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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Estimates
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Estimates  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Estimates

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Estimates

Principles of Consolidation

These financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The accompanying consolidated financial statements include our accounts and those of our subsidiaries in which we have a controlling interest. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. Certain amounts in prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. The effects of the reclassifications were not material to the consolidated financial statements.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires the use of estimates and assumptions by management in determining the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenue and expenses and disclosures regarding contingent assets and liabilities. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The most significant estimates used in our financial statements affect revenue and cost recognition for construction contracts, self-insurance accruals, accounting for income taxes, fair value accounting for acquisitions and the quantification of fair value for reporting units in connection with our goodwill impairment testing.

Cash Flow Information

We consider all highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents.

Cash paid (in thousands) for:

Year Ended December 31,

 

    

2023

    

2022

    

2021

 

Interest

$

9,862

$

12,915

$

6,052

Income taxes, net of refunds

$

100,254

$

44,296

$

52,204

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In October 2021, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2021-08, “Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers.” This standard requires an acquirer to apply Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606 to recognize and measure contract assets and contract liabilities in a business combination. ASU 2021-08 is effective for

fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022 and interim periods within that year. We adopted this standard on January 1, 2023, and the impact on our consolidated financial statements was not material.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, “Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures.” This standard requires entities to disclose, on an annual and interim basis, significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the chief decision maker and included within each reported measure of segment profit and loss. ASU 2023-07 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact ASU 2023-07 will have on our disclosures; however, the standard will not have an impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures.” This standard requires entities to disclose more detailed information in the reconciliation of their statutory tax rate to their effective tax rate. The standard also requires entities to make additional disclosures on income taxes paid as well as on certain income statement-related disclosures. ASU 2023-09 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact ASU 2023-09 will have on our disclosures; however, the standard will not have an impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Revenue Recognition

We recognize revenue over time for all of our services as we perform them because (i) control continuously transfers to that customer as work progresses, and (ii) we have the right to bill the customer as costs are incurred. The customer typically controls the work in process, as evidenced either by contractual termination clauses or by our rights to payment for work performed to date, plus a reasonable profit, for delivery of products or services that do not have an alternative use to the Company.

For the reasons listed above, revenue is recognized based on the extent of progress towards completion of the performance obligation. The selection of the method to measure progress towards completion requires judgment and is based on the nature of the products or services to be provided. We generally use a cost-to-cost input method to measure our progress towards satisfaction of the performance obligation for our contracts, as it best depicts the transfer of assets to the customer that occurs as we incur costs on our contracts. Under the cost-to-cost input method, the extent of progress towards completion is measured based on the ratio of costs incurred to date to the total estimated costs at completion of the performance obligation. Revenue, including estimated fees or profits, is recorded proportionally as costs are incurred. Costs to fulfill include labor, materials, subcontractors’ costs, other direct costs and an allocation of indirect costs.

For a small portion of our business in which our services are delivered in the form of service maintenance agreements for existing systems to be repaired and maintained, as opposed to constructed, our performance obligation is to maintain the customer’s mechanical system for a specific period of time. Similar to construction jobs, we recognize revenue over time; however, for service maintenance agreements in which the full cost to provide services may not be known, we generally use an input method to recognize revenue, which is based on the amount of time we have provided our services out of the total time we have been contracted to perform those services. Our revenue recognition policy is further discussed in Note 3 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers.”

Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Credit Losses

We are required to estimate and record the expected credit losses over the contractual life of our financial assets measured at amortized cost, including billed and unbilled accounts receivable, other receivables and contract assets. Accounts receivable include amounts from work completed in which we have billed or have an unconditional right to bill our customers. Our trade receivables are contractually due in less than a year.

We estimate our credit losses using a loss-rate method for each of our identified portfolio segments. Our portfolio segments are construction, service and other. While our construction and service financial assets are often with the same subset of customers and industries, our construction financial assets will generally have a lower loss-rate than

service financial assets due to lien rights, which we are more likely to have on construction jobs. These lien rights result in lower credit loss expenses on average compared to receivables that do not have lien rights. Financial assets classified as Other include receivables that are not related to our core revenue producing activities, such as receivables related to our acquisition activity from former owners, our vendor rebate program or receivables for estimated losses in excess of our insurance deductible, which are accrued with a corresponding accrued insurance liability.

