AGENDA

11:30am - 12:30pm

1:00pm - 5:00pm

In this eight-hour instructional program, find out what you should know and learn before sitting for the Certified Construction Industry Financial Professional (CCIFP) exam. This course provides an overview of the industry domains listed in Financial Management and Accounting for the Construction Industry (“The Book”), the primary certification resource for CCIFPs.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Identify topic areas that comprise “The Book” for CCIFPs

• Recognize the most important topics, concepts, calculations, and practices that a CCIFP should know

• Benchmark your own level of knowledge against that of a CCIFP

• Target your study efforts in critical areas to broaden and deepen your mastery of these topics

Presenters:
Jim Mcgettigan, CCIFP, CPA
A 30 year experienced professional serving the construction industry in financial management, accounting, and auditing. A CPA and Shareholder with Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. (MHM) an independent CPA firm and Managing Director of Construction Industry Services with CBIZ MHM, LLC in the Philadelphia office. Also experienced in providing attest services for employee benefit plans.

Rebekah Kuller, CCIFP, CPA
Experienced construction financial accountant with CPA and CCIFP designations. Currently the CFO for Nielsen Builders, a general contractor in Harrisonburg, VA with prior experience at some of the nation’s largest GCs and Subcontractors. Passionate about strategic planning, cash management, and industry awareness.

Tony Stagliano, CCIFP, CPA
CPA / Consultant at Stagliano Consulting LLC. A leading expert in construction industry financial management and tax consulting, Tony recently retired as a Shareholder at the accounting firm Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. (MHM) and Managing Director of Architects Engineers & Constructors (AEC) services for CBIZ MHM, LLC (CBIZ). He consults exclusively to the A/E/C industry on financial and operations matters.

Level: Intermediate
4 CPE Credits in Accounting + 4 CPE Credits in Specialized Knowledge (over the two days)

Delaware Room (2nd Floor Near Elevators)

7:00am - 8:00am

Room: Foundry F,G,H,J

8:10am - 8:30am

National Anthem (Brad Robinson) David Casey Leadership Award Sponsorship Representative

Room: Foundry A,C,B,D,E

8:30am - 9:30am

Presented by: Jennifer Todd, LMS General Contractors

Session Overview:
The construction industry faces a critical challenge: Attracting and retaining top talent. But what if the solution lies not just in wages, but in building a thriving work environment that prioritizes your team's happiness and well-being? This keynote explores the financial power of a positive work culture. Jennifer Todd of LMS General Contractors & A Greener Tomorrow will translate the power of a positive work culture into real financial benefits for your company, all while building a team that reflects the vibrant communities we serve.

This session is designed to help CFMA members:

Understand the financial benefits of a happy and engaged workforce.

Develop strategies to create a work environment that attracts and retains top talent.

Learn how to adapt leadership styles to prioritize employee well-being.

1.0 CPE Credits in Specialized Knowledge
Room: Foundry A,C,B,D,E

9:30am - 9:45am

Breakout A
9:45am - 12:00pm

Presented by: Rich King, CPA, CCIFP, Schlouch Incorporated, Scott Rooney, AFSB, Marsh McLennan Agency

Session Overview:
Construction Financial Managers live in a dynamic, ever-changing environment every day.  A rock-solid Work-In-Process (WIP) schedule working in concert with effective Project Management is critical to keeping your projects in the Black.   In this advanced session, you will learn best practices of utilizing your WIP and PM tools together to support your project and leadership teams to lock in the gain and prevent project fade throughout the project lifecycle.  Attendees will engage in a series of roundtable discussions to address in interactive case scenarios to put their experience and learning into action.

Learning Objectives:

Understand in-depth pre-qualification and project initiation techniques to select the 'right' projects. Where do most projects fail? In the beginning!

Develop techniques to use the WIP schedule in conjunction with job cost reports and PM tools to identify issues throughout the project lifecycle.

Acquire WIP analysis strategies to improve project management and job reviews.

Improve communications with both internal and external project stakeholders.

Interact and learn from other CFM’s on various project cycle issues and topics through interactive case scenarios.

Level: Advanced
2.0 CPE Credits in Accounting
Room: Monocacy A & B

Breakout B
9:45am - 10:45am

Presented by: Brad Robinson & Joey Ward, Ward & Robinson LLC

Session Overview:
Coming soon.

