You have two choices for certified payroll: pay a service to handle it, or use software and do it yourself. Here's which one fits your company.
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Every contractor working on Davis-Bacon or state prevailing wage projects has to file certified payroll. Nobody escapes it. The question is who does the work.
Option one: hire a certified payroll service. Companies like Points North, eBacon (managed tier), and a handful of bookkeeping firms will take your timecards and produce WH-347s for you. You pay them, they do the data entry, you sign off.
Option two: use certified payroll software. You enter hours (or import them from your payroll system), the software generates the reports, you hit submit. No middleman.
Both are legitimate. The right answer depends on your company size, payroll staff, and how much control you want.
A certified payroll service is a managed firm. You outsource the whole reporting function to them — they don't just give you a tool, they do the work.
Here's the usual workflow:
Common names in this space: Points North, eBacon (managed tier), and regional construction-focused bookkeeping firms. Pricing typically runs $1,000-$5,000/month for mid-sized contractors.
The tradeoff: you pay more, but you get a human handling compliance. If you've got 50 workers across 8 prevailing wage projects and no payroll staff, that's a reasonable deal.
Software is a self-serve tool. You log in, enter (or import) your payroll data, and the software builds the reports. You're still the one hitting submit — but the data entry, validation, and PDF generation happen automatically.
Here's the usual workflow:
Common names: CertifiedPayrollPro, LCPtracker, eBacon (software tier), Points North software product. Pricing ranges from $49/mo (CPP) to $400+/mo (legacy).
The tradeoff: you're doing the work, but it takes 5-10 minutes per report instead of waiting days for a service to turn something around.
Same output (compliant certified payroll reports). Very different cost, speed, and control.
| Factor | Managed Service | Software |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $1,000 – $5,000 | $49 – $300 |
| Setup time | 2 – 4 weeks | Same day |
| Per-report turnaround | 2 – 5 business days | Instant |
| Who enters the data | Service team | You (or import) |
| Who signs | You | You |
| Data ownership | Service holds it | You own it |
| Control over timing | Their schedule | Yours |
| Compliance expertise | Built-in (human) | AI + documentation |
| Scales with worker count | Costs scale up | Flat or minimal scale |
| Good for 1-5 workers | Overkill | Perfect |
| Good for 50+ workers | Great fit | Still works |
| Good if no payroll staff | Yes | Maybe |
Services make sense for a specific profile. If this sounds like you, paying for a service is probably worth it.
You've got 100+ workers across multiple prevailing wage projects
You don't have a payroll admin or office manager on staff
Your budget for compliance is $1,000+/month and you'd rather spend it than manage it
You've been burned by compliance violations and want someone else on the hook
Your projects are massive federal contracts where any delay costs you six figures
Your team doesn't want to learn new software and you can't force them
Honest take: if you hit 4+ of these, a service is probably the right call. Don't let us talk you out of it.
Basically everyone else. Software is the default for most small and mid-sized contractors.
You've got 1-50 workers across a few prevailing wage projects
You (or someone on your team) already handles payroll
You want to control timing and submit on your schedule
You need to see compliance data without emailing someone
You don't want a $3K/month line item on your P&L
You plan to grow and don't want costs that scale linearly with workers
You want to own your data and export it anytime
Let's price a typical contractor: 15 workers, 3 active prevailing wage projects, weekly payroll. Here's what each option actually costs.
Software saves $15,280 in year 1
(or ~$14K/year ongoing after setup)
The time tradeoff: ~2 hours/week of your time doing the reports yourself. If you value your time at $100/hr, that's $10K/year in time. Still a $5K net savings.
We think the software-vs-services choice is a false one. You can have self-serve speed and expert help. That's what we built Lydia for.
A service is a company that does the work for you — you send them timecards, they produce and file the reports. Software is a tool you use yourself — you enter hours, it spits out the report. Services cost more but take the work off your plate. Software costs less but you're driving.
Managed services typically run $1,000 to $5,000 per month depending on worker count and project volume. Most charge per report ($15-50 each) plus a monthly base fee. Larger firms on retainer can run $10K+/month.
Good software runs $49 to $300 per month. CertifiedPayrollPro starts at $49/mo with $0 setup. Legacy software (LCPtracker, eBacon) charges $175-400/mo plus setup fees of $1K-5K.
Yes, and many contractors do. You'll need to export your historical data from the service (they don't always make this easy). Once you're in software, you own your data and can export anytime.
Turnaround-wise, yes. Software produces a report the moment you hit submit. Services usually take 2-5 business days. For time-sensitive contracts, that delay matters.
Good software comes with support. CPP includes Lydia, an AI compliance assistant, plus human email support. Enterprise plans include priority support and dedicated onboarding. It's not the same as a managed service, but most contractors don't need someone doing it for them — they need someone to answer questions.
Cancel anytime with one click. Your data exports free in CSV/PDF format. No clawbacks, no penalty fees, no 'talk to sales' hoops.
Run a few real reports through CPP and see if self-serve works for you. If it doesn't, you're out 14 days and zero dollars.
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