California certified payroll spreadsheet: a free A-1-131 Excel template

What DIR publishes, and what it does not

DIR's public works forms page links Form A-1-131, the "Public Works Payroll Reporting Form," as one PDF. We found no Excel file and no web form for it on that page. The page says the form or its elements will be required if the Labor Commissioner conducts an investigation, and that the form will not be used to satisfy the eCPR initial reporting requirement. The footer of the PDF reads "Form A-1-131 (New 2-80)."

The form has a header block, nine numbered columns, a straight time (S) line and an overtime (O) line for each worker, and a second page with the certification. For what each column asks, see our column by column guide to Form A-1-131. This page covers the spreadsheet version.

What the law lets a spreadsheet do

Labor Code section 1776(c) does not make you use DIR's paper form. Unless the records go directly to the Labor Commissioner under section 1771.4(a)(3), certified payroll records must be on forms provided by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) or contain the same information as those forms. They may be printouts of computer payroll data if the printouts contain the same information and are verified by the written declaration under penalty of perjury that subdivision (a) requires.

8 CCR 16404 sets the ground rules for electronic records. Two of its conditions matter for a spreadsheet:

• Layout. Under (a), the report must contain all the information section 1776 requires, organized in a manner "similar or identical" to Form A-1-131. That is why the workbook below follows the form's order.
• Signature. Under (c), a report sent to an awarding body, a labor compliance program, DLSE, or another DIR entity must be a non-modifiable image or record that bears an electronic signature or includes a copy of any original paper certification. The other route is a printout sent on paper with an original signature. A spreadsheet you can still edit is not a non-modifiable record, so a signed printout, or a PDF of the signed sheet, fits the rule better than the live file.

Here is where that leaves a spreadsheet:

The Labor Commissioner's Public Works Manual (October 2023) says in section 3.1.5 that blank copies of Form A-1-131 go out with its written requests for certified payroll records. Section 3.1.7 says that filing eCPRs does not excuse you from answering such a request within 10 days. Read the format instructions in any request you get, and see our 10 day records request guide for the clock. None of these rules says DIR approves a particular spreadsheet, and we do not claim DIR has approved ours.

What is in the WellStanding A-1-131 workbook

The workbook has three sheets. The download box lower on this page opens it after you enter your work email.

• Read me. What the file is, when you would use it, and what it does not replace.
• Payroll. The A-1-131 header: contractor name and address, contractor's and specialty license numbers, payroll number, week ending, self-insured certificate number, workers' compensation policy number, and project or contract number and location. Then columns (1) to (9) in the form's order, a date row above the seven day columns, a straight time line and an overtime line for each of ten workers, and all thirteen deduction boxes with a total. It is set to print landscape, one page wide.
• Certification. A declaration worded from Labor Code 1776(a), with lines for the name and title of the person signing, the signature, and the date.

Green cells calculate and white cells are yours. Three things calculate: total hours on each line, gross for this project for each worker (straight time hours times the straight rate, plus overtime hours times the overtime rate), and the total of the deduction boxes. You enter everything else, including net wages, gross for all projects, and each deduction, because which items come out of gross depends on your plans and your payroll. The workbook is not a DIR form, and it does not write the XML file that DIR's eCPR takes.

A filled-in sample and a one-worker check

This is one worker's week as it would sit in the workbook. The numbers, including the rates, are made up for the example. Straight time is 8 hours a day Monday to Friday. Overtime is 2 more hours on Friday and 4 on Saturday.

Gross for this project is 40 hours at $50.00 plus 6 hours at $75.00, which is $2,000.00 plus $450.00, or $2,450.00. With deductions, contributions and payments of $250.00, $150.00 and $75.50, the deduction total is $475.50. The calculator below runs the same arithmetic as the workbook's green cells, so you can check a week before you type it in.

