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PAGA compliance & operations streamlining

Your payroll, checked every run, with the evidence your lawyer needs.

We check every pay run against California wage-and-hour rules before it posts and keep a dated audit record of every check. Then we streamline your operations and digital systems so data is entered once, flows across the business and is checked at every step.

Start with a compliance assessment Streamline your operations
Pay run · week ending 11/06 Example data
2,810checks run
3flagged
1blocking
  • BLOCKPrevailing wage · Job 24-117Paid $41.12/h; required $58.94/h on a public-works job
  • FLAGMeal period · Tue 11/03 · Emp 1042First meal began at 5.2167 h worked; no premium paid
  • FLAGRegular rate · Safety bonusEarning code excluded from overtime rate
  • FLAGTime edit · Emp 1188Edited to 2 decimals; punches recorded to 4; not confirmed by employee
  • PASSDaily OT, double time, 7th dayRecomputed from raw punches; matches payroll to 0.0001 h
● Audit record #2026-1106 savedReviewed by payroll · 11/09 08:14
01 Why now

California now rewards employers who can prove they were checking.

Under the 2024 PAGA reform (AB 2288 and SB 92), regular payroll audits, written policies, training and corrective action count as "reasonable steps." A documented audit program can sharply limit penalties when a notice arrives.

15%

Penalty cap available when all reasonable steps were taken before a PAGA notice.

30%

Cap available when reasonable steps are taken within 60 days after a notice.

60days

The post-notice window that makes fast remediation worth doing well.

<100

Employees: eligible for the LWDA cure process. Larger employers can request an early evaluation conference.

General information, not legal advice. Your employment attorney decides how the law applies to your business.

02 Services

Four practice areas, delivered by one engineer-led team.

You buy a compliance outcome. Our software, process design and systems experience are how it is delivered and proven.

Practice area 1

PAGA, payroll and wage-and-hour compliance

Independent checks of time, pay and wage statements against California rules, every pay run, before it posts. Each run leaves a dated record your attorney can use.

  • Meal and rest breaks from actual punches
  • Daily overtime, double time and regular rate
  • Exact time, no rounding, employee-confirmed edits
  • Prevailing wage on public works
  • Post-notice response on a 60-day clock
Audit record · 2026Example
PP01PP13PP26
Checked, cleanFinding fixed before postingNext run
Fixed · PP19
Meal premium missing · 4 employeesPremiums added before payroll was submitted. Record #2026-0919 saved for counsel.
22 / 22runs checked to date
3findings fixed
0reached employees
Practice area 2

End-to-end systems and process streamlining

Most errors start with a person re-keying something. We streamline processes across the business, from the field and the office to purchasing, billing, HR, payroll and accounting, then build the integrations so each piece of data is entered once, flows on its own and is checked at every handoff. People review exceptions instead of retyping numbers.

  • Process mapping across departments: who touches the data, where it's re-keyed, where it breaks
  • Streamlined workflows for field time, purchasing, billing, onboarding and month-end
  • Redesigned procedures, roles and approvals, written down
  • Custom integrations across timekeeping, payroll, ERP and job costing
  • Software selection and vendor management when a system has to change
  • Implementation oversight with limited downtime
See operations streamlining →
Time-to-cost data flowIllustration
Before4 re-keying steps · errors found at month-end
Paper timecard✎ Office re-keys✎ Spreadsheet✎ Payroll✎ ERP re-key
AfterEntered once · checked at every handoff
Field time app→ Payroll→ ERP & job cost
Exception review: a person decides only when a check fails
1×data entry
Everyhandoff checked
Writtenprocedures & owners
Practice area 3

Sales and use tax compliance

The job-cost and purchasing data that feeds payroll is the same data a CDTFA audit samples. We review it line by line before they do, and fix the setup that caused the errors.

  • Taxable materials classification
  • Use tax on out-of-state purchases
  • District rates by job site, not vendor location
  • Annual review, fixed fee
Purchase review · Job 24-117Example
LineAmountResult
Copper wire · in-state supplier$2,184.00Taxed correctly
Switchgear · out-of-state vendor, no tax charged$14,950.00Use tax due
Conduit · taxed at vendor's location$1,312.40Job-site rate needed
Installation labor$6,800.00Not taxable
Rental equipment · resale certificate on file$940.00Documented
5lines reviewed
2corrections
Fixedat the source setup
Practice area 4Facility networks and connected agricultureNetwork design for plants and large facilities, segmented PLC and automation networks, equipment and plant monitoring, and long-range Wi-Fi for farms and fields.
See details →
03 Operations streamlining

Every department on connected systems, with fewer hands on the data.

Compliance problems and operating costs come from the same place: work done twice, by hand, in disconnected systems. We look at how work actually gets done across your business, remove the steps that add nothing, and connect your digital systems so information flows on its own. Your people spend their time on decisions and exceptions, not data entry.

