Description Of Business And Basis Of Presentation

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Description Of Business And Basis Of Presentation

Description Of Business And Basis Of Presentation

1. Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

Description of Business

We provide a broad range of technical, professional, and construction services including engineering, design, and architectural services; construction and construction management services; operations and maintenance services; and process, scientific, and systems consulting services. We provide our services through offices and subsidiaries located primarily in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, India, Australia, Africa, and Asia. We provide our services under cost-reimbursable, cost-reimbursable with a guaranteed maximum price, and fixed-price contracts. The percentage of revenues realized from each of these types of contracts for each of the last three fiscal years was as follows:

	2011			2010			2009
Cost-reimbursable		81	%		86	%		85	%
Fixed-price		16			13			14
Guaranteed maximum price		3			1			1

Basis of Presentation, Definition of Fiscal Year, and Other Matters

The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("U.S. GAAP") and include the accounts of the parent company, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., and its subsidiaries and affiliates which it controls. As used herein, references to "the Company", "we", "us" or "our" are to both Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries and affiliates, and references to "Jacobs" refer to the parent company only. References herein to "Group" are to the combined economic interests and activities of Jacobs and the persons and entities holding noncontrolling interests in our consolidated subsidiaries and affiliates. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. In the fiscal 2011 Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows, amounts related to changes in the Company's other deferred liability accounts have been included in cash flows from operating activities. The corresponding amounts for fiscal years 2010 and 2009 were not reclassified as the Company believes a reclassification would not be quantitatively or qualitatively material. Certain other amounts in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for fiscal 2010 and 2009 have been reclassified to conform to the fiscal 2011 presentation.

The Company's fiscal year ends on the Friday closest to September 30 (determined on the basis of the number of workdays) and, accordingly, an additional week of activity is added every five-to-six years.

In June 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") revised the accounting for variable interest entities ("VIEs"). These revisions require the Company to perform an analysis to determine whether it is the primary beneficiary of the VIEs in which it participates. The Company is deemed to be the primary beneficiary of a VIE if it has (i) the power to direct those activities of the VIE that most significantly impact the VIE's economic performance, and (ii) the right to receive benefits, or obligation to absorb losses, that could potentially be significant to the VIE. The revisions adopted by the FASB eliminate the quantitative approach previously required for determining the primary beneficiary of a VIE and significantly enhances disclosures. The new accounting requirements became effective for the Company as of the beginning of fiscal 2011. The adoption of this revised standard did not have a material effect on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

In the Company's fiscal 2010 Form 10-K, and in connection with the SIVOM judgment (see Note 11—Contractual Guarantees, Litigation, Investigations, and Insurance, below) we incorrectly included the effect of the write-off of a $25.9 million claim receivable in the investing activities section of our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for fiscal 2010. This amount should have been classified as an adjustment to cash flows from operating activities. The Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for the fiscal year ended October 1, 2010 has been restated to reflect this correction. This adjustment had no effect on any of the Company's other financial statements.