Learning Objectives:

Understanding the value of Prequalification

Prequalification from the perspective of both the general contractor and subcontractor

Specific examples/tools to make the Prequalification process effective, efficient, and objective.

Level: Overview
1.0 CPE Credit in Specialized Knowledge
Room: Moravian A & B

Breakout C
10:55am - 11:55am

Presented by: Jeffrey Stewart, Counsel at White and Williams

Session Overview:
Seinfeld may have been a show about nothing, but it can still teach us something.  In this program, we will watch some clips of Seinfeld and then analyze them through the eyes of an employment attorney.  Some of the scenes to be examined include:

- George was fired for sleeping with the cleaning woman and then claimed that because there was no policy against it, how was he to know it was wrong – should the company have had a policy?

-Kramer had an unpaid intern from a local college – but should he have paid him under the Dept. of Labor’s intern rules?

-Elaine lost her job when she tested positive for drugs after eating too many poppy seed muffins – but was her drug test legal?

-George faked a disability and got a job – was he protected under the ADA?

These are just a few of the scenarios we will break down in this entertaining and amusing look at employment law according to Seinfeld.

Level: Overview
1.0 CPE Credit in Specialized Knowledge
Room: Moravian A & B

11:45am - 12:15pm

Room: Foundry F,G,H,J

11:50am - 1:20pm

Room: Foundry F, G, H, J
Prefunction by Registration Desk

12:15pm - 4:30pm

In this eight-hour instructional program, find out what you should know and learn before sitting for the Certified Construction Industry Financial Professional (CCIFP) exam. This course provides an overview of the industry domains listed in Financial Management and Accounting for the Construction Industry (“The Book”), the primary certification resource for CCIFPs.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Identify topic areas that comprise “The Book” for CCIFPs

• Recognize the most important topics, concepts, calculations, and practices that a CCIFP should know

• Benchmark your own level of knowledge against that of a CCIFP

• Target your study efforts in critical areas to broaden and deepen your mastery of these topics

Presenters:
Jim Mcgettigan, CCIFP, CPA
A 30 year experienced professional serving the construction industry in financial management, accounting, and auditing. A CPA and Shareholder with Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. (MHM) an independent CPA firm and Managing Director of Construction Industry Services with CBIZ MHM, LLC in the Philadelphia office. Also experienced in providing attest services for employee benefit plans.

Rebekah Kuller, CCIFP, CPA
Experienced construction financial accountant with CPA and CCIFP designations. Currently the CFO for Nielsen Builders, a general contractor in Harrisonburg, VA with prior experience at some of the nation’s largest GCs and Subcontractors. Passionate about strategic planning, cash management, and industry awareness.

Tony Stagliano, CCIFP, CPA
CPA / Consultant at Stagliano Consulting LLC. A leading expert in construction industry financial management and tax consulting, Tony recently retired as a Shareholder at the accounting firm Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. (MHM) and Managing Director of Architects Engineers & Constructors (AEC) services for CBIZ MHM, LLC (CBIZ). He consults exclusively to the A/E/C industry on financial and operations matters.

Level: Intermediate
4 CPE Credits in Accounting + 4 CPE Credits in Specialized Knowledge (over the two days)

Delaware Room (2nd Floor Near Elevators)

Stories From the Frontlines: How Construction Finance is Using AI Today
AI D
1:25pm - 2:45pm

Presented by: Briq

Session Overview:
It’s been nearly two years since OpenAI’s ChatGPT showed the world what was possible with AI. In this same timeframe, new components of AI have been unleashed as well– generative, predictive, and automation technologies have all seen significant growth and adoption among contractors. In this presentation, we will cover components of AI that are not only being developed, but are indeed being used in the market today. We’ll show how construction financial leaders are using these technologies, and how they are thinking through their AI roadmap over the coming decade.

Level: Overview
1.5 CPE Credits in Specialized Knowledge

AI E
1:25pm - 2:45pm

Presented by: Michael Metz-Topodas, Partner at Saul Ewing, LLP and Emily Martin, Counsel at Saul Ewing, LLP

Session Overview:
The lawyers will present how a construction dispute is litigated by assuming the roles of attorney for the plaintiff and attorney for the defendant. The dispute involves a contract dispute, payment issues, change orders and delays.