What the workbook cannot check

• Your rates. It multiplies whatever rate you type. Check every rate against the determination for the craft, classification, and locality of the project before you sign.
• Your classifications. The Public Works Manual (section 3.1) says payroll records that identify a worker only by status, such as "journeyperson" or "apprentice," without the Director's published classification, are inadequate. Use the title on the determination.
• Social Security numbers. Column (1) holds them, because section 1776(a) lists the number as part of the record. Keep the file where only the people who run payroll can open it.
• The certification wording. The workbook's Certification sheet follows the declaration in section 1776(a). The words that 8 CCR 16401(b) set out for records requested under section 1776 are different. They are printed on the second page of Form A-1-131. The signer gives a name, a position in the business, and the business or contractor name, and certifies under penalty of perjury that the records submitted are the originals or true, full, and correct copies of the originals depicting the payroll records of the actual disbursements. A public entity may require a stricter or more extensive certification. If a requester gives you its own, use that one.
• Who signs. The declaration is made under penalty of perjury. Labor Code 1776(a) has it state that the information in the payroll record is true and correct and that the employer has complied with sections 1771, 1811, and 1815 for the work its employees did on the project. The certification in 8 CCR 16401(b) has the signer state a position in the business and that the signer has the authority to act for and on behalf of the business or contractor. Sign only if that is true for you. See who signs certified payroll in California.

Where the spreadsheet stops: the DIR filing

Separate from your records, Labor Code section 1771.4(a)(3) has each contractor and subcontractor furnish the section 1776 records directly to the Labor Commissioner, at least once every 30 days while work is performed and within 30 days after the final day of work, in an electronic format prescribed on DIR's website, unless an exemption applies (see the exemptions below). The penalty is $100 for each day in violation, capped at $5,000 per project, and the Labor Commissioner does not levy it until 14 days after the filing was due.

DIR's Public Works FAQ says the electronic certified payroll reporting system is the only way to submit certified payroll records to the Labor Commissioner, and that it offers two options: entering the information directly using the online form, or uploading XML files. DIR's certified payroll reporting page tells you to create your own XML template from the CPR XML schema. So a spreadsheet is a source you type or convert from, not a file DIR accepts. DIR's Upload eCPR guide walks through the manual form. Its screenshots show these things:

• The deductions section is headed "Total lump sum (non-hourly amounts)," so you enter deductions as lump sums, not as hourly amounts.
• The deduction boxes are Fed tax, FICA (soc sec), State tax, SDI, Fund/admin, Savings, Dues, and Other. The form adds the boxes into a total.
• To enter an "other" deduction, you put the amount in the "other" box and then give the details under Additional Information.
• For employer contributions, the form asks whether they are paid directly to the worker or to a fringe benefit plan, and it has separate columns for H/W, Pension, Vac/Hol, Training, and Other.

Not every project needs the DIR filing. DIR's FAQ says the Labor Commissioner has exempted three kinds of projects from the electronic certified payroll requirement. The first is projects monitored by four legacy labor compliance programs: Caltrans, the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Unified School District, and the County of Sacramento. The second is projects covered by a qualifying project labor agreement, which Labor Code 1771.4(b)(2) lets the Labor Commissioner exempt. The third is projects under the small project exemption, which the FAQ sets at $25,000 or less for new construction, alteration, installation, demolition or repair, and $15,000 or less for maintenance. On a legacy program or labor agreement job, ask the program or the awarding body what it accepts. See our guides to Caltrans and City of Los Angeles reporting.

The small project exemption has a statutory basis. Labor Code 1725.5(f) says contractor registration does not apply to work on a public works project of $25,000 or less when the project is for construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work, or $15,000 or less when it is for maintenance work. Under Labor Code 1771.4(a)(4), a contractor or subcontractor that is not registered and works on a project for which registration is not required because of 1725.5(f) does not have to furnish the section 1776 records directly to the Labor Commissioner. It must keep those records for at least three years after completion of the work. The FAQ adds two points. The dollar amount is measured on the entire contract between the awarding body and the prime contractor, so a subcontract under the threshold on a larger job does not qualify. And contractors on small projects must still maintain certified payroll records on a continuous basis and provide them to the Labor Commissioner's Office on request.

If all of your public works work is on projects under those amounts, you may have no DIR filing to make. You still keep the section 1776 records, and a spreadsheet can serve as those records when it meets the rules above. On a larger project, even a sub with a few workers files through DIR unless another exemption applies. When the retyping costs you more than it saves, that is the part we take over. WellStanding prepares the WH-347 and the eCPR from the payroll export you already run, and a person reviews every filing. You review the finished filing and sign the certification in one step, and nothing is filed until you have signed. The certification is always yours; we never sign for you. Pricing: $995 one time setup, $249 per month for crews up to 25 workers, $449 for 26 to 50 workers, first filing free. For how the eCPR works end to end, read the DIR eCPR system explained, and for other free options, free certified payroll software.

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