We typically bill change orders as either fabricated material, delivery, installation or shop hours , material, delivery and installation.
We are doing a project that we have 5 months of change orders and the owner is questioning the burden on our shop rate. I explained to the contractor that my shop rate included manufacturing overhead and if they wanted to pay based on actual labor cost plus direct hard costs they would have to pay to use the machines by the hour (We submit a labor rates with machine rates with our bid)
This has been going round and round so today I wrote this long wined email which I thought others could use in the future if they need to as reference point.
---------------------------------------------
Contractor,
Historically change orders have been custom fabricated materials or for other subs material costs + markup plus field labor and it is the field labor where burdens have been monitored.
I doubt the paint manufacturer or drywall manufacturer is providing a cost to make their product.
Part of the premise for this methodology is the sub is onsite, using the space and owner provided utilities to perform the work so the markup is limited because the costs for the sub in the field are limited to labor.
We are making custom goods. As a manufacturer who contracts the installation portion of a contract (field labor) the manufacturing process has different burdens than a sub that only performs field labor.
We have 35,000 square feet of plant, office and manufacturing space. We have about 3 Million dollars in equipment that we utilize to produce the products.
We consume about $3500 a month in electricity.
The $85 shop rate includes normal burdens plus a percentage of indirect and direct costs.
Some of these costs are
Electricity for lights and the machines to operate.
Air and dust collection for the machines that require them
Local air quality district fees for waste (sheet goods) and dust.
Trash created by the waste from material utilized in your project.
Insurance costs for the plant.
Machinery payments and repairs on machines you aren’t being charged to utilize.
Tooling for machines you aren’t being charged to utilize
Use of a forklift to unload materials from trucks you aren’t being charged to utilize.
Use of our ware house to store materials you aren’t being charged to utilize.
Use of our CNC saw to automatically cut parts you aren’t being charged to utilize
Use of our network to transmit computerized programs to the saw you
aren’t being charged to utilize
Use of our Laser tech edgebander to apply edgebanding to parts you aren’t being charged to utilize.
Use of a conveyor part movement system to move parts from one machine to the next you aren’t being charged to utilize
Use of a 5 axis CNC machine to drill shelf holes, dowel holes, back grooves, lock holes, you aren’t being charged to utilize
Use of CNC drill and insertion machine to drill horizontal holes, shoot glue, insert dowel for construction you aren’t being charged to utilize.
Use of pneumatic clamping machines to compress parts at the correct pressure and hold cabinets square while gluing you aren’t being charged to utilize.
The IRS requires us to pay taxes on about 33% of materials and labor as overhead on WIP
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/capitalizatio
n-period-of-direct-and-indirect-costs.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-bu
sinesses-self-employed/inventory-manufacturing-tax-tips#wip
Work in Process
The three elements of work-in-process consist of:
• Direct Materials - Materials that become an integral part of the finished product, are consumed in the manufacturing process and are identified with specific units or processes
• Direct Labor - Labor which can be associated with particular units. Labor includes basic compensation, overtime pay, vacation and holiday pay, sick leave pay, and payroll taxes
• Indirect Costs - Costs necessary for production other than direct production costs. Indirect costs include variable and fixed overhead. They may be classified as to type for identification with various activities and to facilitate groupings for determining unit costs. Under prior law, manufacturers were required to comply with the full absorption rules under Section 1.471-11 of the Regulations. The full absorption rules provided three categories of indirect costs associated with production activities
So if this were 12-31-2016 and we had the large amount of unbilled activity I would be recognizing income and paying tax based on the cost of labor, materials and 33% OH.
Manufacturers fall under different tax regulations than most sub-contractors.
I cannot allow the customer to use my 3 Million dollar investment in equipment for free. Just like a crane or excavating machine has a cost separate from the operator so should the use of our machines have an hourly rate on that model.
That will increase your change order costs or they can pay a higher markup on material a lower labor cost and a higher markup on labor based on the IRS regulations (33% cost recovery+12% markup on each). And 12% markups on things like fasteners and glue used in the field.
The most accurate cost method would be for me to document
a) Cost to receive and store materials
b) Cost to move materials to equipment
c) Cost to use each piece of equipment based on the published rates.
d) Cost to move parts between each piece of equipment.
e) Cost to store completed goods because the site was not ready
f) Cost to deliver each delivery
G) Charge for each field visit related to a change order.
So they have a few choices we bill labor at direct cost plus direct burden and they pay to utilize all the equipment they aren’t paying for.
Let me know how you want us to proceed.
Thanks
Alan