Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Consistent Allocation of Indirect Cost-
Your Competitive Advantage
Presented by CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
Veit USA
R.J. (Bob) Sniegowski, P.E.
Profile Bob Sniegowski is a principal and consultant with the CliftonLarsonAllen
Construction and Real Estate Group. After working within the construction industry for 24 years, he joined LarsonAllen in 1998. He is the principal in charge of CliftonLarsonAllen’s construction group consulting area.
Experience in serving clients Bob specializes in operations consulting to construction companies,
implementation of technology, dispute resolution support services to attorneys and project management training to various contractors and industry groups. He is a frequent presenter on operations management topics to various contractors and industry groups.
Educational/professional involvement Bob graduated from Michigan Technological University in 1976 with a Bachelor
of Science degree in civil engineering and is a registered professional engineer in the states of Georgia and Minnesota. Bob began his construction career in 1974 as a student engineer for Bechtel Associates, followed by a twenty-two year career with Al Johnson Construction Co. where he held the positions of estimator, senior estimator, office engineer, project engineer, project manager, vice-president and president of two different subsidiary companies. Bob has worked nationally on heavy civil works projects such as navigation locks, dams, bridges and tunnels; as well as regionally on grading, paving, and utility highway projects and commercial building construction projects.
Bob is an active member of the Associated General Contractors and its Annual Meeting Steering Committee.
2
• VEIT USA: Headquartered in Rogers, Minnesota • Founded 1928 and in third generation of ownership • Specialty Contracting: Demolition, Earthwork, Utilities, Foundations • Waste Management: C&D/Industrial landfills, roll-off containers, and
waste recycling/transfer facilities • 600 Employees completing over 500 projects each year • Viewpoint user since 2005, CLA Client since 1991
• Brian Volk, Controller • Maureen Ghassemlou, Cost Accountant • Dwayne Kanzler, Systems Administrator
veitusa.com
Objectives • Articulate the case for accurate indirect cost
allocation within your organization • Identify areas for improving the management
and allocation of indirect cost to job costs within your organization
• Understand the use of Viewpoint functionality and process improvements to allocate indirect cost within your organization
4
Best indicator of inaccurate job costing
5
How does this happen?
How do you attack the problem?
How do you fix it?
It may come as shock to you but….
With “some” contractors the
cost components of the estimates are different than those included as job costs
and
In many cases, the job cost
reports often cannot be easily compared to the
original estimate
6
Inability to compare estimate to cost leads to...
• The masking of variances from bid assumptions • Difficulty in proving and quantifying changed work • Inaccurate forecasts of cost at completion • False indication of profitability while in process • Confusion and frustration for third party users of the financial statement
(banker, surety, customer)
7
Why does this happen? • No requirement to convert bid to a budget • There is no quantifiable process for determining
percentage of completion or production • Consistent phase or task coding of labor or
equipment use is not required or valued • Limited understanding of unassigned costs that
are driven by the magnitude of job activity • Applied rates are not validated by actual cost • Critical cost analysis has never been required in
the face of competition or dispute
8
Gross profit has a limit to its absorption!
9
Small tools
Gross Profit
Unassigned Labor Unabsorbed
Equipment
General and Administrative Expense Consumable
supplies
Indirect cost- how big is your cushion?
10
Labor Time cards & payroll
Invoices & A/P
Material
Indirect Cost
Mechanic time cards & P/R Invoices & A/P
Unassigned labor, depreciation, Small tools, general inventory, etc.
Subcontracts
Rented Equipment
Equipment O&M
Estim
ated
Co
st
Indirect costs can be a monster • Indirect costs are determined by each company’s job costing practices e.g. if field labor is recorded in the g/l as cost of
revenue but not in job cost, it is an indirect cost • Expenses benefit several jobs and cannot be
identified to one or more specific jobs • Indirect cost is more closely related to job activity
than the expense of operating the business or home office
• The magnitude of the annual indirect cost varies based on job activity
11
Attack the problem Evaluate the big picture
– Cost of revenue vs. sum of job cost? – What is your variance?
Drill down on the nature of the variances – Magnitude? – Types of jobs? – Impact on revenue? – Transactional work flow?
What is the cost ( in time & money) to change? What are the consequences of inaction? Unintended consequences? e.g. Bidding?
12
Making the case, making it happen
Pick your cause and establish a cost center Forecast the periodic (quarterly or annual) cost Pick the most likely cost driver Determine your allocation method and rate Know your technology (information system) Monitor accuracy of allocation vs. actual cost Assign management responsibility Adjust the rates periodically
13
Common indirect cost allocation strategies Indirect Cost Center Allocation Method
Payroll Tax & Insurance % of labor or hourly rate Major Equipment ownership, service operation e.g. SHOP
Hourly rate based on hours of equipment use
Unassigned Labor (e.g. General Superintendent or “Shop Time”)
Policy of charging time to active projects or include in shop overhead and equipment rate
Consumables/Hand Tools % of labor, monthly charge, invoicing from warehouse
Inter job transfers or cost sharing-OTR Trucking
Consistent application of rule, regardless of bid assumption
14
Viewpoint functionality can help • Job costing labor burdens through PR Setup
– Union Benefits-Setup PR Craft Classes – Payroll Tax-Setup PR Deductions/Liabilities – Insurance: worker compensation and commercial liability
• Equipment cost allocation through EM Revenue Rates applied to equipment hours from payroll entry – Use of actual cost by category to establish rates – Managing utilization profitability
• Allocating consumables, supervision and service vehicles to active projects using JC Process Allocations – Identifying general ledger cost centers – Weekly allocation process
15
PR Craft Classes – Union Rate Setup
PR Craft Classes – Union Benefits Setup
This is initially setup in PR Craft Master but it will also need to be setup on the employee setup under Craft in order to calculate during payroll.
