The 8 Best Construction Payroll Software Solutions for 2024

Construction payroll software has become an essential tool for general and specialty contractors seeking to streamline their company’s payroll processes and maintain compliance with complex labor laws and regulations. With the construction industry’s unique challenges, such as managing multiple job sites, handling various wage rates, and integrating with project management tools, specialized payroll solutions have become increasingly important for ensuring accuracy, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.

You’ve got many options for processing your team’s payroll, but the wrong choice can add up, both in terms of wasted time and in terms of avoidable fees, charges, and other expenses. 

We’re here to help you cut through the noise. To help you choose the best construction payroll software, we have thoroughly researched and analyzed various options. We’ve taken several factors into consideration including ease of use, scalability, integration capabilities, compliance features, and customer support. 

Let’s look into the best construction payroll software solutions available in 2024 for the ideal solution for your business needs.

 

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Top Picks

EDITOR’S NOTE: We created Workyard – the first app reviewed here – to address issues we encountered while struggling to track and manage construction payrolls for over 700 workers in over 50 construction businesses. We built the Workyard app from the ground up to support construction companies like yours, with industry-essential features like the industry’s most accurate time clock app with GPS and geofencing, intuitive contractor scheduling, construction cost tracking tools, and more.

Learn more about how Workyard works on our main website, or sign up for a 14-day free trial today to see what Workyard can do for your business.

Scoring

Key Features

• Automatic payroll paid via direct deposit

• Next or same-day direct deposit

• Integrations with QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Time

• Tax compliance with an accuracy guarantee

• Time tracking and reporting

• Employee Self-Service portal

Highlights

QuickBooks Payroll boasts comprehensive payroll features to help simplify your company’s payroll processes.

With its automated calculations, you can avoid the hassle of manual payroll processing. Simply enter your employees’ or contractors’ details, and set the payroll dates and rules. QuickBooks Payroll will automatically calculate your payroll every month, ensuring on-time payments.

QuickBooks Payroll’s compliance features keep you updated with tax laws and regulations. It offers an accuracy guarantee and tax penalty protection to keep you covered at tax time.

QuickBooks offers direct deposit in addition to automatic tax calculations. This gives users a faster, more convenient, and more secure method of payment.

QuickBooks’ time tracking and reporting feature generates customizable reports and provides insights into labor costs and trends.

QuickBooks Payroll seamlessly integrates with QuickBooks Online for accounting, allowing you to run payroll and accounting in one platform.

Reviews

QuickBooks Payroll has consistently earned good scores on three review platforms. Thousands of reviews on the App Store, Play Store, and Capterra share the platform’s pros and cons as well as the performance of its mobile app. Here are a few below.

Marissa S. left her five-star review on Capterra, saying that she avoided using it before because she thought she’d end up doing everything on her own. But it has been easy to learn and use.

Capterra Review:

Why did I wait so long? ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I avoided QB Payroll because I thought I was going to have to do everything on my own. Man, was I wrong! This is the easiest software to understand and use. Definitely love that it takes care of tax deductions and filings for me.

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Workyard connects to QuickBooks in a snap!

See Our Top Integrations

Scoring

Key Features

• Direct deposits

• Federal, state, and local tax calculations and filing

• Year-end W2s

• Construction reporting

• Job costing and workers’ compensation tracking

• Accounting software integrations

• Timekeeping mobile app

Highlights

Payroll4Construction allows you to run payroll anywhere – whether you’re a freelancer, a small business owner, or a large enterprise in the construction industry.

Aside from its standard payroll processing features, Payroll4Construction offers a full-service payroll solution with construction-specific features. These construction-specific benefits include workers’ comp and union tracking, construction reporting, and automated pay rates and fringes.

Payroll4Construction also helps you manage multiple projects, locations, trades, unions, pay rates, and common construction payroll issues.

Reviews

Unfortunately, Payroll4Construction has no user reviews from popular platforms like Capterra, the App Store, and Google Play. However, there are Google and BBB reviews you can check out before you sign up.

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Scoring

Key Features

• Automated payroll processing

• Employee management tools

• Tax preparation and filing assistance

• Compliance with local, state, and federal taxes

• Integrations with accounting and HR systems

• ADP Payroll mobile app

Highlights

ADP’s all-in-one payroll software offers user-friendly payroll and HR solutions. The app is created exclusively for the construction sector.

ADP Payroll enables construction businesses to sync payroll data with time tracking, employee benefits, and talent management solutions. The app also helps companies pay employees on time and comply with tax regulations, while meeting the demands of any small or large construction company.

You can select an ADP payroll package based on your business size and needs.

ADP also regularly provides webinars, events, tools, and integrations to assist clients with their needs.

