Certified payroll software for small subcontractors: what to look for

If you are a subcontractor with a handful of employees on Davis-Bacon or prevailing-wage jobs, certified payroll is a weekly chore that sits on top of payroll you already run. The software question is less "which tool is best" than "which kind of tool fits how we already pay people, and what does the agency on our job require".

This guide covers what certified payroll software has to do, the questions that narrow the field quickly, the kinds of tools you will find, and how to test one against a real week before you commit.

What the software has to do

Whatever you buy, the weekly output is the same: a certified payroll for each covered project, with the data the WH-347 asks for and a signed Statement of Compliance. To get there, the software needs to:

• Get pay data for each worker: gross pay for all work, tax withholding, FICA, other deductions and net pay.
• Get hours by project and day, split between straight time and overtime, counting all of a worker's hours in the week toward overtime.
• Know the wage determination for each project: the classifications you use, with base and fringe rates.
• Know your fringe setup: which bona fide plans you fund and what each costs per hour, or what you pay in cash in lieu.
• Produce the report in the format the agency accepts, numbered in sequence, with page 2 ready for your signature.
• Keep the records. Agencies and primes can ask for old payrolls, so you want every version you sent.

The better tools also check the numbers before you sign: pay below the wage determination's rates, a worker with no classification, overtime not paid at time and a half, or gross minus deductions that does not equal net.

Questions to answer before you look at tools

1. Where does the agency want it? Some agencies and primes accept the federal WH-347 PDF. Others require uploads to a portal such as LCPtracker, or a state's own format. Ask the prime or the contracting agency before choosing anything; it rules tools in or out faster than any feature list.

2. Federal only, or state prevailing wage too? State prevailing-wage programs have their own forms and rules, which vary by state. A tool that only produces the federal WH-347 is the wrong buy if most of your work is on state jobs.

3. What payroll system do you run, and are you keeping it? Some tools replace your payroll entirely. Others sit beside it and read its data, either through an integration or from an export file.

4. How do you track hours by job today? Paper timecards, a time-tracking app or a spreadsheet all work, but the software needs hours per project per day. If you do not track them that way yet, start there.

5. How many projects and reports a week? Some pricing is per report, so cost rises with the number of active projects.

6. Who signs, and how? Page 2 is a certification by someone at your company. Check how the tool handles the signature and how your agency wants the signed copy.

The kinds of tools you will find

Costs vary widely. As one data point, the Points North certified payroll app listed on ADP Marketplace for RUN shows a $175 monthly base plus $7.50 per report, with a $995 setup fee for its federal-only Basic edition (as listed in October 2026). Check current pricing yourself; it changes.

Test it against a real week

Before you sign up for anything with a setup fee or a contract, run one past week through it:

• Use a real week with at least one worker on two projects and one with overtime.
• Compare every column against a WH-347 you already submitted for that week.
• Deliberately leave out a worker's classification and see whether the tool catches it.
• Check that fringe credit (column 6B) and cash in lieu (6C) land where your setup puts them.
• Generate the report in the format your agency accepts and confirm the payroll number is right.
• Time it. If it takes as long as the spreadsheet, it is not saving you anything.

Red flags

• It asks for full Social Security numbers to go on the report. DOL's instructions say an identifier such as the last four digits is enough and full SSNs must not be included.
• It hides the math. You are certifying the numbers. You should be able to see where every figure came from.
• It can't produce what your agency requires, whatever else it does well.
• It claims to certify for you. Software prepares the report; an official at your company still signs the Statement of Compliance.

Where Cert Pay Weekly fits

Cert Pay Weekly is an export-based tool for the federal WH-347. You upload your weekly payroll export from Gusto, QuickBooks or ADP plus hours by project from a timesheet export or a weekly grid, and it produces one WH-347 per prevailing-wage project, ready for your signature. It flags missing classifications and pay below your wage determination's rates before you sign, and emails reminders until you mark each report submitted. It does not file to LCPtracker or state portals today, so check question 1 first.

If you are still doing it by hand, start with the WH-347 instructions to see what each column needs.