PR Deductions/Liabilities – Payroll Tax Setup
PR State Insurance Codes - Workers Compensation
This is initially setup in PR State Insurance but will also need to be setup on the employee setup under Insurance Code in order to calculate during payroll.
Equipment direct cost types
• Maintenance – Repair labor: Mechanic wages, payroll tax, benefits – Repair parts (including outsourced repairs) – Tires and tracks
• Operating Cost – Fuel – Oil, grease, & filters – Ground engaging components (cutting edges, bits)
• Ownership cost (depreciation or operating leases)
20
Equipment indirect cost types
• Shop supervision • Shop and repair equipment • Interest • Transport
• Insurance • Taxes, registration • Replacement cost • Storage • Unassigned labor
21
Forecast annual equipment expense
Shop Labor $750,000 17% Depreciation 1,200,000 27% Equipment Repair 900,000 20% Fuel and Lubricants 1,000,000 22% Outside Rentals 250,000 6% Tires 150,000 3% Insurance 100,000 2% Shop Supplies 150,000 3% Total Equipment Expense $4,500,000 100%
24
Set rates to fully allocate cost to jobs
25
UnitsHours per
unitTotal
Hours RateJob Cost
AllocationDozer, Small 2 1000 2000 80 160,000 Dozer, Medium 9 1100 9900 100 990,000 Dozer, Large 4 800 3200 150 480,000 Dump Truck 7 1000 7000 40 280,000 Excavator, Small 3 800 2400 80 192,000 Excavator, Medium 4 1000 4000 100 400,000 Excavator, Large 5 1300 6500 150 975,000 Excavator, Jumbo 3 1300 3900 200 780,000 Grader 4 1000 4000 85 340,000
Total Allocation to Job Cost 4,597,000
Setting equipment rates
• Accurate utilization estimates are essential • Use historical costs and utilization as a start • Budget to absorb 100% of annual equipment cost
within a 10% tolerance +/- • Same rate for all equipment in a category • Consider reporting inaccuracies in setting rates • Use published rental rates as a guide but also use
your own good judgment • Balance competitive rates and equitable
compensation for use by the job/customer
26
EM Equipment – Setup Individual Piece of Equipment
This is to setup a piece of equipment and assign it to a type/category of equipment. You can assign it to a revenue code it should follow (hourly, daily, monthly, etc)
EM Revenue Rates by Unit – Equipment Rate Setup
EM Revenue Rates by Category – Equipment Rate Setup
Example - Small tools and consumables
Determine your allocation method and rate – Allocate a percentage of labor
$150,000 / $3,500,000 t.l. = 4.2% – Allocate a cost per labor hour
$150,000 / 120,000 mh = $1.25 per mh – Other ideas?
30
Example Tools & Supplies Setup
These items are setup in Job Cost under JC Cost Allocation Codes. Then they are processed manually through JC Process Cost Allocations. You can run it for a specific date range to allocate the costs. When setting up the allocation codes you can select it to calculate based on costs, hours or revenue. You can also make it specific to a select set of jobs or departments. You can also setup a specific phase code/cost type for the allocation or let it follow where the hours were originally coded.
Example Tools & Supplies Cost Allocation
So for example you want to allocate costs for tools and supplies for payroll week ending 8/17/13 you can select the date range for the payroll week 8/11/13 – 8/17/13 and it will calculate the rate you setup with the payroll hours posted and allocate to each job. When you select the allocation code you want to calculate it will show you the date range you last ran that allocation so you don’t run it twice for any given time frame.
JC Detail Report PR AllocationDetail
JC Detail Report JC Allocation Detail
In the end-what do we need to know?
• Are we making money as a company? Credibility – Are we as productive as bid? – Are all costs in the report? – Resource utilization?
• Are all jobs equally profitable? Better Decisions • Are we being fully paid promptly? Cash flow
– Contracted scope – Changed work – Timing and cash flow
35
Summary • The case for accurate indirect cost allocation
– Knowledge and control of all costs is a competitive advantage – Early identification of variances between estimate and cost – Credibility with third party users of financial statement
• Identification of areas for improvement within your organization – General and Administrative expense varies annually – Under-allocated equipment cost – Consumable, small equipment and hand tool expense is uncontrolled
• Use of Viewpoint functionality and process improvements to allocate indirect costs – Establishing a basis for allocation – Developing allocation methods and rates – Viewpoint functionality to allocate indirect costs
Discussion
• Is indirect cost allocation worth the expense and effort? What is your perspective?
• Have your project managers resisted indirect cost allocation to their jobs? Why?
• Is there a complex indirect cost allocation issue that you have solved? How? Benefit?
• Is there an indirect cost allocation issue that you are reluctant to tackle? Why?
• Is there an indirect cost allocation issue that you wish had been raised in this session? What is it?
37
Questions?
Where to go from here • Conference Community • Vantage Point
– Self-paced training – Knowledge Base – Recorded webinar
• Support • Consulting/ Technical Services • Contact one or more of us
For more information contact: • Bob Sniegowski- Job Cost Consultant
Direct 612-376-4659 [email protected]
• Brian Volk-Controller Direct 763-428-6720 [email protected]
• Maureen Ghassemlou- Cost Accountant Direct 763-428-9505 [email protected]
• Dwayne Kanzler-Systems Administrator Direct 763-428-9575
Reminders
• Complete brief session survey now
• Complete post event email survey to access recordings
Consistent Allocation of Indirect Cost-
Your Competitive Advantage