Field operations
TodayPaper timecards and calls to the office
StreamlinedMobile time and job assignment that feed payroll and job cost directly
Purchasing & payables
TodayPOs, receipts and invoices matched by hand
StreamlinedAutomatic matching with tax coded at entry; only mismatches reach a person
Billing & receivables
TodayInvoices built from spreadsheets at month-end
StreamlinedBilling drawn from live job cost and approved time
HR & onboarding
TodayThe same employee typed into four systems
StreamlinedOne employee record that sets up payroll, time, job access and accounts
Payroll
TodayHours re-keyed and checked by eye
StreamlinedHours flow in and every California rule is checked before submission
Accounting & month-end
TodayJournal entries keyed and reconciled manually
StreamlinedAutomatic postings by job, reconciled before the close

How we streamline

A repeatable method, documented at every step so your team can run it after we leave.

  1. MapFollow the work and the data through every department, including the spreadsheets and workarounds.
  2. SimplifyRemove duplicate entry, extra approvals and steps that exist only to fix other steps.
  3. AutomateLet the systems do the repetitive work, with checks built in where errors used to start.
  4. IntegrateConnect timekeeping, payroll, ERP, purchasing and billing so data is entered once.
  5. MeasureTrack the results and keep improving.
What we baseline and report
Manual entry stepsper process, before and after
Staff hours on data entryeach pay period
Days to close the monthfrom period end to final books
Errors caught before postinginstead of found after
04 Networks & connected agriculture

Reliable networks for plants, yards and fields, ready for connected equipment.

Farm equipment is becoming connected equipment. Tractors, harvesters and sprayers increasingly depend on a signal for telematics, guidance corrections, prescription maps and software updates, and plants depend on it for monitoring. We design networks that reach the shop, the plant and the far edge of the field, with PLC, machine and automation networks segmented from office IT.

Tower B · link 2.4 mi Shop network · online Soil moisture · Block 7
Orchards & row cropsSacramento Valley
Dryer 2 · temp alarm armed
Plants & processingDryers, hullers, packing, cold storage
Warehouse Wi-Fi · 42 access points
Facilities & distributionManufacturing, warehouses, yards
Farm and facility networkIllustration
  1. 1Plant and shop: core network, with production systems separated from office IT
  2. 2Backhaul tower with long-range Wi-Fi coverage
  3. 3Point-to-point wireless link to the far fields
  4. 4Connected equipment: telematics, guidance and updates
  5. 5Field and plant sensors: moisture, temperature, levels and alarms
Segmented PLC and automation networksPLC and control networks, HMIs, robots, drives and dryer and line controls on their own protected zones, split by line or cell, with only approved traffic allowed in or out.
Network design for large facilitiesPlants, warehouses, distribution centers and processing facilities: wired and wireless design, coverage surveys, redundancy, and production systems separated from office IT.
Equipment and plant monitoringVisibility into dryers, hullers, cold storage, pumps and production lines, with alerts to phones before a problem stops the line.
Wide-area Wi-Fi for farms and fieldsLong-range Wi-Fi and wireless backhaul that cover shops, yards, orchards and row crops, sized for the equipment and sensors you plan to add.
Ready for connected equipmentA plan for the connectivity that telematics, precision guidance and over-the-air updates need, before the next equipment purchase depends on it.
Segmentation

Keep PLC networks and machines running, whatever happens in the office.

PLCs, controls and automation sit on their own network zones, separated from office systems by firewalls, and large plants are split further by line or process cell so one problem can't spread across the floor. Each connection between zones is approved, limited to what it needs and logged. We follow the zone-and-conduit approach of the ISA/IEC 62443 industrial security standards.

Zone 1 · Office ITBusiness systems
  • ERP & accounting
  • Payroll & HR
  • Email & office PCs
Firewallapproved traffic only
Zone 2 · Plant DMZShared services
  • Data historian & reports
  • Remote-access gateway
  • Patch & backup servers
Firewallno direct office access
Zone 3 · PLC & automationPLC & control networks
  • PLCs on EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP & PROFINET
  • HMIs, SCADA & engineering stations
  • Robots, conveyors, drives, dryer & huller controls
  • Segmented by line or process cell
Separate zoneField sensors & connected equipmentMoisture, temperature and level sensors and equipment telematics, isolated from production and office networks.
Controlled entryVendor & remote accessMachine vendors reach only their own equipment, only when approved, for a limited time, with every session logged.
Separate zoneGuest & personal devicesInternet only. No path to machines or business systems.
  • A ransomware infection in the office can't reach the PLCs or the line
  • Machine traffic doesn't slow office systems, and the reverse
  • Outages stay contained to one zone
  • Supports insurance and customer security questionnaires
Experience across
Manufacturing Distribution & warehousing Production facilities Food & ag processing Orchards & row crops Construction & field crews
05 Who we serve

Built for North State employers with hourly crews and working facilities.

