The Financial Accounting Standards Board released a staff educational paper Tuesday to answer questions about how to apply its revenue recognition standard to presentation and disclosures to construction contracts that contain retainage (or retention) provisions. 

The paper pointed out that construction businesses are often subject to contracts that contain retainage (or retention) provisions. 

Companies that operate in the construction industry are frequently subject to contracts that include retainage provisions. Those provisions generally offer a kind of security to the customer by permitting the customer to withhold a portion of the consideration billed by the company until certain project milestones are met or the project is finished.

The revenue recognition standard, also known as Topic 606 or ASC 606 in FASB’s Accounting Standards Codification, offers guidance on the presentation of a contract with a customer on the balance sheet as a contract asset or a contract liability and related disclosures, but lacks specific guidance on retainage. 

The educational paper explains the presentation and disclosure requirements in GAAP about retainage for construction contractors and provides some examples of voluntary disclosures of retainage that would provide more detailed information about contract asset and contract liability balances.

The FASB staff received feedback from private company stakeholders in the construction industry, as well as the FASB-affiliated Private Company Council,  questioning the proper application of Topic 606 guidance to retainage. Some users of private company financial statements, including sureties, provided feedback that information about retainage is important to their analysis. 

The educational paper aims to clarify the presentation and disclosure requirements in GAAP about retainage for construction contractors and provide example voluntary disclosures of retainage that would currently be permissible under GAAP and would provide users with more detailed information about contract asset and contract liability balances. 

The educational paper doesn’t change or modify current GAAP and isn’t intended to be a comprehensive assessment of the accounting for retainage in accordance with Topic 606. The exhibits included in the paper are for illustrative purposes and don’t create additional requirements beyond those in current GAAP. Entities should refer to current GAAP and consider entity-specific facts and circumstances when preparing financial statements.

Hourly earnings and job growth for workers in small businesses remained mostly unchanged last month, according to payroll provider Paychex.

The Paychex Small Business Employment Watch, which includes the Paychex Small Business Jobs Index, showed job growth continued at levels seen over the last several quarters at 99.75 in March for U.S. businesses with fewer than 50 employees. Paychex wage data found the hourly earnings growth rate (2.91%) for workers in U.S. small businesses remained essentially similar in March compared to February.

The national Small Business Jobs Index dipped 0.29 percentage points to 99.75 in March, slightly less than the pace set at the end of the past two quarters. At 2.91%, hourly earnings growth stayed below 3% for the fifth month in a row in March, while one-month annualized hourly earnings growth (3.51%) outpaced annual growth (2.91%) for the fourth consecutive month.

“We don’t see any signs of recession,” said Frank Fiorille, vice president of risk, compliance and data analytics at Paychex. “It looks like they’re still doing OK, not gangbusters, but still keeping up with the range that they have done the past few months.”

The Midwest remained the top region for the 10th consecutive month on small business job growth, despite slowing 0.58 percentage points in March. Texas continued to lead the other states on small business job growth in March, while Minneapolis gained 1.87 percentage points to move into first place in March among metropolitan areas. The manufacturing industry gained 1.05 percentage points during the first quarter of 2025 to perform best among the industry sectors on job growth.

On the wage front, Tampa topped the other metro areas in March in terms of both hourly earnings growth (4.20%) and weekly earnings growth (4.00%).

Fiorille doesn’t see much impact on small businesses yet from the tariffs that President Trump administration has threatened to impose on Wednesday. “My handicapping of this is that it will obviously impact them, but not as much as you’d think,” he said. “I do think a lot of them are service related, but even in the service-related ones, they’ll have some issues if they import stuff as well. Then there might be some indirect inflation costs on them.”

He advises accountants to keep an eye on further developments on tariffs, tax changes and the steady stream of executive orders from the White House.

EisnerAmper, a Top 25 Firm based in New York, combining with Prague & Co. P.C., based in the Boston metropolitan area, with the deal expected to close later this spring.

Prague & Co. was founded in 1988 and has a team of 15 professionals. Its services include accounting, tax and fund administration services to individuals, partnerships and corporations worldwide. 

The firm focuses on high-net-worth individuals and alternative investment vehicles engaged in the real estate, timber, private equity and venture capital sectors. (The law firm of Prague & Peters PLLC is not part of the combination and will remain an independent law firm.)

“With 37 years of dedicated service to our clients, I’m proud of how our tax and accounting practice has grown while still adhering to the highest levels of quality and personal attentiveness. In evaluating the next steps and how to offer even more, combining with EisnerAmper provides the perfect solution. We’re excited about what this means for our clients and our team,” said founder Andrew Prague in a statement Tuesday.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. EisnerAmper’s Eisner Advisory Group ranked No. 15 on Accounting Today‘s list of the Top 100 Firms of 2025, with annual revenue of $1.02 billion. EisnerAmper has 4,500 on its staff, including 450 partners, while Prague’s staff totals 15.

“With each client, Prague & Company works to understand the intricacies and nuances of each situation and then provides tailored guidance,” said Jay Weinstein, EisnerAmper’s vice chair of industries and markets, in a statement. “As we look to the future, the team at Prague & Company will enhance our Boston presence while deepening our expertise in trusts, estates, foundations, nonprofit organizations, and closely held businesses. We warmly welcome them to the EisnerAmper family.”

EisnerAmper has been busy on the M&A front since it received private equity funding in 2021 from TowerBrook Capital Partners, setting the stage for other accounting firms to follow its lead. The firm split into an alternative practice structure with Eisner Advisory Group LLC providing nonattest services and EisnerAmper LLP offering attest services to clients. Last year, EisnerAmper added Tighe, Kress & Orr PC in Elgin, Illinois, Krost CPAs in the Los Angeles area, Edelstein & Co. in Boston, the Tidwell Group in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2023, it merged in Spielman Koenigsberg & Parker in New York, Morrison & Morrison in Chicago, and Postlethwaite & Netterville in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 2022, it added Lindsay & Brownell in La Jolla, California, Hoffman Group in Baltimore, Lurie in Minnesota and Florida, and Raich Ende Malter  and Popper & Co. in New York.