AASHTOWare Certified Payroll XML: State DOT Guide

April 23, 2026 — WH347.io Team

Most state Departments of Transportation use AASHTOWare Project to manage certified payroll on highway and infrastructure contracts. Here's what the Payroll XML format requires and how WH347.io exports a submission-ready file.

If you're winning highway, bridge, or infrastructure contracts funded by state Departments of Transportation, there's a good chance you've encountered AASHTOWare Project — the civil rights and labor management platform used by most state DOTs to collect and verify certified payroll data. Unlike the federal WH-347 PDF, AASHTOWare uses a structured XML format (PRL 1.2) that must be generated correctly to upload without errors.

WH347.io now supports direct AASHTOWare Payroll XML export. This guide covers what AASHTOWare is, which states use it, what the XML format requires, and how to generate a compliant file from your WH347.io account.

What Is AASHTOWare Project?

AASHTOWare Project is a software suite developed by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and used by state DOTs to manage construction project administration — including civil rights compliance, labor monitoring, and certified payroll collection. The Civil Rights & Labor (CRL) module is the part contractors interact with: it's where you submit your weekly payroll XML files to demonstrate prevailing wage compliance on state-funded transportation contracts.

State DOT contracts — particularly those funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) — are subject to Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements, just like other federal contracts. AASHTOWare is the portal through which most state DOTs collect the payroll data that proves compliance. The format it accepts is the Payroll Report (PRL) XML schema, currently at version 1.2.

Which States Use AASHTOWare for Certified Payroll?

The majority of US state DOTs have adopted AASHTOWare Project CRL for payroll collection. States actively using the AASHTOWare Payroll XML submission system include:

• Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware
• Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa
• Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan
• Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire
• New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio
• Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota
• Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

California uses a separate system — the DIR's eCPR portal — and is not part of the AASHTOWare ecosystem. WH347.io supports both: CA eCPR XML for California projects and AASHTOWare Payroll XML for all other state DOT projects.

What Is the PRL 1.2 XML Format?

The Payroll Report (PRL) schema defines the structure of the XML file you upload to your state DOT's AASHTOWare portal. Version 1.2 is the current standard. Each file covers a single project and a single pay period (week). At the top level it contains a payroll header with contract and contractor information, followed by one PayrollEmployee block per worker, each containing their labor details, hours, wages, deductions, and fringe benefit payment information.

Key fields required in the PRL 1.2 format include the federal contract ID, AASHTOWare vendor ID, employee name and last four SSN digits, work classification craft code, pay period dates, straight-time and overtime hours by day, gross pay, net pay, FICA, federal withholding, state withholding, Medicare amounts, and fringe benefit payment type (paid into a bona fide plan, paid as cash, or both). Elements must appear in the exact sequence defined by the XSD schema — a file that contains valid data but in the wrong order will fail schema validation at the portal.

How WH347.io Generates the XML

WH347.io assembles the PRL 1.2 XML entirely from data you've already entered — your project, employees, work classifications, timecards, and fringe benefit records. When you click Export Payroll XML on a timecard week, the system pulls together all required fields, enforces the XSD element order, and produces a download-ready file named using the DOT convention: {contractID}_{MMDDYY}.xml.

• Craft codes come from your work classifications, which you assign per project.
• Fringe benefit payment type (BENE / CASH / BOTH) is set on the project and applied to all employees in that export.
• Employee gender (M/F/N) and ethnicity are stored on each employee record for civil rights reporting.
• AASHTOWare Vendor ID can be set on the project or falls back to your organization's FEIN.
• Hours are broken down by day (Monday–Sunday) in both straight-time and overtime, matching the PRL schema.

How to Set Up an AASHTOWare Project in WH347.io

• Create a new project and select the state where the project is located — the jurisdiction is automatically set to 'AASHTOWare States (Payroll XML)' for any non-California state.
• Enter the federal contract number, AASHTOWare Vendor ID, and fringe benefit payment type (BENE, CASH, or BOTH) on the project.
• Add your employees with gender and ethnicity filled in — these are required for civil rights reporting in the XML.
• Assign work classifications to the project and set craft codes to match your state DOT's classification codes.
• Enter weekly timecards for each employee.
• Navigate to the Timecards page, select the pay period week, and click 'Payroll XML' to download the AASHTOWare-ready file.

Common Submission Pitfalls

• Wrong craft code — state DOTs maintain their own classification code tables. A generic description like 'Laborer' may not match the code your state expects. Verify craft codes with your DOT project engineer before submitting.
• Missing AASHTOWare Vendor ID — this is different from your FEIN. It's the ID your DOT has assigned to your company in their AASHTOWare system. Contact your state DOT to confirm it.
• Incorrect fringe payment type — 'BENE' means all fringe is paid into a bona fide plan, 'CASH' means all fringe is paid as a cash wage supplement, and 'BOTH' means a combination. Selecting the wrong one causes compliance issues even if wage math is correct.
• Schema element order errors — the PRL 1.2 XSD requires elements in a strict sequence. If you're generating XML manually or from a custom template, any element out of order will fail upload validation.
• Submitting for the wrong project — each XML file is tied to a specific contract ID. Double-check the contract number on the project before exporting.
• Late submissions — most state DOTs require payroll submission within 7 days of the pay period end date, consistent with Davis-Bacon federal requirements.

AASHTOWare vs. WH-347 PDF

For state DOT contracts that use AASHTOWare, the XML upload replaces the federal WH-347 PDF as the submission method — you don't submit both. The data requirements are similar (hours, wages, classifications, deductions), but the format and destination are different. Some contracts may also require paper or PDF copies for the prime contractor's records even when XML is submitted electronically, so check your specific contract requirements.

Getting Started

AASHTOWare XML export in WH347.io is available on the Pro plan. Once your project is set up with the AASHTOWare jurisdiction, the export button appears automatically on the Timecards page for that project's pay periods. No separate setup, no XML editors, no schema documentation to read — just enter your data and download a file that's ready to upload.

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