There are two kinds of payroll software you can use in your business – standard and certified. Certified Payroll Software is used when contractors are government-funded and public work construction projects are being paid.
A request for Certified Payroll Software may seem to be a problematic and confusing demand from any client. However, here is a short guide describing the basics of what you need to know.
Certified Payroll Software: What is it?
Certified payroll software is usually needed to maintain the payroll for workers of public work projects. In publicly funded projects, contractors are required to pay their workers something called a prevailing wage. The contractors also have to make a proper payroll report which should show the actual wages that each worker was paid.
Certified payroll software makes making such reports easy. An excellent example of certified payroll software is QuickBooks Certified Payroll. Certified software works as a substitute for the WH-347 Federal Form. They will also work as a substitute for WH-348. WH-348 is the Statement of Compliance which is required after the submission of WH-347.
The following information is required on the WH-347 form:
- A description regarding the project and the company
- Name of the employee
- Employee’s Social Security Number’s last four digits
- The job classification of the employee
- Employees’ work
- The rate of pay for the employee in addition to any deductions and the net pay
Most of this information is already stored in payroll software. This storage is the reason it is easier to create a payroll report with certified payroll software.
After the creation of the report, it needs to be printed and signed to certify accuracy. This report is known as the Statement of Compliance. The completion of these steps marks the successful creation of a certified payroll report.
There are certain misconceptions about reporting certified payroll, including the fact that many believe they require certification to become a payroll professional before filing a payroll report. However, that is not true.
There is another misconception about the standards and filing procedures for certified payroll being the same across the entire United States.
Regardless, you can use certified payroll software to be able to make and submit payroll reports easily.
QuickBooks and Intuit Online Payroll
QuickBooks Certified Payroll and Intuit Online Payroll are the best options available for making Certified Payroll Reports.
Intuit Online Payroll allows you to have all of the information relevant to creating a certified payroll report in one place. Intuit has a lot more to offer. Once you create the weekly payroll and timesheets, the software’s time tracking can be used to pay employees and workers.
Once you need a report, you need to go to the “Reports” menu and click on the “More Payroll Reports in Excel” option under “Employees and Payroll.” You’ll see a button labeled “Certified Payroll Report.” From there onward, you have to follow the on-screen instructions to get your report.
You can get Intuit Online Payroll at three different prices.
The price is the sum of a base rate and per employee charge. The three packages are:
Basic: This is the cheapest Intuit Online Payroll plan. You get the paycheck generation feature but do not get the payroll tax submission feature, and you cannot file a W-2 electronically. This plan is priced at a base rate of $20 and $2 per employee every month.
Enhanced: This plan is one of the most used. You get all of the features of the basic plan plus other features, including electronic W-2 forms and payroll tax forms submissions. Being the most popular plan of Intuit Online Payroll, it is priced at a base rate of $31.20 plus a per-employee rate of $2.
Full Service: This is one of the most innovative plans offered by Intuit. It provides an actual Intuit employee to handle your payroll-related tasks. This plan also provides a guarantee against any tax penalties which, if incurred, would be paid for by Intuit. The plan is priced at a base rate of $79 plus a per-employee rate of $2.
Other Certified Payroll Software is also available, such as:
- Certified Payroll Solution- This is an add-on for QuickBooks.
- Construction Partner- This is a bookkeeping alternative
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to QuickBooks, but it costs a hefty $6000 and is mainly meant for large construction firms.