ContractorsElectrical, mechanical and general: prevailing wage, job costing, field time
Agriculture & food processingOrchards, hullers, dryers and packers: seasonal crews, piece rate
Home care & clinics24-hour and split shifts, break premiums
Restaurants & hospitalityBreaks, tips and wage statements
Distribution & dealersWarehouses, overtime, commissions, multi-site payroll
Manufacturing & productionPlants and production lines: shift work, monitoring, plant networks
Size
25–500 employees, mostly hourly
Region
Butte, Glenn, Tehama, Shasta, Sutter, Yuba, Colusa; remote statewide
Situation
Preventing a first PAGA notice, or responding inside the 60-day window
06 How it works

One independent check across every system that touches an hour of pay.

Most compliance problems live in the handoffs: a time clock that doesn't record breaks, a payroll setting nobody owns, an ERP that can't tell which jobs are prevailing wage. We read from each system and check the whole chain.

Time clockPunches, meal and rest breaks, edits
PayrollEarning codes, rates, premiums, stubs
ERP & accountingGL postings, fringe and burden
Job costingHours and cost by job, prevailing status
CCSS checking engine

Recomputes hours, overtime, premiums and prevailing wage from raw records, not payroll's totals. Blocks a bad posting before it happens.

2,810checks
22blocking rules
Findings before payroll posts
Dated audit record per run
Reports for owners and counsel
Works with
RipplingADPPaychexPaylocityPaycomPaycorGustoQuickBooksSquareToastisolvedUKGDayforceJonasViewpointSageFoundationMiterPaper time cards

Connected by direct API where the platform offers one, or by scheduled report delivery. Provider names are trademarks of their owners; CCSS is not affiliated with or endorsed by any payroll provider.

07 Engagement path

Start with an assessment. Fix the systems if they need it. Then keep watching.

Every engagement starts the same way. Steps 2 and 3 apply when your processes or systems need to change to support compliance.

  1. 1Assess

    Compliance assessment

    6–12 months of pay and time data run through every check, with dollar exposure per issue and a map of your systems.

    Fixed fee from $6,000
  2. 2Redesign

    Process redesign & selection

    Map who touches the data and where it is re-keyed, design the new process, then choose software that fits it. Vendors and contracts handled for you.

    Quoted per scope
  3. 3Implement

    Implementation oversight

    Configuration review, data migration checks, testing sign-off and a cutover planned around your pay calendar.

    From $6,000
  4. 4Connect

    Integration build

    Your systems connected read-only, your rules configured, and results validated against your own posted ledgers.

    $15,000–40,000 setup
  5. 5Monitor

    Monitoring & advisory

    Every pay run checked before it posts, a dated audit record, a reporting portal and a monthly review call.

    $1,500–4,500 / month
Every engagementWhen processes or systems need to change

Implementations with limited downtime

New systems fail at the handoffs. We plan the cutover so payroll never misses a run and crews never miss a punch.

  • Go-live on a pay-period, quarter or year boundary
  • Parallel pay runs, or an independent recalculation of the first runs where the platform can't run parallel
  • Balances and year-to-date totals reconciled before go-live
  • A written rollback plan and a named owner for every step
  • Supervisors and payroll staff trained before day one
W1
W2
W3
W4
W5
W6
W7
W8
W9
W10
W11
W12
GO-LIVE
Plan & requirements
Configure
Migrate & reconcile
Train staff
Parallel / recalculated runs
Stabilize & monitor
Typical mid-size timeline. 6–8 weeks with experienced payroll staff; 10–12 weeks without.
08 What we check

Ten rules behind most California wage-and-hour claims.

Your payroll system calculates what it is told. Each of these rules depends on data or settings it takes on trust.

RuleHow the breach happensWhat we check every pay run
Meal periodsLate, short or missed meals with no premium paidEvery shift's actual break times, and that a premium was paid when owed
Rest breaksMissed rests with no premiumPolicy, attestations and premiums paid
Daily overtime & double timeWeekly-only overtime, or shifts split across midnight wronglyHours recomputed independently from raw time entries
Regular rate of payBonuses, differentials or piece rate left out of the overtime rateEvery earning code's treatment and the rate used for overtime and premiums
Exact time, no roundingTime rounded or edited in coarser units than punchesPaid hours match recorded punches to four decimal places
Employee-controlled recordsSupervisors changing time without employee reviewWho edited what, and whether the employee confirmed it
Wage statementsLabor Code 226Missing or wrong hours, rates or employer detailsStub hours and rates match the time record line for line
Paid sick leaveAccrual capped too low, or paid at the wrong rateAccrual, usage and rate of pay
Prevailing wageWorkers on a public job paid below the required rateAny job with prevailing earnings treated as prevailing; everyone on it checked
Final payFinal wages paid late at separationFinal check dates against separation dates

Checks rely on the time records your systems provide. Where break start and end times are not recorded, we report that gap rather than assume compliance.

