Certified Payroll for Subcontractors: A Plain-English Guide
On federal work, "certified payroll" is how you prove that workers were paid correctly under the wage rules. It is submitted weekly, and it is signed under penalty of law. For a subcontractor, getting it right the first time is a direct signal to the prime that you can be trusted.
The weekly certified payroll (WH-347)
For each worker, the certified payroll reports name and identifying information, work classification, hours each day, rate of pay, gross wages, deductions, and net pay. It ends with a statement of compliance — the certification that the wages were paid and that no unlawful deductions or kickbacks happened. That statement is what makes it "certified," and it is signed under 18 U.S.C. § 1001.
When you personally do the work
If an owner or principal performed the work personally, received no wages, and employed no laborers, a certified statement (GSA Form 618-D) is submitted in place of weekly payrolls. It states the contractual relationship, the scope and dates of the work, that no wages were received, and that no laborers were employed.
The habit that keeps you out of trouble
Keep certified payroll consistent with your daily reports and keep the supporting records. False entries are not a paperwork error — they are a federal offense.