Level: Overview
CPE Credit in Specialized Knowledge

2:45am - 3:00pm

AI F
3:00pm - 4:25pm

Presented by: Rhonda Huismann, CPA, CCIFP, Crowe & Eliot Wagonheim, Wagonheim Law

Session Overview:
When it comes to the construction industry, and particularly the construction contract lifecycle, no two questions are repeated more often and create more anxiety than:

1. How should we harness the power of AI in construction contract review?
2. Is AI going to destroy our process and replace our contract review team?

This presentation answers both. The strategy your company adopts to utilize AI as a tool to enhance human decision-making will play a large role in how your company scales, ensuring that construction professionals realize their highest and best use, and whether your company side-steps the minefields that may trap and immobilize your peers.

Learning Objectives:

The roles AI can play (and should never play) in construction contract review

How AI can assist team members at every level of your organization

How to conduct a real-life cost-benefit analysis of integrating AI contract review into your organization’s contract lifecycle management

Level: Overview
1.5 CPE Credit in Specialized Knowledge

AI G
3:00pm - 4:25pm

Presented by: Claire Wilson, Siteline

Session Overview:
More info coming soon.

Level: Overview
1.5 CPE Credits in Accounting

5:00pm - 6:30pm

6:30pm - 10:00pm

7:00am - 8:00pm

Room: Foundry F,G,H,J

8:00am - 8:20am

Room: Foundry A,C,B,D,E

8:20am - 9:20am

Presented by: Olivia Gambeline, Ethical Intelligence

Session Overview:
For leadership, technology and design teams who understand that the future of AI is Responsible. All workshops are developed to achieve three primary outcomes: a mindset shift from risk to innovation in AI, a customized co-designed strategy for implementing Responsible AI, and the skillset to lead through values for ethical and business success. All workshops are delivered using the Values Canvas methodology (patent pending).

The Values Canvas was created by Olivia Gambelin and is featured in her book Responsible AI. Over the years advising executives on ethical strategies as an AI Ethicist, Gambelin noticed a common blocker to responsible AI among her clients. Although everyone was talking about AI and responsible practices, no one knew where to start or how to tell if they were missing something essential. Thus, the Values Canvas was born.

Level: Overview
1.0 CPE Credit in Ethics
Room: Foundry A,C,B,D,E

9:20am - 9:40am

Breakout H
9:40am - 11:10am

Presented by: Olivia Gambeline, Ethical Intelligence

Session Overview:
For leadership, technology and design teams who understand that the future of AI is Responsible. All workshops are developed to achieve three primary outcomes: a mindset shift from risk to innovation in AI, a customized co-designed strategy for implementing Responsible AI, and the skillset to lead through values for ethical and business success. All workshops are delivered using the Values Canvas methodology (patent pending).

The Values Canvas was created by Olivia Gambelin and is featured in her book Responsible AI. Over the years advising executives on ethical strategies as an AI Ethicist, Gambelin noticed a common blocker to responsible AI among her clients. Although everyone was talking about AI and responsible practices, no one knew where to start or how to tell if they were missing something essential. Thus, the Values Canvas was born. 

Level: Overview
1.5 CPE Credits in Ethics
Room: Monocacy A & B

Breakout I
9:40am - 11:10am

Presented by: Eliot Wagonheim, Wagonheim Law

Session Overview:
Used correctly, language is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. Unfortunately, like any tool, it can do more harm than good if used carelessly and without training.

In this 90-minute session, Eliot Wagonheim will reveal the hidden rules and professional strategies every construction professional should know to craft just the right emails, reports, and in-project responses to break through logjams, foster collaboration, get results, get paid (even on hard-to-resolve change orders), stay out of trouble, and protect their organizations.

In so doing, Eliot will share the strategies he has honed throughout his thirty-seven year career as a construction attorney as well as his experience teaching public speaking at the university level and his training in improv comedy – something which he promises to make relevant.

Learning Objectives:

The structure of emails that break through impasses and garner results

How to write (and say) anything clearly and for maximum impact

Your best strategy for getting paid on pending change orders (even when the other side is unresponsive)

How to protect your organization and preserve relationships while responding to adverse claims.

Level: Overview
1.5 CPE Credit in Specialized Knowledge
Room: Moravian A & B

11:20am - 12:20pm

Moderated by: Dave Kane
Panelists: John Coyne, Travelers, Jay Quillinan, Chubb, Forrest Mahon, Zurich

Session Overview:
More info coming soon.

Level: Overview
1.0 CPE Credits in Specialized Knowledge
Room: Foundry A,C,B,D,E

12:20pm