When trying to identify the best payroll software for a construction company, there are many variables to consider. Realistically, the message behind the search can be consolidated to ‘what will save the most time, money, stress, and liability for my business?
Though these answers will vary from organization-to-organization, construction is a specific enough niche that there are some common issues for quality payroll software to solve. If you are looking to make the jump from a manual payroll process, here are the top things to look for in payroll software for a construction company.
While full-service payroll processes have highly-technical specialists and divisions to streamline their services, they are typically using the same software that companies use internally. The difference is in how they can maximize the power of the software and use their knowledge to mitigate error.
Common payroll software used are QuickBooks Online, Paychex, Intuit Online payroll, Onpay, and many more. This is another bonus of outsourcing to a third-party payroll company — they will have licensed software with almost any reputable software, meaning you won’t have to switch your preferred processor or have there be a disconnect in data.
If you do your payroll in-house, we recommend choosing common software that will be easy to transition if and when you decide to take your payroll processing to the next level.
When you are deciding how to run payroll for your construction company, there are several factors to consider. To begin with, you need to decide whether you are going with full-service or self-service payroll. We highly recommend full-service, but understand that sometimes the size or setup of an organization might make more sense to keep it in-house for the time being.
Regardless of which system you choose, you will need a digital way to keep time, multiple reporting systems, and a platform that fits your crew’s employment profile. This means if you have remote clock-in-clock out, you need to be able to assign multiple job sites. Additionally, as construction typically has varying levels of management permissions, you need software with proper union reporting and tracking, proofing, and labor reports.
We recommend looking into software that is targeted towards construction should you work in-house. These include:
When you work with a full-service provider, a quality vendor will have custom integrations to suit most business types. Even better, when used concurrently with software, legal experts, and the focus of a full-service system, your payroll can be fully optimized.
Whichever route you go, understanding why these services are beneficial for remote sites, job-costing, and multiple management groups is extremely beneficial. The larger you scale, the more consistent you need your payroll outputs to be. What may seem like small, correctable errors or inconveniences with obsolete software will become compounded quickly if not attended to.
Any type of business can benefit from an efficient, organized, and timely payroll. Outsourcing has been proven to increase efficiency, reduce legal errors, and save time. For construction companies specifically, much of the benefit is in a consolidation of job sites, making distinctions on employee types, and managing payroll for multiple job sites.
When all employees work at one office (for example, a tech company), it is a simple task to track who showed up when and what types of workers are there. Construction often requires short-term contractors, has many job sites by nature, and a rotation or crew timing.
In addition to saving you time, stress, and keeping your data safe, the job costing opportunities will make your firm much sharper. We highly recommend consulting with a full-service provider to see what types of integrations they have for construction-specific payroll.
At Paytech, we have over three decades of experience in making payroll easy for any type of business. When you factor in our expertise in working with construction companies to optimize their efficiency, it’s easy to see why we are an industry leader.
If you are looking to make a change to a full-service payroll provider, reach out today to build a better future for your business.
