Labor booked as one lump
When every paycheck flows into a single wages account, you cannot see what any job paid in labor. Your biggest cost becomes invisible at exactly the level where you need it most.
Service overview
Payroll for Contractors, Run Inside Your Books
Labor is the single biggest cost on most contractor jobs, which means payroll is not just an HR chore, it is job-cost data. Run it in a silo and your books never show what each job actually paid in labor. We handle payroll as part of your bookkeeping, so every paycheck, tax, and burden dollar lands on the right job and ties into your monthly close.
Quick answer
- Payroll is usually your largest job cost. We make sure each paycheck lands on the right job, not a single company-wide wages line.
- Payroll runs through your provider and reconciles into your QuickBooks file, so labor is job-costed and the monthly close ties out.
- W-2 field crews and 1099 subcontractors are tracked separately all year, so 1099 season is a confirmation, not a scramble.
- Certified payroll for prevailing-wage and public-works jobs is supported where your contracts require it.
Why contractor payroll is different
For a retail shop, payroll is a flat overhead line. For a contractor, payroll is the biggest variable cost of doing the work, and where it lands in your books decides whether your job costing means anything. A foreman framing a house and an office manager cutting invoices are both on payroll, but only one of them is a direct job cost.
On top of the wages themselves sits burden: employer payroll taxes, workers compensation, and any benefits. That burden can add a meaningful percentage on top of base pay, and if you ignore it, your true labor cost per job is understated and your margins look better than they really are. Contractor payroll done right captures all of it and routes it to the job.
- Wages job-costed to each job by Class or Location, not lumped into one payroll account
- Payroll taxes and burden tracked so true labor cost per job is accurate
- Field labor separated from office and admin labor so gross profit stays honest
- W-2 employees and 1099 subcontractors kept in distinct streams all year
- Payroll reconciled into the monthly close, so the books and the payroll provider agree
- Certified payroll records maintained where prevailing-wage jobs require them
How payroll fits the bookkeeping engagement
We are not a standalone payroll app that cuts checks and stops there. Payroll runs through your payroll provider, and we manage the bookkeeping side: mapping each pay run to the right jobs, recording taxes and burden, and reconciling the provider against your QuickBooks Online file every month. You keep your provider and your filings, we make the numbers land correctly in your books.
That connection is the whole point. A payroll app on its own tells you what you paid in total. It does not tell you that the Henderson job ran 40 percent over on labor while the Miller job came in under. By tying payroll into job costing and the monthly close, your labor numbers become something you can price and plan against, not just a tax-time total.
- A standalone payroll app cuts checks but does not job-cost labor or reconcile burden into your books.
- A generalist bookkeeper may record payroll as one lump and never split field from office or capture burden by job.
- We connect payroll to job costing inside your own QuickBooks file and reconcile it in every monthly close.
Where contractor payroll usually goes wrong
Burden ignored
Payroll taxes, workers comp, and benefits can add a real percentage on top of wages. Leave them out of job cost and your margins look stronger than they are, so you keep bidding work that barely pays.
Subs mixed in with payroll
Run 1099 subcontractors through the same bucket as W-2 wages and you lose both your labor numbers and your 1099 totals, turning January into a reconstruction project.
Which plan includes contractor payroll
- Truck, solo operator, 1 to 2 accounts, simple job tracking
- Crew, growing crew, job costing, FSM sync included
- Shop, payroll, 1099 subs, AR/AP, priority close
- Builder, multi-entity, high volume, custom mapping
Contractor payroll FAQ
Do you run payroll, or just the bookkeeping for it?
Payroll runs through your payroll provider, and we manage the bookkeeping side of it inside your QuickBooks Online file: mapping each pay run to the right jobs, recording payroll taxes and burden, and reconciling the provider to your books every month. You keep your provider and your filings. The result is payroll that is job-costed and ties into your monthly close, instead of a separate total that never touches your job numbers. Payroll handling is included on the Shop plan and up.
Can you job-cost our labor?
Yes. We map payroll to each job using Class or Location tracking in QuickBooks, so wages, payroll taxes, and burden land against the job they belong to. That is what lets you see real labor cost and gross profit by job, rather than a single company-wide wages figure that hides where you made and lost money on labor.
Do you handle certified payroll?
For prevailing-wage and public-works jobs, we maintain the job-costed wage records that certified payroll reporting is built from and support the process where your contracts require it. The specific wage determinations and reporting portals vary by jurisdiction and project, so we coordinate with you and your payroll provider on the exact filing. The bookkeeping foundation, accurate wages and hours tied to the right job, is what makes certified payroll reporting possible in the first place.
How do you keep W-2 employees and 1099 subs separate?
They run in distinct streams all year. W-2 wages flow through payroll and into job costing as direct labor, while 1099 subcontractor payments are tracked separately with W-9s collected at engagement and running payment totals maintained. Keeping them apart protects both your labor reporting and your 1099 filing, so neither one becomes a year-end scramble.
Which plan includes payroll?
Payroll handling is part of the Shop plan and up, alongside 1099 subcontractor tracking and AR/AP tracking. The Truck and Crew plans focus on core bookkeeping and job costing. If you are not sure which plan fits your crew size and payroll needs, head to the get-started page and we will scope it with you.
Payroll that lands on the right job
Trade-native categories, job costing, and an expert-reviewed close every month. You keep your QuickBooks file.