Accounts Receivable

9 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2012

Accounts Receivable [Abstract]

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

NOTE 6 - ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

Amounts retained by project owners under construction contracts and included in accounts receivable at October 31, 2012 and January 31, 2012 were approximately $17.2 million and $9.8 million, respectively. Such retainages represent amounts withheld by construction project owners until a defined phase of a contract or project has been completed and accepted by the customer. The lengths of retention periods may vary, but for material amounts they typically range between nine months and two years.

The allowance for doubtful accounts at both October 31, 2012 and January 31, 2012 was approximately $5.6 million. In fiscal year 2010, a substantial portion of the accounts receivable from the owner of a partially completed construction project was written down against the allowance to $5.5 million, the amount of the net proceeds remaining from a public auction of the facility. As the amount that the Company may ultimately receive in a distribution of the auction proceeds, if any, is not known at this time, this remaining account receivable amount is fully reserved. The amounts of the provision for accounts receivable losses for the three and nine month periods ended October 31, 2012 and 2011 were not material.

The amount of accounts receivable included in the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of October 31, 2012 also included a balance of approximately $2.1 million that has been due since late September 2012 from a solar energy field project owner. The project owner has represented to GPS that its ability to make a substantial payment on this balance is dependent upon its receipt of funding from the U.S. Department of Treasury under a federal program established for the advanced payment of cash to the developers of specified renewable energy property in lieu of tax credits (a “Section 1603 Grant”). The application for a Section 1603 Grant for this project was filed by the project owner in the approximate amount of $7.8 million. Management has reviewed the owner’s application for this project that was placed in service in August 2012, believes it to be accurately prepared in compliance with the published program requirements, and considers the balance to be collectible. As a result, no reserve has been recorded against this accounts receivable balance.