Managing payroll for construction businesses is complex. Between certified payroll reports, job costing, hourly field crews, and multi-state compliance requirements, accounting firms supporting construction clients often find themselves consumed by endless calculations, corrections, and reporting. QuickBooks Online Payroll is designed to tackle these complexities while helping firms manage payroll more efficiently.
Let’s explore how QuickBooks Payroll can support payroll for accounting firms with construction clients.
1. Job costing and payroll cost allocation**
Tracking labor costs by job or project is critical for construction businesses to understand profitability. QuickBooks Online Payroll integrates payroll data with job costing, allowing labor costs to be associated with specific projects. This ensures comprehensive payroll tracking, and allows accountants to provide insights regarding project profitability and margins.
Why this matters to accountants: Access to job-level labor costs allows you to move beyond payroll processing and offer advisory services, such as profitability analysis and margin optimization, helping your clients make better business decisions.
2. Mobile time tracking**
Field crews are often spread across various job sites, making accurate time tracking for hourly employees a challenge. QuickBooks Online Payroll solves this issue with mobile time tracking, enabling employees to clock in and out directly from their phones or tablets. This minimizes time-entry errors and helps ensure accurate payroll inputs.
Why this matters to accountants: Cleaner, more accurate time tracking means fewer errors upstream, simplifying payroll runs and reducing time spent on corrections or rework.
3. Payroll corrections (including closed quarters)
Errors can occur during payroll processing, especially for complex operations such as construction clients. QuickBooks Online Payroll allows accountants to make adjustments to paychecks, including editing, voiding, and recording transactions, even in closed quarters. This makes it easy to fix mistakes without manual interventions that disrupt compliance.
Why this matters to accountants: The ability to correct payroll without workarounds reduces disruption and helps maintain compliance across reporting periods, providing a seamless experience for accounting firms and their clients.
4. Employee cost rate calculator
Understanding total cost of labor is critical for construction budgeting and project analysis. QuickBooks Online Payroll includes an employee cost rate calculator, giving accountants and clients enhanced visibility into wages, taxes, benefits, and additional labor costs.
Why this matters to accountants: Clear labor cost data supports more accurate job costing, budgeting, and margin analysis for construction clients. This positions firms as trusted business advisors rather than simply payroll processors.
5. Certified payroll reports**—coming soon
Construction businesses frequently work on government contracts requiring compliance with prevailing-wage laws and certified payroll reporting. Preparing these reports manually is time-consuming and increases the risks of errors. Later this year, QuickBooks Online Payroll will automate certified payroll reporting, helping you stay compliant without the headache of manual documentation.
Why this matters to accountants: Certified payroll automation reduces compliance exposure, saves time, and increases accuracy. Accounting firms can focus on scaling their businesses rather than spending hours preparing reports for government contracts.
Add value to your construction clients
Add QuickBooks Online Payroll today by calling sales at 877-781-4710 or login to QuickBooks Online Accountant to add Payroll for your construction clients.
Disclaimers:
Money movement services are provided by Intuit Payments Inc., licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services. For details about our money transmission licenses, or for Texas customers with complaints about our service, please visit https://www.intuit.com/legal/licenses/payment-licenses/.
*Offer Terms
QuickBooks Payroll—ProAdvisor Revenue Share Program. Eligible QuickBooks Online Accountant (“QBOA”) firms may receive a revenue share for new U.S.-based client subscriptions to QuickBooks Online Payroll (“QBOP”), comprising of (i) 30% of the QBOP subscription fee, and (ii) 15% of per employee fees and multi-state charges, in each case for the first 12 months of the paid subscription, starting from the date the client starts paying for the subscription (the “Revenue Share Payments”). The first month of QBOP is free to the client. After the first month, clients receive a 50% discount to the then-current monthly list price for three (3) months, followed by the then-current list price. Subscription must be client-billed, and cannot be paid for by the QBOA accountant. Revenue Share Payments are calculated based on the price paid to Intuit by the client on their billing date. Any other optional add-on services for which Intuit charges a fee are excluded. Revenue Share Program cannot be combined with any other Intuit offer. Intuit may terminate or modify the Revenue Share Program for any reason and at any time without notice. Offer is non-transferable. See full terms at: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/accountants/products-solutions/pricing-promotions/papp/revenue-share/
Client Bonus Offer:
Eligibility: This offer is eligible to accounting firms who register or have registered for QuickBooks Online Accountant (“QBOA”) or Intuit Accountant Suite (“IAS”) and subscribe a client to QuickBooks Online Payroll Premium (“Payroll Premium”) OR QuickBooks Online Payroll Elite (“Payroll Elite”) through the ProAdvisor Revenue Share Program between December 22, 2025 and March 31, 2026.
Pricing: Eligible QBOA/IAS firm rev share participants will be entitled to the following bonus in addition to revenue share program payment(s) for their firm:
$300 per QuickBooks Online Payroll Premium subscription added between 12/22/25 and 3/31/26
$500 per QuickBooks Online Payroll Elite subscription added between 12/22/25 and 3/31/26
Offer Terms: To be eligible, Payroll Premium and Payroll Elite subscriptions must be added through the ProAdvisor Revenue Share Program. The payout is eligible only for the eligible QBOA/IAS Revenue Share participant firm and cannot be transferred to another client, individual, or company. Can only be combined with other offers available within the Revenue Share Program. Offer valid for a limited time only, only in the U.S., and is non-transferable. Terms, conditions, pricing, special features, and service and support options subject to change without notice.
Billing: To cancel your subscription, go to Account & Settings > Billing & Subscription in QBOA or IAS, and select “Cancel” for QuickBooks Online Payroll. Cancellation will become effective at the end of the monthly billing period. You will not receive a pro-rated refund. Learn more here.
**Features
Payroll cost allocation: Included in QuickBooks Online Payroll Premium and Elite only. QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced subscription required.
QuickBooks Time integration: Time tracking with QuickBooks Time is included in QuickBooks Online Payroll Premium and Elite only.
Coming Soon - Certified payroll reporting: Feature information is intended to outline our general product direction, but represents no obligation and should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision. Additional terms, conditions and fees may apply.