Spreadsheet users · certified payroll
The certified payroll spreadsheet, without the formulas that break.
A WH-347 Excel template works until someone drags a cell, adds a worker, or multiplies the fringe into the overtime rate. CertifiedHours keeps the spreadsheet feel, a grid of hours per worker, and puts the rules in code that's tested and flags mistakes on the line.
- ✓Overtime at 1.5× the basic rate, fringe kept separate, checked every line
- ✓One row per worker per classification, totals and the form built for you
- ✓Export back to CSV any time, with a stable documented column layout
- 10 mina week per project once your crew is entered
- Rev. Jan 2025WH-347 layout; DOL statement wording verbatim
- Keep your payrollworks alongside QuickBooks, Gusto, ADP, Paychex
- 0 SSNsemployee IDs by default; nothing we don't need
Type total hours worked. The form wants straight time and overtime on separate rows, so hours past 40 in the week become overtime automatically, starting Fri. In the app you can also set OT by hand.
- ST / OT hrs
- 40 / 3
- OT rate
- $63.23
- Cash fringe
- $791.20
- Gross, this job
- $2666.88
Meets the determination. OT on the basic rate, fringe kept separate.
Live. Change the hours; the split and totals update as you type. Generate builds the real PDF.
Set up once. Then it is just hours.
- 1
Enter the crew and the job, or import it
Upload a certified payroll you already filed and we read the crew, classifications, rates, and project from it. Or type them in: about ten minutes.
- 2
Each week, type hours
A grid, Sunday to Saturday. Straight time and overtime split automatically at 40. Rates and fringe pre-filled from the determination.
- 3
Finalize and send
One click produces the WH-347 PDF with the Statement of Compliance, numbered in sequence. Download, sign, send to the prime.
The math the prime’s compliance officer checks. Checked first.
Rejections come from a short list of mistakes. Each one is a rule in the code, tested, and flagged on the line where it happens.
Overtime on the basic rate
1.5 × the hourly rate paid. The fringe is never multiplied, and we flag OT computed on a rate below the determination.
Fringe, either way
Pay it to a plan and it prints in 6B with the plan table on page 2. Pay it as cash and it lands in 6C and in gross.
Two trades, one worker
Laborer Monday, operator Tuesday. Two rows, same entry number, exactly as the instructions say.
Below the determination
Every line is checked against the base plus fringe you entered from the wage determination. Fix it before the prime sees it.
Apprentices
RA with level, program name, and OA or SAA registration carried onto the Statement of Compliance.
No-work weeks
A report is still due. One checkbox produces it.
Compare your options here, so you don’t have to open five tabs.
Every way small contractors produce certified payroll today, side by side. We built CertifiedHours for the sub who does a few public jobs a year and resents paying for enterprise software the rest of the time.
| What matters on a Friday | DOL fillable PDF | Spreadsheet | Certified payroll tools | Payroll provider add-on | CertifiedHours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remembers your crew and rates week to week | – | Copy last week's file | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Splits overtime at 40 and keeps fringe out of the OT rate | – | If your formulas are right | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Flags pay below the wage determination before you file | – | – | Some | Some | ✓ |
| Two classifications for one worker, same entry number | By hand | By hand | ✓ | Varies | ✓ |
| Statement of Compliance with the DOL's exact wording | ✓ | If you paste it | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Employee IDs instead of Social Security numbers | Your choice | Your choice | Varies | Usually full SSN on file | Default; last-4 encrypted if used |
| Works without changing how you run payroll | ✓ | ✓ | Usually | – | ✓ |
| Price | Free, and 30–90 min a week | Free, and your Friday | $49–79 / month | $50–600 / month plus per employee | Free for 1 payroll / month; $19 unlimited |
| Commitment | None | None | Monthly | Annual, often | None. Pause between jobs, keep your data |
Prices for other tools are their published entry tiers as of September 2026. Payroll-provider certified payroll modules vary widely; check yours.
Accepted, or we fix it
If a prime or agency rejects a WH-347 we generated because of its layout or math, we fix it the same business day or refund that month.
