What "construction payroll" actually means
Construction payroll is not just cutting checks. On any given week a contractor may run prevailing-wage hours on a Davis-Bacon job, straight-time hours on a private remodel, and union fringes on a third project — all for the same employee, on the same paycheck. Generic payroll software (Gusto, ADP Run, Paychex Flex, QuickBooks Payroll) was built for office workers with one rate, one state, and no certified-payroll filing. It does not handle the complexity a real job site creates.
Certified payroll (WH-347)
Any contractor on a federal or federally-funded project files a weekly WH-347 certified payroll report under the Davis-Bacon Act. The form lists every worker's classification, hours, gross pay, fringe benefits, and deductions for that week. Late or sloppy filings can stop payment on the entire contract. State-funded jobs (California's DIR, Nevada's prevailing wage on public works) require their own variants — California uses the DIR's eCPR portal.
Prevailing wage
Prevailing wage is the minimum hourly rate (base + fringe) set by the Department of Labor or a state agency for a given trade in a given county. A licensed electrician on a federal job in Clark County, Nevada has a different prevailing rate than the same electrician on a private commercial job two miles away. Payroll software that does not let you assign a rate per job, per classification, per pay period cannot run prevailing wage correctly.
Union fringes and benefit reporting
Union shops owe fringe contributions (health, pension, training, vacation) on every hour worked. Those contributions are reported monthly to the local — usually on the local's own form, in the local's own format, with the local's own deadline. Generic payroll either skips fringes entirely or dumps them into a single "other deduction" line that the local will reject.
Multi-state crews
A San Diego contractor sending a crew across the state line to Las Vegas for a 6-week tenant improvement just triggered Nevada withholding, unemployment registration, and workers' comp coverage for every hour worked out of state. Most "DIY" payroll products will run the payroll — and silently skip the registrations. The penalty notices arrive 8–14 months later.
Workers' comp by class code
Construction is one of the few industries where workers' comp premiums are calculated by job-site class code, not by employee. A framer who spends Tuesday doing office paperwork has two class codes for that week. Pay-as-you-go workers' comp integrations (Hourly, Next Insurance) only work when payroll splits hours by class code on the timecard — most generic products do not.
Why Gusto, ADP, and Paychex break on a job site
- Gusto — no certified payroll report, no prevailing wage rate tables, no union fringe handling. Fine for the office, not the field.
- ADP Run / Paychex Flex — certified payroll is a paid add-on, prevailing wage requires a manual rate per employee per pay run, and you still own the WH-347 accuracy. Support reps rarely understand the trade.
- QuickBooks Payroll — fringe contributions live in a memo field; the WH-347 export is third-party.
Specialized construction payroll (Foundation, Procore, eBacon, Points North, or a Profit First-trained payroll specialist) handles the trade-specific layers natively.
What to look for in a construction payroll service
- Weekly WH-347 generation and state eCPR uploads (CA DIR, NV LCPtracker, etc.).
- Prevailing-wage rate tables that auto-update when DOL or the state revises them.
- Union fringe reporting in the local's required format.
- Multi-state withholding and unemployment registration handled for you.
- Class-code splits on the timecard for workers' comp accuracy.
- An actual human who has run a job before — not a chat bot.
How Profit First Payroll handles this
We file certified payroll weekly, manage prevailing-wage rates for California and Nevada, report union fringes to your locals, and split timecards by class code so your workers' comp audit is clean. Then we layer the 4-bucket Profit First system on top so you — the owner — actually get paid every cycle. Flat $189/month to start. No add-on fees for the certified payroll report.
