Certified payroll software, without switching payroll

1. Keep the project header together: business details, location, determination number and revision, payroll number and week ending.
2. Keep classification hours separate, repeating the worker’s entry number on additional rows and continuing the numbering across sheets.
3. Separate daily straight time and overtime and total both.
4. Separate the basic rate from cash fringe, with the overtime rate on the line below the straight-time rate in 6A.
5. Calculate weekly plan credit in 6B and cash in lieu in 6C, with the plan’s hourly credit explained on page 2.
6. Distinguish project gross from all-work gross, deductions and actual net payment.
7. Carry apprenticeship program and fringe-plan details into the Statement of Compliance.
8. Preserve that statement’s wording and leave a report the certifying official can review and sign.

Working by hand keeps the work close to the form. You can see which column you are filling and use your own records without changing payroll providers. This approach suits someone who wants direct control of every entry and is comfortable doing the calculations and checking the transcription.

You need to keep track of worker numbering, classification rows, daily totals, fringe placement and the distinction between project and all-work pay. A spreadsheet used instead of WH-347 must carry identical Statement of Compliance wording. Keep the certification wording unchanged.

For the electrician example, put $568.00 in plan fringe credit and $1,940.00 in project gross, not combine them into a cash wage total. A template can organize the fields, but the records and their interpretation still come from the contractor.

A full payroll or labor-compliance system puts paying the crew and reporting in one system. It is built for larger crews and many projects at once. Do not choose only by how a sample WH-347 looks.

• One system for payroll and reports. You can pay the crew and prepare reports in the same place.
• A wider set of tools. These systems often include time tracking, job costing and union reporting.
• More submission formats. They often support state and agency electronic submission formats.

You usually move your whole payroll into the system. Setup and training take time. For a small crew whose only gap is the weekly federal report, it may be more than you need.

Systems in this group differ a lot, so ask each one what it actually produces and check that against your contract.

If you need state electronic formats or want one vendor to run payroll and reporting together, this is the group to look at.

A report-only tool sits beside the payroll you already run. You bring the project’s hours, rates, fringe arrangements and all-work pay details. It organizes and calculates the report, while your payroll provider handles paying the crew and filing taxes.

PrevailDesk follows this approach. It prepares the filled federal WH-347 PDF, runs checks and keeps generated reports in an archive. It does not move money. The contractor remains responsible for the report’s accuracy and compliance, and the certifying official still reviews and signs the statement.

You still need to track hours by classification and know which determination applies. If hours by classification were not tracked, the rule is to pay all hours at the highest applicable rate; software cannot reconstruct an unsupported split from a weekly total.

PrevailDesk is for a small contractor or subcontractor preparing federal WH-347 reports while keeping a current payroll provider. It fits the office task of setting up the project, entering weekly hours and pay details, checking the figures and producing the filled form for review and signature.

It is not the fit for someone who needs state-specific electronic formats, payroll processing, tax filing or time tracking. It is also not government software and does not provide legal or tax advice.

For a no-work week, it can prepare an empty report with a no-work statement in remarks. The Department’s instructions do not address no-work weeks; many agencies and primes request them. Your contract determines whether that is the report you should send.

1. Set up the project. Riverside Elementary Renovation, with its contract and applicable determination. Add the classifications and their basic and fringe rates. Keep the determination revision alongside the decision number so the header identifies what applied that week.
2. Add the crew and fringe method. An electrician at $48.50 basic with $14.20 per hour to a plan needs the plan details behind that credit. An operator receiving $10.00 per hour cash fringe needs that amount separated from the basic rate.
3. Enter hours and pay. The electrician works eight hours Monday to Friday. The operator works 40 straight-time hours and four overtime hours at a $51.10 basic rate. Enter deductions and actual net payment from all-work payroll, not a project-only estimate.
4. Review and build. The electrician’s 6B is $568.00 and 7A is $1,940.00. The operator’s overtime rate is $76.65; with $440.00 cash fringe, 7A is $2,790.60. Review the checks, finalize and generate the PDF. Sign before submission; the original statement wording stays on the form.

The first report is free, with no card. Unlimited is $29 per month; Per report is $9 per report. All plans let you set up the company and project, enter weekly payroll, run checks, finalize, reopen and preview a draft.

A report means unlocking the final WH-347 for a payroll week. Once unlocked, that week’s regenerations and downloads remain available without another credit, including after a plan change. Unlimited adds CSV hours import and project ZIP export. You can keep working and preview a draft before unlocking the final report.