At our September quarterly meeting, held on September 14, we had the privilege of hearing two excellent speakers presenting on topics very pertinent to our members.
Joe Stoddard of Eide Bailly began the meeting with a presentation on the Research & Development Tax Credit. This credit became permanent in December 2015. Joe explained how this is an incremental credit that is non-refundable at the federal level, but is refundable in the state of Iowa. He gave a brief description of the qualifications for the credit, which include:
- New or improved business components and
- 4 Part Test
- Permitted purpose
- Uncertainty
- Experimentation
- Technological in nature
In addition to describing the qualifications for the credit, Joe indicated that because of recent case law, fixed price projects are “not funded” and thus easier to qualify than other contract types such as time and material or cost plus. He also spent a few minutes describing how the calculation works with that calculation often resulting at a level of 5-7% of qualifying research expenses. Joe’s slide presentation can be viewed in our library page of our website.
Our second speaker for our September meeting was Loren VenHuizen of B2B CFO. Loren presented on the topic of budgeting and forecasting. During his presentation Loren shared the results of a survey that members had completed in advance of the session. That survey included results such as the following:
- 70% of members responding had a budgeting process, 30% did not
- 40% of members responding had a strategic planning process, 60% did not
- 57% of members responding have incentives tied to budget improvements, and all who had those incentives were paying them out annually.
Loren shared his time tested process which included the following steps:
- Budget / Performance Review / Forecast
- Strategic Planning
- External Estimate
- Big Decision Analysis
Loren’s full presentation can also be viewed in our library page of the website.
Thank you to those who attended and participated in this event! As usual, in addition to great speakers we also enjoyed the opportunity to network with others in the industry!