Gusto and Certified Payroll: What Gusto Runs (and How to Produce Form WH-347)
The Short Answer: Gusto Runs Payroll, Not Form WH-347
Gusto is a full-service payroll platform built to pay employees and contractors, calculate federal, state, and local payroll taxes, file tax forms, and handle direct deposits. While Gusto publishes a construction industry page and an educational article explaining federal and state certified payroll rules, the platform does not generate a native U.S. Department of Labor Form WH-347 report or Statement of Compliance.
For a small construction contractor already using Gusto, that distinction matters: Gusto handles the money movement and tax withholdings, while the weekly prevailing-wage compliance report required on Davis-Bacon and state public-works jobs has to be prepared outside Gusto using the payroll numbers Gusto already calculated.
Why 'Gusto Payroll Certification' Shows Up in Search
Contractors searching for 'Gusto certified payroll' frequently land on pages titled 'Gusto Payroll Certification' on Gusto Academy (academy.gusto.com). Despite the similar wording, those pages have nothing to do with Davis-Bacon prevailing-wage reporting or government construction contracts.
Gusto Payroll Certification is an educational training program for accountants, bookkeepers, and people advisors covering how to onboard employees, set up pay schedules, track time, and run standard payroll inside Gusto. Completing that course certifies an advisor on the Gusto software — it does not unlock a WH-347 report inside a contractor's Gusto account.
LeaveSheet Certified Payroll: the WH-347-style record behind your Gusto payroll
Builds the WH-347-style report and Statement of Compliance from your hours and rates, with PDF and styled Excel exports. Add-on: $19/month or $190/year per organization, on top of the LeaveSheet base plan ($1.50 per active employee per month, minimum $9/month). 14-day free trial, no credit card. It does not process payroll or integrate with Gusto — keep Gusto for paychecks and taxes.
What Gusto's Reports Give You vs What Form WH-347 Requires
Inside Gusto, admins can view, customize, and download payroll reports (CSV or PDF) showing each employee's hours worked, gross pay, employee tax withholdings (FICA, federal income tax, state income tax), benefit deductions, and net pay for a pay period. Those figures cover the pay-and-deduction half of a certified payroll.
The revised federal Form WH-347 (Rev. January 2025, OMB Control No. 1235-0008, expiring January 31, 2028) asks for project-specific prevailing-wage details that a general payroll register does not track out of the box: each worker's prevailing-wage work classification and Journeyworker (J) or Registered Apprentice (RA) status (column 2), daily straight-time and overtime hours worked specifically on that covered project (columns 3 through 5), the hourly prevailing base wage and fringe rate (column 6A), total fringe benefit credit (column 6B), cash paid in lieu of fringe (column 6C), gross amount earned on the covered job (column 7A) alongside gross earned across all work that week (column 7B), itemized deductions (column 8), and the signed Statement of Compliance on page 2 breaking down fringe plans.
How Contractors Bridge Gusto With a WH-347 Template or Tool
Because switching payroll processors mid-year disrupts W-2s, quarterly tax filings, and direct deposits, many small subcontractors keep Gusto for payroll processing and add a lightweight WH-347 reporting step alongside it. The weekly workflow takes four steps:
First, track daily straight-time and overtime hours by covered project and prevailing-wage classification during the week. Second, run payroll in Gusto as usual so federal, state, and FICA withholdings and net wages are calculated and paid. Third, copy the worker's daily project hours, prevailing base and fringe rates, and the actual tax/deduction amounts from your Gusto payroll report into a WH-347 template or compliance tool. Fourth, verify that column 7B reflects total gross pay across all work for the week and that column 9 matches the net wages paid.
Free WH-347 Excel Template vs a $19/Month Self-Service Add-On
If you run one prevailing-wage job with a small crew and simple fringe rules (such as paying all fringe benefits in cash as part of gross wages), a free WH-347 Excel template is often enough. You enter the daily hours, rates, and the deduction totals from your Gusto report, and the spreadsheet calculates gross pay, total deductions, and net wages for printing or saving to PDF.
When your crew works across multiple classifications, multiple projects in the same week, or up to four separate fringe benefit plans (Health & Welfare, Pension, Vacation, and Training), manual spreadsheet upkeep gets error-prone. LeaveSheet Certified Payroll ($19/month or $190/year flat per organization, on top of the LeaveSheet base plan at $1.50/active employee/month, $9/month minimum) automates the WH-347-style table, proves that the four fringe plan totals reconcile to column 6B down to the cent, locks finalized runs by payroll number, and exports both the two-page WH-347-style PDF and a 5-sheet styled Excel workbook.
What This Two-Tool Workflow Does Not Do
To be direct about boundaries: neither a WH-347 Excel template nor LeaveSheet Certified Payroll connects to Gusto via an API, pulls payroll runs automatically, or pushes hours back into Gusto. You enter the weekly project hours, rates, and deduction amounts yourself.
Likewise, neither Gusto nor LeaveSheet files certified payroll electronically into state or agency portals such as California's DIR eCPR, New York's NYSDOL portal, Illinois' IDOL CTP portal, LCPtracker, or eMars. When a project requires a state XML/CSV upload or an agency portal login, your WH-347-style report serves as the verified internal calculation record from which you key or prepare that filing.
Frequently asked questions
Does Gusto have a built-in certified payroll or WH-347 report?
No. Gusto processes payroll, calculates payroll taxes, and lets admins download customizable payroll reports, but it does not generate a native U.S. Department of Labor Form WH-347 or Statement of Compliance.
What is Gusto Payroll Certification?
Gusto Payroll Certification is an online training credential on Gusto Academy for accountants and bookkeepers learning how to use Gusto's standard payroll features. It is not a Davis-Bacon or prevailing-wage certified payroll software module.
Can I keep Gusto for payroll and still do certified payroll on public works jobs?
Yes. Many small subcontractors run paychecks, direct deposits, and tax filings in Gusto, then use their Gusto payroll report figures (tax withholdings, deductions, total gross, and net pay) alongside project hours to complete a separate WH-347 Excel template or self-service tool like LeaveSheet Certified Payroll.
Does LeaveSheet Certified Payroll integrate directly with Gusto?
No. LeaveSheet Certified Payroll is standalone and does not sync with Gusto, QuickBooks, or ADP. You enter worker classifications, prevailing base and fringe rates, daily straight-time and overtime hours, and deduction amounts manually, and LeaveSheet calculates the WH-347-style report and column 6B fringe reconciliation.
How much does LeaveSheet Certified Payroll cost compared to switching payroll providers?
LeaveSheet Certified Payroll is a flat $19/month or $190/year per organization on top of the LeaveSheet base plan ($1.50 per active employee per month, $9/month minimum — $28/month total for a crew of up to 6 employees), with a 14-day free trial and no credit card. That lets you produce WH-347-style PDFs and Excel exports without migrating your company's payroll and tax history out of Gusto.
Does exporting Gusto data into a WH-347 template file into state portals like DIR or NYSDOL?
No. A WH-347-style spreadsheet or LeaveSheet export produces a PDF and Excel report for federal contracting officers or your internal audit records. State portals like California DIR eCPR, NYSDOL, and Illinois IDOL require their own portal entry or XML/CSV upload.
This guide is general information for small contractors, not legal or tax advice, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Gusto (ZenPayroll, Inc.). Gusto's features and reports can change — confirm current capabilities directly with Gusto support. WH-347-style tools reproduce the layout for convenience and are not official DOL filing tools.
Sources: gusto.com · gusto.com · support.gusto.com · academy.gusto.com · www.dol.gov