Payroll Software for Construction Companies That Self-Perform

Construction payroll is unlike any other payroll. Construction payroll specialists need to process timesheets and ensure employees get paid on time, but they also have to deal with strict compliance, evolving labor laws, and the pressure of submitting accurate certified payroll reporting. 

The pressure to get this right isn’t just about a job well done, because a mistake in construction payroll can lead to lost trust, fines, and even legal action.

Trying to navigate these factors with generic payroll tools, or (worse) purely manual processes, means rampant inefficiencies, errors, and delays.

However, integrating payroll software for construction companies that automates time punching, protects against time fraud, and ensures compliance with basic and Davis-Bacon Act regulations can be the key to uncovering your complete financial picture.

This increased accuracy and visibility provide the clarity needed to make better business decisions that position your self-performing construction business for growth.

Do Any Of These Payroll Problems Sound Familiar?

IBISWorld reported over 3.9 Million US Construction businesses in 2023 (growing by 3.4% from 2022)

And while no two construction businesses are the same, there are ubiquitous obstacles impacting every construction company’s ability to scale. In fact, many of these issues can be like death from a thousand papercuts for your business if you don’t develop a solid construction payroll system.

Inaccurate time tracking and cost code entry

Manual payroll processes aren’t just inefficient; they make mistakes and delays nearly inevitable. These errors often have nothing to do with employee competence, effort, or integrity. It’s just what happens when trying to manage paper timesheets and job coding spreadsheets without industry-specific construction payroll software. 

Delays and errors from manual re-entry

Line-by-line data entry, getting payroll approved, or needing to re-enter payroll due to errors are just some of the ways payroll delays happen. Remote’s 2024 Payroll Report found that almost 50% of HR specialists spend at least five hours per month just trying to correct payroll inaccuracies. But any delays can hurt productivity under the best circumstances, or incur penalties due to Davis-Bacon or labor law violations. 

Navigating union rules and fringe benefits

Without payroll software for construction companies that automatically registers any changes to union, labor, or certified payroll reporting, it’s challenging for a payroll specialist to stay up-to-date on policy on top of the daily high-priority responsibilities. 

Certified payroll reporting and compliance risks

Winning government contracts is fantastic for your business financially and reputationally. However, you could miss report deadlines and incur violations without reliable union payroll software that ensures optimal efficiency and makes filing WH-347 forms easy.

The Hidden Cost of Foregoing Payroll Software for Construction Companies

Without a strategy and the right payroll software for construction companies to fuel it, payroll can create massive financial problems that ripple throughout your business. Manually processing payroll, chasing down paper timesheets, correcting mistakes, accidentally submitting certified payroll reports with missing information or errors, facing frustrated employees, a foggy view of your financial health — the list goes on and on.

• Paying the price for missed payments or incorrect checks: Not paying vendors on time can damage your relationship and reputation, and even one inaccurate paycheck can make employees start looking for a new job. The same Remote 2024 Payroll Report revealed that nearly 40% of employees said late payments forced them to miss rent or bills​.
  
  
• Facing compliance penalties for Davis-Bacon violations: Mistakes or late certified payroll reporting can put you at risk of fines, lost contracts, and even litigation.

•  Making unprofitable bids because job cost reports don’t reflect reality: Inaccurate job costing is one of the easiest ways to kill profitability. If you don’t have an accurate understanding of what it takes to complete a project, you can’t bid or forecast effectively.

• Losing employees to stress and turnover: Unreliable systems lead to inefficient processes and mistakes that impact your team’s morale. If you want to keep great employees, ensure they have the tools to succeed, and it’s not a struggle to use them.

The Importance of Construction Payroll Software for Self-Performing Contractors

As self-performing contractors, payroll accuracy is crucial because your hand-selected employees are your biggest investments in success. The pressure and cost of labor weigh more heavily on your shoulders. Simultaneously, the additional complexity of being a self-performer versus a GC-only firm requires clear visibility into daily time, cost allocations, and union rules. 

Because you are so self-contained, every aspect of your tech ecosystem must be harmonious, so ERP compatibility, job costing, and payroll integration are critical to avoid double entry.

Construction payroll software isn’t just about digitizing timesheets. Working with a self-performing construction payroll software protects you from compliance violations, paycheck problems, and never needing to guess on your labor costs. In fact, companies using software with payroll and time tracking tools were 44% less likely to commit errors. 

How hh2 Remote Payroll Solves the Problem 

Self-performing contractors need union payroll software with job costing and payroll integration. With multiple job codes, vendors, and employees per job site, you need a centralized and automated payroll ecosystem. These specific nuances inspired our founders to create hh2 construction payroll software.

• Stay up-to-date with cloud-based, mobile-friendly payroll workflow: No matter where your field teams are on any given day, hh2 payroll and time tracking software make it easy to enter timesheets on the go. The system automatically updates, which means no more hunting down missing timesheets or correcting last-minute errors.

• Time captured from field → approved → sent to ERP.

• Experience real-time cost code allocation, job costing sync: Never worry about inaccurate cost code allocation again because hh2 automatically collects, allocates, and syncs codes to their respective projects. 

• Support certified payroll, prevailing wage, and union labor processes: hh2 offers built-in union payroll software and certified payroll reporting, so you never have to stress about Davis-Bacon or delivering WH-347 forms on time.

The Most Important Features In Construction Payroll Software

Daily crew time entry and approvals

Ensure the construction payroll software allows your field teams to enter their time from anywhere, automatically updates your payroll system, and makes it easy to route approvals. 

Mobile access with GPS and location tagging

Being able to easily clock in from a mobile device means fewer timesheet mistakes, forgetting to log hours, expense reports, or vendor invoices. The added benefit of mobile compatibility is built-in GPS and location tagging, which helps increase job site safety and security and helps prevent time fraud.  

Integration with Sage 100/300, Vista, Foundation 

If you already have a solid ERP, look for payroll software for construction companies that seamlessly integrates with your system. Thankfully, hh2 makes this easy, since we integrate with Sage 100, Sage 300, Vista, Foundation, and many more.

Prebuilt certified payroll templates

Save time with construction payroll software that provides prebuilt reporting templates for certified payroll. Not only are you saving time and money, but you never have to worry about missing information again.

Get The Whole Financial Picture So You Can Plan For Profit

When you have solid and reliable construction payroll software, you’ve given your business the advantage of total clarity into your financial future. 

With the visibility offered by real-time job cost insights and having complete confidence in your compliance, your team can:

• Make better scaling and hiring decisions
• Bid more competitively
• Improve billing speed
• Reduce payroll errors that compound into lost revenue potential 

End Payroll Woes Forever With hh2 Construction Payroll Software

A standard payroll process enhanced with automation gives self-performing contractors more flexible cash flow, better forecasting capabilities, and improved crew satisfaction. 

hh2 strives to be much more than just software. We’re a team that’s committed to being your trusted payroll partner for all in-house labor needs. We provide great payroll tools, yes, but we also give you full access to expert support techs, HR experts, and comprehensive knowledge bases that help you achieve your business goals.

See for yourself by scheduling a demo to learn how hh2 Remote payroll software transforms the lives of contractors across the country.