Loss rates for our portfolios are based on numerous factors, including our history of credit loss expense by portfolio, the financial strength of our customers and counterparties in each portfolio, the aging of our receivables, our expectation of likelihood of payment, macroeconomic trends in the U.S. and the current and forecasted nonresidential construction market trends in the U.S.

In addition to the loss-rate calculations discussed above, we also record allowance for credit losses for specific receivables that are deemed to have a higher risk profile than the rest of the respective pool of receivables (e.g., when we hold concerns about a specific customer going bankrupt and no longer being able to pay the receivables due to us).

Activity in our allowance for credit losses consisted of the following (in thousands):

Year Ended December 31,

Year Ended December 31,

2023

2022

Service

Construction

Other

Total

Service

Construction

Other

Total

Balance at beginning of year

$

5,245

$

6,931

$

65

$

12,241

$

3,294

$

6,758

$

58

$

10,110

Bad debt expense

2,113

2,819

12

4,944

2,431

232

7

2,670

Deductions for uncollectible receivables written off, net of recoveries

(1,658)

(2,355)

(4,013)

(804)

(402)

(1,206)

Credit allowance of acquired receivables on the acquisition date

205

205

324

343

667

Balance at end of period

$

5,700

$

7,600

$

77

$

13,377

$

5,245

$

6,931

$

65

$

12,241

Unbilled Accounts Receivable

Unbilled accounts receivable are amounts due to us that we have earned under a contract where our right to payment is unconditional. A right to consideration is unconditional if only the passage of time is required before payment of the consideration is due.

Inventories

Inventories consist of parts and supplies that we purchase and hold for use in the ordinary course of business and are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value using the average-cost method.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are stated at cost, and depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Leasehold improvements are capitalized and amortized over the lesser of the expected life of the lease or the estimated useful life of the asset.

Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are charged to expense when incurred. Expenditures for major renewals and betterments, which extend the useful lives of existing equipment, are capitalized and depreciated over the remaining useful life of the equipment. Upon retirement or disposition of property and equipment, the cost and related accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and any resulting gain or loss is recognized in “Gain on Sale of Assets” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Recoverability of Goodwill and Identifiable Intangible Assets

Goodwill is the excess of purchase price over the fair value of the net assets of acquired businesses. We assess goodwill for impairment each year, and more frequently if circumstances suggest an impairment may have occurred.

When the carrying value of a given reporting unit exceeds its fair value, a goodwill impairment loss is recorded for this difference, not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill. The requirements for assessing whether goodwill has

been impaired involve market-based information. This information, and its use in assessing goodwill, entails some degree of subjective assessment.

We perform our annual impairment testing as of October 1, and any impairment charges resulting from this process are reported in the fourth quarter. We segregate our operations into reporting units based on the degree of operating and financial independence of each unit and our related management of them. We perform our annual goodwill impairment testing at the reporting unit level. We perform a goodwill impairment review for each of our operating units, as we have determined that each of our operating units are reporting units.

In the evaluation of goodwill for impairment, we have the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances lead to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of one of our reporting units is greater than its carrying value. If, after completing such assessment, we determine it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is greater than its carrying amount, then there is no need to perform any further testing. If we conclude otherwise, or if we elect to perform a quantitative assessment, then we calculate the fair value of the reporting unit and compare the fair value with the carrying value of the reporting unit.

We estimate the fair value of the reporting unit based on a market approach and an income approach, which utilizes discounted future cash flows. Assumptions critical to the fair value estimates under the discounted cash flow model include discount rates, cash flow projections, projected long-term growth rates and the determination of terminal values. The market approach utilizes market multiples of invested capital from comparable publicly traded companies (“public company approach”). The market multiples from invested capital include revenue, book equity plus debt and earnings before interest, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”).

We amortize identifiable intangible assets with finite lives over their useful lives. Changes in strategy and/or market condition may result in adjustments to recorded intangible asset balances or their useful lives.

Long-Lived Assets

Long-lived assets are comprised principally of identifiable intangible assets, property and equipment, lease right-of-use assets and deferred tax assets. We periodically evaluate whether events and circumstances have occurred that indicate that the remaining balances of these assets may not be recoverable. We use estimates of future undiscounted cash flows, as well as other economic and business factors, to assess the recoverability of these assets.

