When you need certified payroll and prevailing wage solid, with the payroll the union shop trusts.
Foundation Software is a strong choice for union and prevailing-wage contractors who need certified payroll done right. Its job-cost and AP modules are mature, and union benefits handling is one of its anchors. It's also primarily accounting software, with PM, field, and owner portals living elsewhere.
Foundation has a strong reputation among union GCs and trade contractors who run prevailing wage on a meaningful share of their work. WH-347 certified payroll, fringe benefits, and multi-state union reporting are core strengths.
What Foundation does well.
- Certified payroll, WH-347 generation, and union fringe handling — battle-tested.
- AP / GL / job cost depth tuned for trade contractors.
- Lots of construction-CPA familiarity and well-documented best practices.
What AOS does that Foundation doesn't.
- PM, field, portals, compliance, and back-office included — Foundation is accounting + payroll only.
- Owner and subcontractor portals with one-click tokenized links built in. Foundation users typically bolt on a separate portal vendor.
- 51-jurisdiction lien-waiver registry with Blue Notary RON integrated — not a third-party renewal.
- Sub-side AR with cross-tenant outbox: one cost record, every GC. Foundation subs still retype into each GC's portal.
- Single bill, flat pricing — Foundation per-user / per-module costs grow with headcount.
Honest call.
Stay on Foundation if…
- …certified payroll is 50%+ of your work and your current Foundation workflow is humming.
- …you're a specialty trade that doesn't care about PM, owner portals, or compliance and just needs the payroll to clear.
Switch to AOS if…
- …you want certified payroll plus PM, field, portals, and compliance on one platform.
- …you're a sub spending hours retyping AIA pay apps into each GC's portal.
- …you'd rather one bill than four (Foundation + portal vendor + lien-waiver service + PM platform).
See AOS next to your Foundation invoice.
Bring your last 12 months of Foundation bills (plus any portal, compliance, or PM add-ons) and we'll walk through what AOS would replace and what it would leave alone.
Comparisons on this page reflect publicly available information and AOS's own understanding of each product; features and pricing change, so verify current details with each vendor. All product names, logos, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification and comparison purposes only — their use does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by AOS.