Streamlining Payroll for Small Contractors

If you're running a small contracting business, payroll doesn't need to be complicated or expensive.

The Small Contractor's Payroll Challenge

You're probably:

• Managing 5-50 employees
• Juggling multiple jobs simultaneously
• Doing payroll yourself or with minimal office help
• Using a mix of spreadsheets, paper, and memory
• Spending hours every week on payroll

Sound familiar?

What You Actually Need

Small contractors need payroll systems that are:

• Simple - Set up in minutes, not weeks
• Affordable - Predictable pricing you can budget for
• Automated - Minimal manual data entry
• Accurate - Automatic overtime and job costing
• Integrated - Time tracking feeds directly into payroll

The Streamlined Process

Here's what modern payroll looks like for small contractors:

Monday-Friday

Your crew clocks in/out from their phones. GPS and photos verify every punch. You get real-time notifications and can check hours anytime.

Saturday-Sunday

Review the week's hours from your phone or computer. Hours are already organized by employee and job. Overtime is calculated automatically. Make any needed adjustments.

Monday Morning

Approve payroll with one click. Export to your payroll provider or run it yourself. Done.

Common Bottlenecks Eliminated

Paper Time Cards

Old way: Collect cards, decipher handwriting, type into spreadsheet, double-check math, calculate overtime manually.

New way: Digital punches flow automatically into payroll preview. Review and approve.

Overtime Calculations

Old way: Remember who worked more than 40 hours, calculate time-and-a-half manually, hope you didn't miss anyone.

New way: Automatic overtime calculation based on your rules (daily, weekly, double-time, etc.).

Job Costing

Old way: Try to remember which employee worked on which job, estimate hours, update job costs weeks later.

New way: Crew selects job site at clock-in. Hours automatically categorize by job for real-time job costing.

Record Keeping

Old way: File paper time cards, hope they don't get lost, dread audit requests.

New way: Automatic digital records with GPS and photo verification. Export reports anytime.

What About Payroll Services?

Many contractors use ADP, Gusto, or similar services to actually process payroll (calculate taxes, print checks, etc.). That's great! But you still need accurate time tracking data to feed into those systems.

The best approach:

1. Use FieldClock for time tracking and hour organization
2. Export hours to your payroll service
3. Let them handle the tax calculations and check printing

Getting Started

Start with the basics:

• Digital time tracking
• GPS verification
• Job site selection
• Automatic overtime

Once that's running smoothly, add:

• Expense tracking
• Break tracking
• Paid time off management
• Advanced reporting

The Bottom Line

Small contractors shouldn't need to choose between accurate payroll and simplicity. The right system gives you both.

FieldClock is specifically designed for contractors with 5-50 employees who want enterprise features without enterprise complexity or pricing.