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Construction

Accounting practices for construction businesses including job costing, WIP schedules, and retainage

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16 min read

Surviving the Workers' Comp Premium Audit: A Small Employer's Field Guide to NCCI Class Codes, Officer Elections, Overtime Carve-Outs, and Subcontractor Traps

Workers' compensation premium is recalculated every year using your actual payroll, and unprepared small employers routinely owe five-figure true-ups. This guide walks through the NCCI premium formula, the standard exception rules, the overtime carve-out math, owner and officer exclusion forms, the subcontractor COI rules that trigger the largest audit hits, and how to dispute a Final Audit Statement.

Mike Thrift

small-businessauditpayroll
14 min read

Surety Bonds for Construction Contractors: How the Miller Act and SBA Guarantee Program Open Public Works to Small Builders

Public construction contracts above the FAR $150,000 threshold require performance and payment bonds under the Miller Act, with state Little Miller Acts setting thresholds from $25,000 to $500,000. The SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Program—which guaranteed $10.6 billion in bonds for 2,200+ small businesses in FY2025—lets approved sureties write bonds for small contractors by absorbing 80–90% of loss risk.

Mike Thrift

constructionsbasmall-business
16 min read

AIA Pay Applications, Retainage, and WIP Schedules: How Construction Billing Ties to GAAP Revenue Recognition

AIA G702 and G703 pay applications, schedules of values, retainage, WIP schedules, and over/underbilling reconciliations are what tie construction billing to GAAP revenue recognition under ASC 606. Here is how each piece works, why a $312 line error can delay a $1.4M wire by 41 days, and the patterns that rattle sureties.

Mike Thrift

constructionrevenue-recognitionjob-costing
12 min read

Section 47 Historic Tax Credit: A 2026 Field Guide for Developers and Their CPAs

Section 47 of the Internal Revenue Code lets developers claim a 20 percent federal tax credit on qualified rehabilitation expenditures for certified historic structures, claimed ratably over five years since the TCJA. This guide walks through NPS three-part certification, the substantial rehabilitation test, what counts as a QRE, five-year recapture rules, and how syndication is structured under the Rev. Proc. 2014-12 safe harbor.

Mike Thrift

tax-creditsreal-estatetax-planning
11 min read

Percentage of Completion vs Completed Contract: A Contractor's Guide to Construction Revenue Recognition

A side-by-side comparison of the Percentage of Completion (PCM) and Completed Contract (CCM) methods for construction revenue recognition, with worked examples, ASC 606 over-time criteria, the IRC Section 460 small contractor exception (~$31M for 2026), WIP schedule mechanics, and the overbilling/underbilling traps that wreck contractor cash flow.

Mike Thrift

constructionjob-costingrevenue-recognition
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