 2006) and inquire whether the sponsorship was a success and why.
- Ed Johnson suggested that the committee review the 2006 conference agenda and leverage specific topics to attract sponsors and possibly more industry attendees. There was a discussion on how much to tailor the agenda to industry people. It was decided that the committee cannot completely gear the conference specifically toward industry members because it is unrealistic to believe that in one year there would be such a dramatic increase in industry attendees. It would be in the committee's best interest to entice industry members slowly and with a more targeted marketing strategy.
- Ken Gardiner will reach out to Danielle Thompson (the only industry member on the committee) and ask her opinion on conference topics that would entice industry members.
- Mr. Gardiner also requested to find out the number of brochures sent out for the 2005 conferences (6238 brochures were sent).
- James Dunn was to sit in for Dick Romer and report the details of AICPA Construction conference that took place in December. Mr. Dunn, however, was not present.
Tentative Conference Agenda: - 9:05am - 10:30am: Federal Tax Update with Tony Dannible.
Committee participants questioned whether Mr. Dannible can tailor his discussion specifically to the construction industry. Jerry Massimino (not a committee member, but sitting in for Frank Petito), suggested having a co-presenter so that Mr. Dannible can deliver an overview of tax updates and then a co-presenter can present technical updates pertaining specifically to the construction industry. Not all committee members concurred that Mr. Dannible would agree to a co-presenter. If not, then it was recommended that his time slot should be cut to one hour and ask him to include technical taxation issues such as the New Manufacturers' Producers' Deduction and section 460. - 10:30am - 10:40am: Break
- 10:40am - 12:00pm: Accounting and Auditing update
SAS 99
FASB 154
Fraud in construction - 12:00pm - 1:30pm: Lunch: Fraud case studies
(this will follow a presentation on fraud and SAS 99 as the last topic before lunch).
The committee decided that it was imperative that the luncheon speaker actually speak during lunch (at the 2005 New York City conference, the luncheon speaker only began after participants were finished eating which left no time for networking). Perhaps a forty-five minute presentation, then allow the remaining forty-five minutes for networking between participants and sponsors. Mr. Gardiner will investigate whether Robert Blake would be interested in being the luncheon speaker. Several possible topics were address for afternoon topics. They were: Fin 46, Sales Tax with Mark Klein, assurity and bonding and what do banks look for in financial statements, work in progress, accounting for change orders and claims. The luncheon topic and time frame were re-addressed as well. - 1:15pm - 2:15pm: Insurance
Ken Gardiner will contact a possible candidate to speak at the Rochester conference but the speaker for New York City is still open). - 2:15pm - 3:15pm: Fin 46
- 3:15pm - 3:30: Break
- 3:30pm - 4:30pm: Accounting for change orders
- 4:30pm - 5:15pm: Sales Tax with Mark Klein
Chair Gardiner adamantly expressed that four topics in the afternoon were too much and that it is better to stay with three. Furthermore, he also made mention that it may not be in the best interest of the conference to shorten mark Klein's presentation from one hour and a half to forty-five minutes. (Since this meeting, Dick Romer expressed to Ken Gardiner via e-mail that Mark Klein has been confirmed for both conferences but that he would like to be the first presenter of the day). Other Issues / News:
None. Ending Summary: - Any technical questions should be submitted to the NYSSCPA website (http://www.nysscpa.org).
- Please call ahead if you cannot attend a committee meeting.
Meeting Schedule:
April 20, 2006
May 18, 2006
June 15, 2006
July 20, 2006
September 21, 2006
October 19, 2006
November 16, 2006
January 18, 2007
May 17, 2007 The last meeting minutes were approved by Chair Gardiner.
Respectfully submitted by: Tamara Samilenko, NYYSCPA
Approved by: Committee Chair, Ken Gardiner
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