For additional compliance insights, see our state-specific guides, like Arizona labor laws.

Reviews

There are thousands of online user reviews for various ADP Payroll products. It has a good score and thousands of ratings on Capterra for its payroll products.

Katie L. likes her experience using ADP, saying everything she needs is all in one place.

Capterra Review:

“Overall, I’m a happy ADP client ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What I like most is that everything is there for me in one place―time and attendance, payroll, reviews, and contact information. I also like that help or assistance from ADP is a phone call away.”

But TraeAnn J, an HR manager for a construction company, thinks it’s not ideal for a small company.

“Not a good option for smaller companies  ⭐⭐⭐

Not great. Customer service is a joke without a dedicated service team, which you can only get by meeting a certain size threshold or paying roughly four times the monthly rate for basic service. They are constantly changing the theme/formatting of the website (at least twice a year), so you have to relearn things often.”

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Scoring

Key Features

• Full-service payroll 

• Hiring and onboarding

• Employee benefits

• Insights and reporting

• Team management

• Guidance and support

• Add-on payroll and HR tools

Highlights

Gusto provides payroll services along with a range of business expense management solutions and resources.

The app offers automatic payroll syncing, employee onboarding, management administration, and integration with third-party systems.

In addition to HR resources, Gusto offers tax filing and compliance assistance to ensure your business follows all regulations and requirements. It also integrates with leading business and financial tools as well as accounting software.

Gusto provides customer support regardless of what features you use on its platform.

For region-specific guidance, check out our overview of Mississippi labor laws.

Reviews

Gusto has a 4.6 overall score on Capterra with over 3,000 reviews. Here’s what users are saying about it.

Rakesk S. thinks Gusto is a powerful payroll solution and gives it a five-star rating.

Capterra Review:

“Highly powerful payroll solution ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Extremely helpful with budgeting, project payment, and expense management, and the interface is very easy to access. Capabilities like time management and the multiple projects employee database management on this system are profitable. Creating financial data reports and analytics production in real time via this platform is excellent and easy to coordinate.”

However, Patricia C. gave it one star because of the stress of using the product for her small business.

“Extremely unreliable payroll service ⭐

It has been extremely stressful. Starting a new business, especially on a smaller scale, is already a stressful experience daily. The last thing you want to stress about is your staff being paid in a timely manner. I literally log into Gusto daily to make sure my access to run payroll isn’t blocked for some crazy reason. It’s unreal! This is by far the most stressful experience.”

Scoring

Key Features

• Automated timecard entry

• Certified payroll software

• Contractor payroll reports

• Construction software modules

• Personal support and training

• Integration with construction applications

Highlights

Foundation is construction payroll software enabling small business to pay contractors and workers on time.

The app populates timecard information automatically. It also calculates pay rates, taxes, and deductions, processing timecards without needing to re-enter rates.

The app includes prevailing wage (Davis-Bacon) and union payroll management, allowing you to automate all calculations and spend less time on data entry.

Foundation comes equipped with features to make payroll administration more efficient. These include data importation from time and field logs, timecard screen layouts, data importation from timekeeping and field log applications, and certified payroll report preparation.

Additional Foundation modules, like mobile and eAccess, also allow you to record and synchronize timecards and field data.

Running a business in Massachusetts? You can reference our Massachusetts labor laws guide for compliance tips.

Reviews

Reviews for Foundation’s construction payroll software have mostly been positive, earning a 4.2 rating on Capterra.

John S., CFO of a construction company, gave Foundation five stars for its simplicity and ease of use.

Capterra Review:

“Foundation makes construction accounting easy to understand ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Foundation has made record-keeping easy and ready for outside auditors’ review procedures. Cost, user-friendliness, help screens updated and online, and support is second to none.”

But one user gave it a two-star rating. It’s good for its accounting functions, nothing more.

“Accounting, but nothing more ⭐⭐

This hasn’t been the most fun. The system handles accounting, and after more than 4 years we’ve dialed some things in better, but it still misses the mark. The system totally misses the mark when it comes to Project Management. I’d say use another software if at all possible.

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Scoring

Key Features

• Time clock integrations

• Accurate tax calculations and payments

• Secure payments

• Construction reports

• Employee portal

• Integrations with accounting or ERP software

Highlights

ConstructionPayroll software is tailored to the needs of construction enterprises. Its goal is to make payroll processing less time-consuming and more streamlined.

ConstructionPayroll’s time clock feature allows employees to clock in remotely while collecting their geolocation details.

It provides a full-service payroll solution incorporating multi-state, multi-rate, and multi-trade wage calculation capabilities. ConstructionPayroll.com accurately records job expenses, labor assignments, and worker compensation classes.

Its improved compliance features also help you avoid the pitfalls of prevailing pay rules.