Acquisitions

We recognize assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations, including contingent assets and liabilities, based on fair value estimates as of the date of acquisition.

Contingent Consideration—In certain acquisitions, we agree to pay additional amounts to sellers contingent upon achievement by the acquired businesses of certain predetermined profitability targets. We have recognized liabilities for these contingent obligations based on their estimated fair value at the date of acquisition with any differences between the acquisition date fair value and the ultimate settlement of the obligations being recognized in income in the period of the change.

Contingent Assets and Liabilities—Assets and liabilities arising from contingencies are recognized at their acquisition date fair value when their respective fair values are determinable. Acquisition date fair value estimates are revised as necessary if, and when, additional information regarding these contingencies becomes available to further define and quantify assets acquired and liabilities assumed.

Self-Insurance Liabilities

We are substantially self-insured for workers’ compensation, employer’s liability, auto liability, general liability and employee group health claims, in view of the relatively high per-incident deductibles we absorb under our insurance arrangements for these risks. Losses are estimated and accrued based upon known facts, historical trends and industry averages. Estimated losses in excess of our deductible, which have not already been paid, are included in our accrual with a corresponding receivable from our insurance carrier. Loss estimates associated with the larger and

longer-developing risks, such as workers’ compensation, auto liability and general liability, are reviewed by a third-party actuary quarterly. Our self-insurance arrangements are further discussed in Note 13 “Commitments and Contingencies.”

Warranty Costs

We typically warrant labor for the first year after installation on new MEP systems that we build and install, and we pass through to the customer manufacturers’ warranties on equipment. We generally warrant labor for thirty days after servicing existing MEP systems. A reserve for warranty costs is estimated and recorded based upon the historical level of warranty claims and management’s estimate of future costs.

Income Taxes

We conduct business throughout the United States in virtually all fifty states. Our effective tax rate changes based upon our relative profitability, or lack thereof, in the federal and various state jurisdictions with differing tax rates and rules. In addition, discrete items such as tax law changes, judgments and legal structures, can impact our effective tax rate. These items can also include the tax treatment for impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets, changes in fair value of acquisition-related assets and liabilities, uncertain tax positions, and accounting for losses associated with underperforming operations.

Income taxes are provided for under the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the financial statements. Under this method, we determine deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the differences between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities by using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. The effect of a change in tax rates on deferred tax assets and liabilities is recognized in the provision for income taxes in the period that includes the enactment date.

We recognize deferred tax assets to the extent that we believe that these assets are more likely than not to be realized. In making such a determination, we consider all available positive and negative evidence, including future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, projected future taxable income, taxable income in prior carryback years and tax planning strategies. Management’s judgment is required in considering the relative weight of negative and positive evidence.

We record uncertain tax positions based on a two-step process in which (i) we determine whether it is more likely than not that the tax positions will be sustained on the basis of the technical merits of the position and (ii) for those tax positions that meet the more-likely-than-not recognition threshold, we recognize the largest amount of tax benefit that is more than 50 percent likely to be realized upon ultimate settlement with the relevant taxing authority.

To the extent interest and penalties may be assessed by taxing authorities on any underpayment of income taxes, such amounts are accrued and classified as a component in the provision for income taxes in our Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Concentrations of Credit Risk

We provide services in a broad range of geographic regions. Our credit risk primarily consists of receivables from a variety of customers, including general contractors, property owners and developers, and commercial and industrial companies. We are subject to potential credit risk related to changes in business and economic factors throughout the United States within the nonresidential construction industry. However, we are entitled to payment for work performed and have certain lien rights related to that work. Further, we believe that our contract acceptance, billing and collection policies are adequate to manage potential credit risk. We regularly review our accounts receivable and estimate an allowance for credit losses. We have a diverse customer base, with our top customer representing 14% of consolidated 2023 revenue.

Financial Instruments

Our financial instruments consist of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, other receivables, accounts payable and life insurance policies, for which we deem the carrying values approximate their fair value due to the short-term nature of these instruments, as well as notes to former owners and a revolving credit facility.

Investments

We have a $4.3 million investment in a construction focused technology fund with a fair value that is not readily determinable and is recorded at cost. This investment is included in “Other Noncurrent Assets” in our Consolidated Balance Sheet and is reviewed quarterly for impairment. We did not recognize any impairments in the current year related to this investment.