Payroll4Construction's Blogs

For contractors who want to run a successful construction business, efficient payroll management is essential. Contractors striving for efficiency in this area are often impeded by the challenges presented by construction-specific payroll, including:

• Certified payroll reporting
• Multi-state and multi-rate payroll
• Union payroll

In order to avoid the hassles associated with these challenges, many construction professionals are opting to outsource their payroll to construction payroll services. These services help to streamline day-to-day operations and assist in maintaining compliance with the always-changing landscape of federal and local tax regulations.

Read on to explore the benefits of outsourcing construction payroll, the many reasons contractors are seeking out payroll services and how to navigate the associated challenges.

Key Takeaways:

1. Accuracy: Outsourcing construction payroll ensures compliance with tax laws, certified payroll and industry regulations.
2. Compliance: Using payroll services reduces the risk of errors and helps avoid fines and penalties associated with non-compliance.
3. Conserve Time and Resources: Outsourcing payroll saves contractors time and resources by automating calculations, generating reports and allowing them to focus on core business activities such as project management, client relations and business growth.
4. Cost Savings: While in-house payroll may seem cheaper, outsourcing reduces the risk of errors, overpayments, and fines, making it a more cost-effective option in the long run.
5. Scalability: Outsourced payroll services can easily scale with business growth, providing flexibility and adaptability without the need for hiring and training additional payroll staff.
6. Choosing the Right Service: Contractors should prioritize legitimacy, reputation, compliance, security, job cost reporting capabilities, customer support and reporting capabilities when selecting a construction payroll service.
7. Integration with Accounting Systems: Integration with current job costing systems enhances accuracy in labor cost allocation, budgeting and financial planning.
8. Mobile and Cloud Accessibility: Payroll services with mobile accessibility facilitate efficient communication, decision-making and payroll accuracy while on the go.

Benefits of Outsourcing

There are a multitude of reasons why a contractor might choose to outsource payroll, and some might be more obvious than others (like saving time!). But there are so many other benefits to consider. Let’s get into them below:

1. Accuracy and Compliance: When construction payroll is outsourced to experts, contractors can rest assured knowing they’ll remain compliant with tax laws and industry-specific regulations.

Payroll services can also help with maintaining accuracy in payroll by automating the process and eliminating double entry.

Since payroll service providers specialize in staying up to date with the latest changes in tax law, they help mitigate risks associated with non-compliance, including fines and penalties.

2. Conserve Time and Resources: When contractors outsource payroll, they can spend their energy and attention focusing on other immediate business needs. Payroll services will automatically calculate things like taxes and benefits and can even automatically generate reports. With payroll services, all contractors need to do is submit their timecards, and everything else is done for them.

The time saved can be used for other essential tasks, including project management, client relations, additional employee training, marketing, and overall business growth.

3. Cost Savings: While it may seem like the cheaper option, completing payroll in-house comes with significant hidden costs. When operating an in-house payroll system, contractors are at a greater risk of payroll errors. This can lead to overpaying employees, and even incurring fines if the errors are significant.

As a result, outsourcing to a payroll provider is often the more cost-effective choice. When contractors pay these companies for the services they need, the chance of making a costly payroll error is eliminated.

Why Contractors Outsource Payroll

There are many reasons why you may choose to outsource your payroll. Maybe you don’t have a strong accounting background and prefer to hire a professional service, or, maybe you just don’t have time to complete payroll on your own.

It’s important to analyze why you need a payroll service, as it could reveal the features you will most benefit from.

1. You Need An Expert: Construction payroll presents unique challenges for contractors. Most commonly, elements like job costing, certified payroll, multi-state payroll, multi-rate payroll and union regulations can cause difficulties for contractors looking to complete payroll in-house.
   1. Consider: Specialized payroll services understand these challenges and the intricacies of the construction industry. Due to this, they can provide tailored solutions that meet these specific needs, while helping contractors to remain compliant.

2. You Want to Mitigate Risk: When construction payroll is outsourced, contractors can mitigate the risks associated with tax and labor law compliance.
   1. Consider: Since professional payroll services are prepared and trained to handle the most commonly encountered construction payroll challenges – including multiple jurisdictions, varying job classifications and fluctuating crew members – contractors can rest assured knowing they’ll remain compliant with legal requirements. In turn, this helps to significantly reduce the risk a contractor is audited and faces legal repercussions.

