The Cost Codes Show

Dialed-in certified payroll: Leveling up your prevailing wage game


Listen Later

Prevailing wage work can be incredibly profitable… Until one “small” payroll mistake turns into a massive compliance problem. In this episode of The Cost Codes Show, host Ryan Gilmore sits down with Jack Biltis, President and Co-founder of eBacon, to unpack what trade contractors really need to know about certified payroll, prevailing wage compliance, and fringe calculations.

Jack shares what he’s seen firsthand: why contractors get burned (even when mistakes are innocent), how the best-run shops build a repeatable certified payroll process, and why getting time collection and documentation right is the difference between smooth audits and painful penalties.

Key learning points

  • Why prevailing wage compliance is so risky, and how “small” errors can trigger outsized penalties
  • What an “ideal” certified payroll workflow looks like (job setup → time capture → approvals → payroll → reports)
  • How to keep field + office teams aligned
  • A practical primer on classifications, wage determinations, and where the rates come from
  • How fringe benefits work, how credits are calculated, and common pitfalls contractors miss
  • What’s changing next (including updates affecting fringe/annualization and PTO guidance)
  • The #1 action item Jack recommends for any contractor entering prevailing wage work: electronic time & attendance 
  • Knowify is financially focused job management software for trade contractors. Schedule time to talk to us.

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    The Cost Codes ShowBy Knowify