09 Results

A balanced ledger is not proof of a correct one.

A North State electrical contractor with about 70 employees moved payroll to a modern platform. Their construction accounting system still needed every hour, premium and fringe posted to the right job and GL account.

We built the connection and the checking engine behind it. The general ledger balanced from the start. The checks found what a balanced file was hiding.

Payroll journal · illustrationDebit / Credit
5100 Direct labor · Job 24-11718,240.55
5100 Payout · posted twice3,871.40
2310 Fringe payable7,502.23
1010 Cash · net pay14,609.72
Totals22,111.9522,111.95
Balanced ✓  Correct ✗  · blocked before posting
2,810

automated checks every run

22

blocking conditions

31

GL accounts posted by job

$3,871

double-debited payout caught in a balanced file

$7,502

stranded fringe found and reposted

4 dp

time precision from punch to ledger

7 of 10

underpaid prevailing-wage workers a common rule would have missed. Our rule treats any job with prevailing earnings as prevailing and checks everyone on it.

10 Pricing

Flat fees, priced against the exposure avoided.

Half the assessment fee is credited toward a build signed within 60 days. Setup can be spread over 12 monthly payments.

Compliance assessment

Flat fee by headcount. 2–6 weeks: finding your data sources, extracting the records and analyzing them.

Under 50 employees$6,000
50–100$9,500
100–150$12,000
150–300$15,000
300–500$20,000
Prevailing-wage jobs+$3,000
Rush, within 2 weeks (post-notice)+25%

Systems, monitoring and add-ons

Monitoring is an annual contract; the audit trail is the product.

Integration build$15,000–40,000
Monitoring and advisory$1,500–4,500 / mo
Operations streamlining, selection & vendorsQuoted per scope
Implementation oversightfrom $6,000
Sales and use tax review$4,000–10,000
Network design & segmentation, monitoring, ag Wi-FiQuoted per site
Litigation data support, per case$10,000–25,000
Change requests and custom reports$150–175 / h

What a typical client invests

Year 1 covers the assessment, the setup build and about 10 months of monitoring, less the setup credit. From year 2 you pay for monitoring only.

SmallUnder 50 employees
Assessment$6,000
Setup build$15,000
Setup credit−$3,000
Monitoring, 10 months$1,500 / month$15,000
Year 1 total$33,000
Year 2 onward$18,000 / year
Mid-size50–150 employees
Assessment$9,500–12,000
Setup build$25,000
Setup credit−$4,750–6,000
Monitoring, 10 months$2,500 / month$25,000
Year 1 total$54,750–56,000
Year 2 onward$30,000 / year
Complex150–500 employees
Assessment$15,000–20,000
Setup build$40,000
Setup credit−$7,500–10,000
Monitoring, 10 months$4,500 / month$45,000
Year 1 total$92,500–95,000
Year 2 onward$54,000 / year
50% at signing, 50% at delivery Reporting portal included with monitoring Founding-client rates for our first clients
11 For attorneys & CPAs

The payroll data work your case needs, engaged through you.

Defense counsel need payroll and time data analyzed fast and can't bill clients for engineering. We do the data work at your direction; you give the legal advice.

CPAs see payroll and sales tax problems first. We handle the systems side so the client relationship stays yours.

Discuss a matter
Exposure model · by claimExample
Meal periods
$184,200
Rest breaks
$106,800
Wage statements
$62,500
Regular rate
$21,900
Claimant in scope
$75,600
  • Data collection and productionPayroll and time records pulled, cleaned and organized, including paper time cards
  • Exposure modelingPer violation, per employee and per pay period, for mediation or settlement
  • Plaintiff-scope checkWhich alleged violations the claimant did and did not personally experience
  • Cure calculationsExactly what is owed, to whom, for a cure filing or settlement
  • Ongoing supportNumbers re-run as the case changes
12 Request a quote

Tell us where you are. We'll scope the rest.

A few details are enough for a first conversation. If you're on a 60-day clock after a PAGA notice, tell us the stage and we'll respond the same business day.

  1. 1
    Introductory callYour headcount, systems and goals. No cost.
  2. 2
    Fixed-fee proposalScope, price and timeline in writing within a week.
  3. 3
    KickoffWe identify your data sources and start the work.
All information is strictly confidential.Inquiries, systems details and the status of any notice or lawsuit stay between you and CCSS. We sign a nondisclosure agreement before any data is exchanged.
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