Certified payroll
Certified Payroll and Prevailing Wage Payroll Services
For contractors and subcontractors on public works jobs: weekly WH-347 reports for Davis-Bacon work, state certified payroll such as California eCPR, and uploads to LCPtracker, Elation and other portals, prepared by a real payroll team inside the system you already use.
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At a glance
Weekly WH-347 reports for Davis-Bacon jobs
State certified payroll, including California eCPR
Submitted in LCPtracker, Elation and other portals
Fringe benefits and multiple rates tracked
Certified payroll
Certified payroll services for public works contractors
PayAdvisors prepares and submits certified payroll for contractors and subcontractors on prevailing wage jobs. We run the payroll, build the weekly federal WH-347 report for Davis-Bacon work, prepare state certified payroll such as California's eCPR, and upload each report to LCPtracker, Elation or whichever portal your project uses.
We do it inside the payroll system you already use, so you keep your current setup. You work with a team of 25+ payroll and HR professionals with decades of combined experience, and real people you can call Monday through Friday.
Have a prevailing wage job starting?
Send us the contract, the wage determination and the portal your awarding agency or prime contractor uses. We will show you how we would set up the job and handle the reports from the first week.
What we handle
What we handle on your prevailing wage jobs
Here is what our team takes off your plate once a job is set up.
| Area | What we handle |
|---|---|
| Federal certified payroll | The weekly certified payroll for Davis-Bacon and Related Acts jobs on Form WH-347 (or the format your contracting agency asks for), with hours by day, rates, fringe benefits, deductions and net pay for each worker, plus the Statement of Compliance prepared for your certifying official to sign |
| State certified payroll | State prevailing wage reports in the format each state or awarding body requires, including California certified payroll records submitted to the Labor Commissioner through DIR's eCPR system |
| Compliance portals | Uploading and submitting your reports in LCPtracker, Elation and other labor compliance portals, answering portal messages and resubmitting corrected reports when a reviewer asks |
| Fringe benefits | Tracking fringe benefit credits for bona fide plans and any cash paid in lieu of fringe benefits, so the fringe columns on every report match what each worker received |
| Classifications and rates | More than one job classification and wage rate for the same employee in the same week, with hours split by classification, and prevailing wage jobs and private jobs in the same pay run |
| The rest of your payroll | Every pay run, direct deposits, payroll tax filings, quarterly and year-end forms, new hires and terminations, for the crew on public jobs and everyone else |
How it works
How certified payroll works with PayAdvisors
Five steps, repeated every week of the job.
- Project setup. We read the contract, the wage determinations and the reporting rules, then set up each classification, rate and fringe benefit plan in your payroll system, along with the project number and the portal login.
- Weekly payroll. Your foremen or office send hours by day, project and classification, the same way they do now. We run payroll with the prevailing rate for the work each person actually did.
- Report preparation. We build the certified payroll report for each project and week, check the rates and fringe amounts against the wage determination, and send it to you for review.
- Signature and submission. Your certifying official signs the Statement of Compliance. We submit the report to the agency, the prime contractor or the portal, on the schedule the contract sets.
- Follow-up. If a reviewer or prime contractor flags a report, we answer the question, fix the report and resubmit it. A final report goes in when your work on the project ends.
Federal and state
Federal and California certified payroll, side by side
The federal and California rules differ on timing, format and where the report goes. Here is how they compare.
| Federal (Davis-Bacon and Related Acts) | California public works | |
|---|---|---|
| Which jobs | Federally funded or assisted contracts over $2,000 for construction, alteration or repair of public buildings or public works Source 2 | Most public works projects. A few are exempt, such as small projects and projects monitored by certain legacy labor compliance programs Source 4 Source 7 |
| How often | Every week Source 1 | At least once every 30 days while work is performed, and within 30 days after the final day of work, or more often if the contract requires it Source 6 |
| Where it goes | To the contracting agency, or to the sponsor or owner that keeps the records. The prime contractor is responsible for collecting and submitting every subcontractor's payrolls, and the agency or prime contractor may require an electronic system Source 1 Source 3 | Directly to the Labor Commissioner through DIR's eCPR system, by online form or XML upload. Each contractor and subcontractor submits its own records Source 5 Source 7 |
| Form | WH-347 is optional, but the same information and a signed Statement of Compliance are required Source 1 | DIR's electronic certified payroll format Source 4 Source 5 |
| Late reports | After written notice, the agency can suspend further payments on the contract until the records are submitted Source 3 | The Labor Commissioner can assess $100 a day, up to $5,000 per project, but not until records are 14 days past due Source 6 |
Your contract and your awarding agency set the final rules for each job, including any local prevailing wage or portal requirements.
