Certified Payroll Reports: Supported Formats

A Certified Payroll report is a specific type of payroll report that must be submitted either to a government agency or general contractor (GC) on projects funded by federal, state or local governments. HCM TradeSeal automatically creates reports in exactly the Federal, state or local formats required by your project agency or general contractor.

What Certified reports can HCM TradeSeal create?

PDF or “paper” formats:

• WH-347 (Federal Certified Payroll report)
• California
• Chicago Housing
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota DOT
• Minnesota LI
• Missouri LI
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New York Comptroller
• New York SCA
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• NYNJ Port Authority
• Rhode Island
• Washington L&I

Electronic formats:

• LCP Tracker
• California DIR / eCPR
• Washington L&I
• eMars
• Elation
• Other formats available by request

When is Certified Payroll required for construction projects?

The Davis Bacon act of 1931 states that contractors and subcontractors performing on public work contracts must pay a prevailing wage to all workers on those contracts. The law was originally passed to ensure that companies bidding on government projects still paid a fair wage to workers, even when submitting a low bid for a given project.

In order to prevent costly government fines or penalties, contractors are required to submit Certified Payroll reports to ensure that prevailing wages and fringe benefits have been paid. The required wages and fringe benefits can vary by the location where work is performed, and by the work classification or job title of each worker.

Five Important Facts about Certified Payroll

• Today, most Certified Payroll reports are created in PDF format before being submitted to agencies or general contractors. The most common type of report is federal form WH-347. HCM TradeSeal can automatically generate California, Chicago Housing, Connecticut, Delaware, Federal form WH-347, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota DOT, Minnesota LI, Missouri LI, Nevada, New Jersey, New York Comptroller, New York SCA, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, NYNJ Port Authority, Rhode Island and Washington L&I Certified Payroll reports in PDF format.
• Electronic reports are growing in popularity, and can be submitted using online portal programs such as LCP Tracker, Elation, California DIR or Washington LNI.
  HCM TradeSeal can automatically generate LCP Tracker, Elation, California DIR and Washington LNI XML Certified Payroll reports in electronic formats.
• Accuracy is extremely important when submitting reports to demonstrate compliance with Davis Bacon rules about prevailing wages and fringe benefits. In many cases, reports can be rejected or returned for being off by a single penny.
  HCM TradeSeal reports are proven to be more accurate than reports generated by Excel and other “in-house” ERP systems.
• Prevailing wage rates can vary by type of work performed (worker class or craft) and location of work performed, and are often influenced by recently reported union pay scales in a similar geographic area.
  HCM TradeSeal can calculate precise prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits for union and non-union workers, across multiple locations.
• Certified Payroll reports must be submitted weekly and are often necessary to receive payment on a project or job.
  Generating automatic reports with HCM TradeSeal can save over two hours of time spent preparing just a single report for one job.

How Do I Create a Certified Payroll Report in HCM TradeSeal?

HCM TradeSeal can be used to create automatic reports for multiple jobs, across multiple jurisdictions, and can manage precise calculation for union or nonunion fringe benefits. When integrated with a payroll system such as Paylocity, Paycor, Paychex or ADP, HCM TradeSeal can also report accurate net pay and tax amounts in Certified Payroll reports.

The “HCM” in HCM TradeSeal stands for Human Capital Management – a software category that includes Payroll, HR, and Time & Attendance software. Human Capital Management technology is growing more popular with construction and contractor companies who are required to submit Certified Payroll reports because of their increased need to comply with workforce rules related to COVID-19.

To create a Certified Payroll report in HCM TradeSeal:

1. Click on “Generate Reports”
2. Choose from TradeSeal’s library of federal, state and local reports in electronic and PDF format. Select the report you want to generate.
3. Select your desired work week by week ending date. TradeSeal remembers your week end day and makes it easy to choose weeks in a single click.
4. Click “Generate” to receive a report for each job. If multiple jobs are worked in a single week, TradeSeal will place all reports in a single “.zip” file that can be downloaded in one click.

To learn more about HCM TradeSeal or request a test drive of the HCM TradeSeal system, please review additional features on the HCM TradeSeal website.