Certified payroll for QuickBooks Desktop
Desktop is the one QuickBooks that ships a certified payroll report, so Desktop shops are closest to covered, and the distance that remains is exactly the part California cares about most.
What QuickBooks Desktop gives you
With payroll and time tracked by job, Desktop produces a certified payroll report aimed at the federal side: workers, classifications, daily hours, rates, earnings, deductions, arranged as a starting point for the WH-347. Used carefully, it saves real time on the federal form. Three limits keep it a starting point: the Statement of Compliance still needs completing and signing, the output is only as right as the underlying item setup, and nothing checks your rates against the project's prevailing wage determination.
What it cannot do
Desktop does not produce the California DIR eCPR XML. The vendor that has specialized in QuickBooks certified payroll for years, Sunburst Software Solutions, states it in bold on their own site: QuickBooks on its own cannot produce the XML file. On a non-exempt California public works job that leaves the state filing, the one due directly to DIR under your own registration, unmade.
Desktop shops have a workaround QBO shops do not: Sunburst's Certified Payroll Solution, a one time purchase around $799 for a company license that bolts onto Desktop on Windows and generates filings including the DIR file. If you run Desktop on Windows, have a competent operator with time every Friday, and want to own the process, it is the budget-honest choice and we will say so on the phone. What it does not change: you still drive the software every week, you still own every output's correctness, and every DIR system change lands on your desk. Sunburst themselves have described California's redesigned system as a mess, and they are the ones keeping up with it.
How our mapping works with Desktop
Send us the payroll export you already run, the built-in certified payroll report or any payroll summary export, and we map it once during the $995 setup: your items, your fringe handling, your overtime, your projects. Every week after, the same export returns as a finished WH-347 with the Statement of Compliance staged for signature and a validated DIR eCPR XML, with rates sanity checked against the project's published determination and a person reviewing every file. Your QuickBooks file stays untouched, on your machine, exactly as it is.
Desktop shop decision, honestly
| Built-in report alone | Sunburst add-on | WellStanding | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal WH-347 | A starting point you finish | Generated, you drive it | Done, staged for signature |
| CA DIR eCPR XML | Not produced | Generated, you drive it | Done and validated |
| Your Friday | Hours | Less, still yours | About two minutes |
| A person checks each file | You | You | Yes, ours plus your sign-off |
| Cost | Your hours | About $799 once, plus your hours | $995 setup, $249 per month flat |
Pricing, published
$995 one time setup. $249 per month flat for crews up to 25 workers, every project, both filings, every week. Crews of 26 to 50: $449 per month. First weekly filing free on your own project, so you can compare the output against your Friday before spending anything.