3. You Want to Scale Your Business: As your company begins to grow – hiring new talent and taking on larger jobs – you need a payroll solution that can grow with you.
   1. Consider: When payroll is outsourced, contractors can easily scale the scope of their payroll services to meet payroll requirements. This helps to keep payroll affordable. An outsourced payroll service can also help to ensure flexibility and adaptability during busy periods, without the hassle of needing to hire and train additional payroll staff.

How to Choose the Right Construction Payroll Service

There are so many payroll services available that it can be overwhelming for a contractor to even know where to start. This can lead to confusion. To help mitigate this, we’ve outlined a few key things contractors should consider when searching for the best construction payroll service:

1. Consider Legitimacy and Reputation: When selecting a construction payroll provider, contractors must do their research to ensure they are choosing a legitimate and reputable provider.
   1. Consider: A client’s research when searching for a payroll service provider should include checking client testimonials, verifying the payroll provider’s credentials and asking other industry professionals to get a gauge on the provider’s reputation.

2. Prioritize Compliance and Security: Since compliance and security are significant benefits of outsourcing payroll, contractors should prioritize payroll services that maintain compliance with industry regulations.
   1. Consider: Contractors should also search for providers that have implemented secure practices that safeguard sensitive client data, including the names, addresses and social security numbers of their employees. In turn, this will help to reduce and mitigate the risk of data breaches and subsequent identity theft.
3. Ensure Job Cost Reporting Will Be Provided: It is particularly important for construction professionals that they select a payroll service with transparent reporting capabilities. Selecting a payroll service that provides a method for contractors to obtain job cost reports – including AIA billing, certified payroll reports and over/under – will help contractors to improve their internal processes.
   1. Consider: When contractors receive these reports, they can better track the labor costs associated with each job, better monitor project expenses and ultimately make more informed decisions to help enhance their overall financial management.
4. Seek Out Effective Customer Support: As your company grows, you may experience new challenges to your payroll processing that require expert guidance.
   1. Consider: Since construction projects operate on tight schedules, and because payroll issues require prompt resolution (lest an employee become disgruntled at not receiving their correct pay on time), contractors must choose a payroll service provider with responsive, locally based customer support. This will help ensure contractors receive assistance when needed, reducing disruptions and distractions to regular business operations.
5. Look For Reporting Capabilities and Basic Payroll Functions: Before deciding on a payroll service, contractors should ensure they provide construction reports, including certified payroll and AIA billing. This will help to ensure contractors remain compliant with payroll laws and will save them time.
   1. Consider: Basic payroll functions contractors should look for include taxes and direct deposits. Your payroll provider should have the ability to set up direct deposits to help pay your crew with ease. Since your service provider will have all your and your employees’ necessary information, they should be able to send out W-2s come tax season.

The Benefits of a Construction Payroll Service

Contractors searching for a payroll service shouldn’t outsource their payroll needs to just anyone. It’s most beneficial for construction professionals to outsource their payroll to construction payroll providers. Some other things to consider include:

1. Integrations with Accounting Systems: Contractors should seek out a payroll service that integrates seamlessly with their current job costing system if they have one. This will help ensure contractors can allocate labor costs accurately to each project, thereby enhancing budgeting and financial planning.
2. Compliance with Certified Payroll: All federally and publicly funded construction projects demand contractors comply with prevailing wage requirements. A construction-specific payroll provider will understand the intricacies of these requirements and will be able to fulfill them with ease and at no extra cost. This will help contractors to ensure accurate reporting to the Department of Labor (DOL) and maintain compliance with project labor agreements.
3. Mobile and Cloud Accessibility: Selecting a payroll service provider with mobile accessibility (like with mobile apps and e-access) ensures contractors will be able to access their payroll information while on the go, helping to facilitate efficient communication and decision-making while increasing the accuracy of payroll.

Consider Payroll4Construction For Your Construction Payroll Needs

Using a construction payroll provider offers a number of time- and money-saving benefits for contractors. Outsourcing construction payroll can help to:

• Increase payroll accuracy
• Reduce the chances of committing fine-causing errors
• Save time
• Save money
• Provide specialized expertise.

When searching for a payroll provider, contractors should search for a construction-specific payroll service. To further magnify the benefits of outsourcing payroll, contractors should seek out a provider that prioritizes compliance, legality, transparency and customer support.

As the construction industry and its related tax laws continue to expand and evolve, outsourcing payroll will become more important than ever. Outsourcing payroll is an ultimately strategic move for contractors looking to thrive in the competitive construction industry.

When looking for a construction payroll provider, contractors should consider Payroll4Construction — the complete payroll service that can manage prevailing wage, multi-state payroll, checks, direct deposits and so much more.