Who it is for
Who we work with
Certified payroll is for anyone who pays laborers and mechanics on a prevailing wage job. We work with:
- Subcontractors on public jobs, such as HVAC, electrical, plumbing, concrete, painting and site work crews, who have to get weekly reports to the prime contractor on time
- General contractors and prime contractors who are responsible for their own certified payroll and for collecting every subcontractor's reports
- Contractors bidding their first public works job who need certified payroll set up before the first week of work
- Contractors with prevailing wage jobs in more than one state, where the rules and reporting formats differ
- Office managers and controllers who are running certified payroll by hand next to everything else
Running payroll in several states? See how we manage multi-state payroll. Got a payroll tax notice from a state agency? Our payroll tax filing and compliance team handles those too, and we can register new state payroll tax accounts when a job takes you somewhere new.
Certified payroll questions
What is Form WH-347?
WH-347 is the U.S. Department of Labor's weekly certified payroll form for contractors and subcontractors on Davis-Bacon and Related Acts jobs. It lists each worker's classification, hours, rates, fringe benefits, deductions and net pay, with a signed Statement of Compliance. Using the form itself is optional, but weekly certified payrolls with the same information are required. We prepare it every week for each covered project.
Do you upload our reports to LCPtracker or Elation?
Yes. We enter or upload your certified payroll in LCPtracker, Elation and other labor compliance portals that awarding agencies and prime contractors use. We also answer portal messages and resubmit corrected reports when a reviewer asks.
Do you handle California eCPR and other state certified payroll?
Yes. For California public works, contractors and subcontractors submit certified payroll records directly to the Labor Commissioner through DIR's eCPR system at least once every 30 days, or more often if the contract requires it. We prepare and submit those records, and we prepare state certified payroll in the format other states and awarding bodies require.
How do you handle fringe benefits on prevailing wage jobs?
We track what you contribute to bona fide benefit plans and any cash paid in lieu of fringe benefits, for each worker and each hour. Both appear on the certified payroll report, so the fringe amounts match what your workers actually received.
Can one employee work under more than one classification in the same week?
Yes, and we set your payroll up for it. When someone works in more than one classification, the hours in each one are paid at that classification's rate and shown on separate lines of the report. The Department of Labor says that without an accurate breakdown, all hours must be paid at the highest applicable rate, so we capture hours by classification from the start.
Do we have to switch payroll systems?
No. We run certified payroll inside the payroll system you already use, along with the rest of your payroll.
Is this legal or tax advice?
No. This page explains how we prepare and submit certified payroll, and summarizes official U.S. Department of Labor and California DIR sources. Your contract and awarding agency set the rules for each job. For advice on your own situation, talk to your attorney, CPA or the agency that manages the contract.
Get in touch
Tell us how we can help with your payroll or HR. A member of our team will reach out shortly.
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Next step
Hand off your next certified payroll
Tell us about the job, the wage determination and the portal you report to. We will show you how we would take the reports off your plate.
- Keep your CPA? Yes. Your CPA keeps doing your books and returns, and we work alongside them.
- Already running payroll? We work inside the payroll system you already use, so nothing has to move.
About this page
Last verified and sources
Last verified October 27, 2026 against U.S. Department of Labor, eCFR, California DIR and California Labor Code sources. This page is general information, not tax or legal advice.
Related
- Outsourced payroll processing, including multi-state payroll
- Payroll tax filing and compliance
- State payroll tax registration
- All managed payroll services
Sources
- U.S. Department of Labor, Instructions for Completing Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Weekly Certified Payroll Form, WH-347
- U.S. Department of Labor, Davis-Bacon and Related Acts
- 29 CFR 5.5, Contract provisions and related matters (eCFR)
- California DIR, Certified Payroll Reporting
- California DIR, Frequently Asked Questions Related to Electronic Certified Payroll (eCPR)
- California Labor Code section 1771.4
- California DIR, Public Works Frequently Asked Questions
- NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Payroll Submission (Elation)