Which form do you file?
This changes the calculations, not just the printout — California adds daily overtime, double time and SDI.
Payroll week
One report per week, per project. Number them consecutively from 1.
Carries the crew, classifications and rates forward. You re-enter only hours.
Contractor
Your company — not the awarding agency.
Project
Wage determination rates
Enter each classification exactly as worded on the determination. Every worker is checked against these before you can file cleanly.
Required package = base rate + fringe. You may pay fringe in cash on the cheque or into a bona fide plan, but the two together must always meet the determination. The overtime premium is calculated on the base rate only — fringe is never multiplied. Paying 1.5× on the full package is the single most common overpayment; paying 1.5× on base but forgetting fringe entirely is the most common underpayment.
Crew
Everyone who performed manual labour on the site this week. Office staff and salaried supervisors who do no manual work are excluded.
Hours worked on this project
Pay & deductions
Gross comes from hours × rates. Enter the deductions actually withheld — net wages must tie to the cheque you issued.
Deductions beyond the standard ones — taxes, FICA, court-ordered support, authorised union dues — must be described on the certification. Anything that pushes a worker below the prevailing wage (tools, uniforms, transport, cash back) is a violation whether or not the worker agreed to it.
Compliance check
These are the errors that actually get payrolls rejected or produce back-wage findings.
Statement of Compliance
The part you sign. A false statement here carries criminal liability, so read the fringe election carefully.
How are fringe benefits paid?
File it
In the print dialog choose Destination: Save as PDF. Page 1 prints landscape, the certification portrait. Both must be submitted together. Keep payrolls and time records for 3 years after the project ends (California: 3 years from completion, and you must produce them within 10 days of a written request).