 Learn more about region-specific requirements in our state-centric guides like this one: New York labor laws.

Reviews

There are no published user reviews for ConstructionPayroll.com to establish an overall score. However, user opinions are available on the app’s social media pages, as well as on Google and BBB review pages. The company also posts customer testimonials on their website, some of which are posted below.

Aileen Martinez of Regional Steel Corporation has this to say about this construction payroll software:

“ConstructionPayroll.com has significantly streamlined my payroll process, providing efficient solutions for both payroll management and reporting needs.”

Jamie Wixon, owner of Purpose Driven Plumbing, says ConstructionPayroll.com has greatly benefited their small but growing plumbing company.

“It’s taken hours of trying to figure out payroll off my plate! I simply enter the hours of each employee, and ConstructionPayroll.com does the rest. Total piece of cake!”

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Scoring

Key Features

• Payroll onboarding and offboarding of employees

• Automatic payroll and payroll tax calculations, deductions, and remittance

• QuickBooks integration

Highlights

Workstream is an automated hiring solution designed to help you handle critical aspects of personnel management. These include job postings, applicant interviews, onboarding, and payroll. It streamlines all important HR admin tasks in one platform to boost efficiency and reduce labor costs.

Workstream’s payroll software imports employees’ time and attendance data, integrating it with QuickBooks for faster reconciliation. The app also automatically calculates, deducts, and remits payroll along with taxes and benefits.

Workstream’s support team is available daily for payroll questions and can provide white-glove onboarding and full-service setup for clients.

Reviews

Workstream’s HR app on the App Store and Play Store only has a few user reviews, and they’re usually a mix of good and bad reviews.

Although we couldn’t find published Capterra reviews for Workstream, it has reviews on G2 and TrustRadius, where it received a rating of 4.7 out of 5 and 8.3 out of 10, respectively.

iOS user Chrise13 gave it a five-star rating for its ease of use for applicants and employers.

iOS Review:

“Awesome platform ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a great platform, with intuitive options and an intelligent build on the app. It’s very streamlined and easy for users and applicants. We love the flow, how effective it is, and how much time and money it saves us.”

Android user Tammy Tennant gave it a four-star rating even if she faced problems with the app.

Google Play Review:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Parts of the app are no longer available and says to update. I’ve updated, and still doesn’t work.”

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Scoring

Key Features

• Complete construction payroll

• HR and benefits

• Time tracking, scheduling, and timesheets

• Expense management

• Prevailing wage rate management

• Hands-on onboarding and training

• Phone, email, and chat support 

Highlights

Miter provides streamlined payroll solutions for contractors of all sizes. It automatically calculates gross pay and overtime from time collected from the field. You can assign pay rates to employees, tasks or activities, and cost codes. You can also configure union pay rates and add automatic reimbursements for specific jobs.

Miter has a flexible report builder for labor costs. These include workers’ comp premiums, taxes, and benefits, which you can calculate in real time by job and cost code.

The app allows you to automatically generate Certified Payroll Reports. It also helps you configure custom overtime rules and comply with audits with just a few clicks.

For regional compliance insights, refer to our state-specific guides like the Idaho labor laws guide.

Reviews

Miter has a free construction time tracking app for the App Store and Play Store. It is mainly used for time tracking and workforce management for contractors. Although there are only a few published reviews, its users have given it a good score.

Darius Davidson gave it a short review and a five-star rating on the Play Store.

Google Play Review:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

“If your company uses it, it works really well.”

But Jon Hodge, another Android user, gave it one star because it frequently crashes.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

“The app is total garbage. If you have Samsung or Android, it just constantly crashes. Has been this way for months with no fix from the creators. Save your time, use anything else.“

Miter shares customer stories and results on its website. Some customer stories feature construction companies like A-1 Modular, Almendariz, and American Asphalt & Concrete, Inc.

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Final Thoughts

Construction businesses depend on payroll to ensure everyone gets paid on time. However, running a payroll can be daunting for anyone. Thankfully, there are construction payroll software options to help businesses simplify and streamline the process.

These software solutions save time, reduce errors, and help businesses stay compliant with government regulations. The list of top-rated construction payroll software above helps you choose the right solution for your small business.

Our Scoring System Explained

Our 8-part scoring system was created to help you understand the potential value of any software we review simply and fairly.

We created it after reviewing dozens of software products, which we covered in depth, but without providing a direct and simple way for readers to compare products on their merits – without spending a lot of time looking through our articles for the information they needed to make an informed decision.
Every app we review will include Customer Support and Company scores, which we’ll explain in more detail below. Many of the factors reviewed in this article will also be consistent across most (or all) of our software reviews, with some differences:

The 8 factors assessed and their contribution to a product’s overall score may differ slightly from product to product based on various factors, such as the use case we’re reviewing for, the type of business these products are tailored to, and other considerations. However, all reviews will feature an 8-part score, weighted and combined to calculate each product’s overall score.

