Certified Payroll Software: Features and Costs

Certified payroll software: a buyer's guide for small contractors

If you file certified payroll every week, the right software saves hours. If you file twice a year, it may not be worth paying for. Here are the options for a small subcontractor, what each one costs and what to check before you buy.

Last reviewed November 9, 2026 · Sources linked below · General information, not legal advice

Do you need software?

Probably yes if:

You file every week on a job that runs for months, with mostly the same crew.
Workers switch between trades during the week, so hours must be split by classification.
You work in California, where payroll goes to DIR electronically with full SSNs.
You're a bookkeeper filing for several contractor clients.

Probably not if you file one or two weeks a year: a free WH-347 builder is enough.

The options, compared

Option	Price	Good at	Watch out for
The DOL's free online WH-347	Free	Does the WH-347 math in your browser. No account.	Doesn't store your information, so each week starts blank. Federal form only, no rate lookup.
Your payroll provider	Included in some plans	Uses the payroll you already ran.	Coverage varies: QuickBooks Online Payroll Premium and Elite produce a federal report with manual fields; Gusto has none. Rarely splits hours by trade per day or handles state formats.
Agency compliance portals (LCPtracker, Elation)	Free to contractors when the agency pays	Required on those projects anyway.	Only for that agency's jobs. Doesn't replace California's DIR filing.
Demo-led certified payroll tools	About $125–$145+ per month	Full-featured, several state formats.	Sales call to start, sometimes setup fees and per-user pricing.
Full construction payroll	Quote only	Payroll and certified payroll in one system.	You switch payroll providers to get it.

Prices are list prices we found in November 2026: for example, LCPcertified lists $145 a month for 5 projects. Check each vendor for current pricing.

What to look for

Saves the crew between weeks. The weekly report is mostly the same as last week's. Re-entering it is where the hours go.
Hours by trade, by day. Most payroll exports give weekly totals. Certified payroll needs daily hours per classification.
Rate checks. Flags pay below the required base or base plus fringe, and overtime below 1.5 times base.
Rates with sources. Every rate traced to its wage determination number and date.
The formats you file. The current WH-347 (Rev. January 2025), and state formats you need, such as California eCPR XML.
Imports from your payroll. A CSV import from QuickBooks, Gusto or ADP saves retyping pay and deductions. (On Gusto? See certified payroll with Gusto.)
Careful with SSNs. Federal payrolls only need the last four digits. If a state needs full numbers, ask how they're stored, or whether they need to be stored at all.
Self-serve and month-to-month. Public jobs end. A plan you can pause between jobs beats an annual contract.

Questions to ask a vendor

Can I start without a demo, and is there a setup fee?
Is pricing per user, per project or per company?
Do I have to switch payroll providers?
Which state formats can you export, and are they validated before I upload?
What happens to my data between jobs, and when I cancel?
Where do your rates come from, and how quickly do you pick up new modifications?

Where PrevailCrew fits

PrevailCrew is built for 5 to 20 person crews and their bookkeepers who keep their current payroll. Plans start at $29 a month for one active project, $59 for up to five with California eCPR XML, and $129 for bookkeepers managing several companies. Pause between jobs for $5 a month. Try it for 14 days with no card, or see pricing.

It doesn't run payroll, handle union reporting or file on your behalf: you export, review and sign.

Common questions

Does QuickBooks do certified payroll?

Partly. Intuit says QuickBooks Online Payroll Premium and Elite can produce a federal certified payroll report as a spreadsheet, with several fields you fill in by hand. The Core plan isn't included, and there are no state formats such as California eCPR.

Does Gusto do certified payroll?

Gusto doesn't offer certified payroll reports. Gusto users typically export payroll and prepare the WH-347 or state report separately, which is where a certified payroll tool that imports a CSV helps.

Do I need certified payroll software if the agency uses LCPtracker?

On projects where the agency pays for LCPtracker, contractors usually enter payroll there at no cost. You may still need your own tool for other jobs, and in California the DIR filing is separate.

What does certified payroll software cost?

From free (the DOL's online WH-347, one week at a time) to about $125–$145+ per month for demo-led compliance tools, and more for full construction payroll systems. Self-serve tools for small crews sit in between.