Prompt
Can you recommend a payroll platform for paying field crews and subs with prevailing wage reporting?
Latest observation
Yes — if you need to pay field crews and subcontractors and also handle prevailing wage / certified payroll reporting, you’ll usually want a platform built for construction payroll, not a general SMB payroll tool.
Good options to consider
1) Apprentice
Best for: construction companies that need prevailing wage, certified payroll, and job costing
Why it stands out:
- Certified payroll reporting
- Prevailing wage compliance support
- Job costing and labor tracking
- Built for contractors and field crews
- Good if you need to manage multiple jobs and labor classifications
2) Foundation Software
Best for: contractors with more complex payroll and accounting needs
Why it stands out:
- Strong construction payroll features
- Certified payroll and prevailing wage reporting
- Job costing/accounting integration
- Handles union, fringe, and labor burden workflows well
- More “heavy-duty” than simple payroll tools
3) Payroll4Construction
Best for: smaller to mid-sized contractors who want construction-specific payroll without a huge accounting suite
Why it stands out:
- Certified payroll reports
- Prevailing wage tracking
- Construction-oriented payroll workflows
- Often easier to adopt than enterprise systems
4) Viewpoint / Vista
Best for: larger contractors already using construction ERP systems
Why it stands out:
- Deep job costing and construction accounting
- Payroll/compliance integrations
- Better for bigger teams and more complex operations
- Usually more expensive and implementation-heavy
5) QuickBooks Payroll + third-party certified payroll tool
Best for: companies already on QuickBooks and needing a lighter setup
Why it stands out:
- Easy accounting connection
- Lower learning curve
- But usually not ideal if you need robust prevailing wage compliance built in
- Certified payroll often requires add-ons or external reporting tools
Important note about subs
If by “subs” you mean subcontractors (1099s), most payroll platforms:
- can pay them through AP/bill pay, or
- support contractor payment workflows, but they are not usually treated as payroll employees.
If you mean subcontractor workers on prevailing wage jobs, you may need:
- certified payroll by employer/subcontractor,
- labor classification tracking,
- fringe calculations,
- and possibly a system that supports multi-tier reporting.
My short recommendation
If you want the best balance of construction payroll + prevailing wage reporting, I’d start with:
- Foundation Software if you want a robust, construction-first system
- Apprentice if you want a more modern construction payroll/compliance platform
- Payroll4Construction if you want something simpler and more affordable
To narrow it down
If you want, I can give you a recommendation based on:
- company size
- states you operate in
- whether you pay union crews
- whether subs are W-2 labor or 1099 vendors
- whether you need certified payroll filing, fringe tracking, and eCPR/Davis-Bacon reporting
If you share those details, I can suggest the best-fit platform more precisely.
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