Accounts Receivable, Net of Allowance

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Note 6 - Accounts Receivable, Net of Allowance

The following table provides details of accounts receivable, net of allowance, as of the dates indicated (in millions):



	December 31,
	2015			2014
Contract billings	$	437.3		$	669.7
Retainage	148.8			162.2
Costs and earnings in excess of billings	332.7			485.6
Accounts receivable, gross	$	918.8		$	1,317.5
Less allowance for doubtful accounts	(7.7		)	(13.9		)
Accounts receivable, net	$	911.1		$	1,303.6

Retainage, which has been billed, but is not due until completion of performance and acceptance by customers, is generally expected to be collected within one year. Receivables expected to be collected beyond one year are recorded within other long-term assets.

Activity in the allowance for doubtful accounts for the periods indicated is as follows (in millions):



	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2015			2014
Allowance for doubtful accounts at beginning of year	$	13.9		$	15.7
Provision for doubtful accounts	2.1			1.8
Amounts charged against the allowance	(8.3		)	(3.6		)
Allowance for doubtful accounts at end of year	$	7.7		$	13.9

The provision for doubtful accounts for the year ended December 31, 2014 included a reversal of $0.5 million to eliminate a reserve that was not required and should have been reversed in a prior year. Based on materiality considerations, this item was recognized in 2014.

During 2014, the Company entered into a non-recourse financing arrangement, under which certain receivables are purchased by a customer’s bank for a nominal fee. This arrangement improved the collection cycle time of the related receivables, the effect of which amounted to an improvement in cash collections of approximately $12 million and $70 million for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. Cash collected from this arrangement is reflected within cash provided by operating activities in the consolidated statements of cash flows. The discount charge, which is included within interest expense in the consolidated statements of operations, totaled $1.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2015. For year ended December 31, 2014 the discount charge was immaterial.