How We Score Software

All factors in our reviews are scored on a 10-point scale – technically 11 points – from 0-10. However, we only give products a score of 0 if it does not include an essential feature at all, and we try to avoid giving out 0 scores if a product can demonstrate any functionality in line with the specific factor being reviewed.

In general, the 0-10 range translates as:

• 9.0 – 10 – One of the absolute best in its category (amazing).
• 7.5 – 8.9 – Very good, but with some minor issues (very good).
• 6.0 – 7.4 – Mediocre performance with notable shortcomings (average).
• 3.0 – 5.9 – This feature is not ready for prime time (borderline).
• 1.0 – 2.9 – This feature actually makes its product worse (unacceptable).
• 0 – The product doesn’t include this important feature at all.

How We Calculate Overall Scores

The 8 factors reviewed are weighted based on an overall total of 100%:

• Ease of Use: 20%
• Time Tracking Accuracy: 20%
• Scheduling Features: 15%
• Job Tracking: 15%
• Integrations: 10%
• Customer Support: 15%
• Company: 5%

Methodology for Each Factor

Ease of Use

We evaluate a product’s ease of use based on three main considerations:

• How easy is it to set up this app?
• How easy is it for managers to use the backend dashboard?
• How easy is it for frontline workers to use the (mobile) app?

These three considerations cover the main ways you and your team would use the software being reviewed – when you first obtain it, when someone (a manager, executive, team leader, or similar role) needs to use it to manage people, money, data, and other things, and when workers you’re tracking use the app (usually a mobile version of the software designed for frontline and/or field team members) to clock in, clock out, record time worked, or address other day-to-day needs.

Time Tracking Accuracy

Every minute matters when you’re trying to control payroll costs. This factor accounts for various features and common needs in time-tracking apps, such as…

• How accurate or precise is its GPS tracking capability?
• How accurate – and how customizable – is its geofencing feature?
• How accurate is its travel and mileage tracking (if available)?
• Can it automatically clock workers in and out based on the above?
• Can you set and/or restrict rules for clocking in and out?
• Can the app continue tracking workers while offline?
• How easy is its mobile app and/or kiosk for frontline workers?

Scheduling Features

Many construction businesses prefer to manage as many aspects of employee labor activity as possible in a single app, which is why many time-tracking apps also include worker scheduling as a core feature.

When we consider a product’s scheduling features, we look at:

• Its dashboard customizability (daily, weekly, or monthly views).
• Its project-based scheduling and visibility.
• Its real-time updates and notifications for workers.
• Its real-time map views of worker locations for best-fit scheduling.
• Its recurring schedule (copies to subsequent weeks, etc.) functionality.

Job Tracking

This factor helps you understand if the software can also provide insight into specific projects, which is particularly handy when your business deals with many customers or clients who generally need shorter-term work. Effective job tracking typically also includes accurate job costing functionality for construction companies.

We assess several things when calculating a product’s job tracking score:

• Its project-based tracking for multiple projects per day/week/etc.
• Its ability to track multiple / many projects simultaneously.
• Its use of (and your ability to customize) construction cost codes.
• Any built-in job costing views.
• Any integrations for cost coding (QuickBooks etc.)

Integrations

No business can operate on a single app, which is why integrations with other apps and tools are such important aspects of modern business software.

To calculate a product’s integration score, we’ll examine:

• How many native integrations (the simplest connection) does it offer?
• How effective and easy-to-use are its integrations with payroll software?
• Does it have robust data import and export features?

Customer Support

Learning how to use a new app can be frustrating, even if it’s meant to be the most user-friendly app around. That’s why great customer support is so essential when considering which time-tracking app to use.

Customer support scores are calculated based on:

• Live support channels available (phone, email, chat, etc.).
• Live support hours (business hours only, 24/7, etc.).
• The strength of the product’s online help center and/or FAQs.
• What other users say about support in online reviews.

Company

A great company with a highly customer-friendly approach can often make up for shortcomings in their software products – at least up to a point.

When assessing this score, we’ll examine:

• Transparency (easy-to-find pricing, etc.)
• Trial period (duration, feature availability, credit card requirements, etc.).
• Subscription flexibility (contracts, required durations, etc.).
• Ease of cancellation or pausing subscriptions.
• Customer perceptions (online product reviews).
• Website (a minor consideration, but great companies tend to have great websites).

Any questions about our scoring system? Have any suggestions on how we could make it even better? Click here to send us your feedback – we’d love to hear from you!

 

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