Free forever, not a trial that dies
After the 14-day unlimited trial, one finalized payroll a month stays free. Same PDF, same checks.
Pause between jobs
No public work this month? Pause. Your projects, workers, and every filed payroll stay put for the three-year retention window.
Your data is yours
Download every payroll as PDF and CSV any time. Delete a worker, a project, or the whole account yourself.
Priced for the sub who lands a public job a few times a year.
Start with 14 days unlimited. Keep one free payroll a month forever. Pay only in the months you have public work, and pause between jobs without losing anything.
- ✓One finalized payroll per month
- ✓Unlimited projects and workers
- ✓Same PDF, same math checks
- ✓Unlimited payrolls and projects
- ✓CSV export for LCPtracker mapping
- ✓Pause between jobs; data stays
- ✓Everything in Monthly
- ✓Two months free
- ✓For bookkeepers: several contractors, one login
Billing by Lemon Squeezy as merchant of record, which handles sales tax and receipts. Prices in USD. Cancel any time; no contract.
Questions contractors ask
- Can I import my existing spreadsheet?
- Yes. Upload it and we read the crew, classifications, rates, and project from it, then show you a review screen before anything is created. Weekly hours can also be imported from a CSV.
- Why not keep my template?
- Keep it if it has never been rejected. The common failures are fringe multiplied into overtime, the wrong row split when a worker changes classification, and a missing no-work week. Those are the checks we run on every line.
- Will the prime or agency accept this instead of the DOL's PDF?
- Yes. The Department of Labor says use of Form WH-347 itself is optional; what is required is the same payroll information weekly and a signed Statement of Compliance with identical wording. Our output follows the Rev. January 2025 layout column for column and uses the DOL's statement text verbatim. If one is ever rejected for layout or math, we fix it the same business day or refund the month.
- How is this different from the free fillable WH-347 on the DOL site?
- The DOL form is a blank page every week. It doesn't remember your crew, your rates, or last week's numbers, and it doesn't check anything. CertifiedHours keeps all of that and does the overtime and fringe math, so week two takes minutes instead of an hour. If you file one payroll a month, our free plan gives you that with the checks included.
- Do I have to stop using QuickBooks, Gusto, or ADP?
- No. Keep running payroll exactly as you do. Export the week's hours and deductions as a CSV and import them into the weekly grid, or type them in, about a minute per worker. We produce the certified payroll from them.
- I've been filing certified payroll for years. Do I have to re-enter everything?
- No. Upload last week's WH-347, a state form, or the spreadsheet you build it from. We read the crew, their IDs, classifications, rates, fringe, and the project details, show you a review screen, and create it all when you confirm. Full Social Security numbers and home addresses on older forms are discarded during the read and cannot be saved.
- Do I have to enter Social Security numbers?
- No, and you should not. Since 2009 the form takes an identifying number, and most contractors use an employee ID or the last four digits. We default to an employee ID. If you choose last four, it is encrypted before it is stored. We never ask for home addresses, bank details, or birth dates.
- Is this a payroll service?
- No. You keep running payroll wherever you do today. This produces the certified payroll report from those numbers. You certify it; we never move money.
- A bookkeeper files for several of my contractors. Does that work?
- Yes. A bookkeeper account holds several contractor businesses under one login, each with its own projects, workers, and payroll numbering. The annual plan is built for that.
- What about California, New York, or LCPtracker?
- State portals in California, New York, Washington, and Illinois ask for worker data the federal form does not, so use them directly for state-funded work. Our PDF covers federally funded jobs anywhere, and the CSV export has a documented layout for mapping into LCPtracker or a prime's spreadsheet.
- What happens when the job ends?
- Cancel or pause. Your projects, workers, and every finalized payroll stay available for the three-year retention window, and the free plan still lets you finalize one payroll a month.
- I made a mistake on a payroll I already filed. Can I fix it?
- Yes. Reopen the payroll, correct it, and finalize again. The corrected PDF keeps the same payroll number so the prime can match it to the original.
Your first certified payroll takes about fifteen minutes.
Add the crew, add the job, type this week’s hours, download the PDF. No card, no call, no contract.