A practical checklist for managing and paying international contractors

Considering engaging contractors?

Managing contractors need not be complicated. Below are key points to consider when selecting a contractor management solution.

Locally compliant contractor agreements

• Contractor administration can be straightforward. Consider these factors when choosing a solution.

• Choose a system that provides country-specific contract templates compliant with local tax and regulatory requirements.

• Ensure you use a separate statement of work that specifies contractor roles and responsibilities.

• Select a system that supports assigning and managing employer signatories on contractor agreements.

• Ensure the system offers optional indemnity coverage against misclassification risks.

• Choose a system that provides a KYB/KYC process to verify compliance.

Automated onboarding

• Seek self-serve onboarding to enable a seamless start for your contractor talent.

• Consider automated identity verification to streamline processes and minimise human error.

• Verify the system can manage essential documentation and compliance checks.

Invoices, timesheets and payments

• Choose a system that supports both manual and automated invoice management for single and bulk invoices.

• Confirm whether the system allows employers to create invoices on behalf of contractors; this is particularly useful when managing a large number of contractors.

• Ensure invoice-approval permissions can be owned and shared by your administrative team.

• Choose a system that supports invoicing at set intervals, for example: weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, monthly.

• Select a system that supports invoicing and payouts in the desired currency.

• Prioritise guaranteed payouts to contractors. Choose a system that eliminates FX and currency conversion hassles and ensures contractors receive the exact invoice amount.

• Confirm whether you can export invoices for defined time periods.

Platform, user experience and pricing

• Consider a system that provides a trial rollout before you pay its fee.

• Prioritise solutions with greater automation to reduce time and effort.

• Choose a platform that scales with your business. Ask how many contractors typically use the platform to assess scalability.

• Prefer multi-product suites to standalone systems for greater efficiency. Such suites deliver flexible, scalable HR solutions for managing your globally distributed team, including contractors.

• Base decisions on platform usability. Ensure it is user-friendly and easily accessible for both you and your contractors.

• Prioritise access to a highly knowledgeable and dedicated customer-support team.

• Seek a platform that offers activity-based pricing. Remote’s transparent pricing guarantee ensures you are charged only per active contractor per month.

Understand your total cost of deployment

• Double-check whether the system adds a 'management fee' on top of the monthly subscription.

• Check whether any additional costs are deducted by the system for each invoice processed.

• Include FX rates and bank-transfer fees when setting up international contractor payments.

”Contractors start 2 weeks faster on average with Remote.”

”47% of Remote customers find managing contractors easier compared to their previous solutions”

”Administrative costs linked to contractor management have decreased by 32% through Remote.” "99% invoices paid out in 3 business days”

“Remote’s Contractor Management platform makes it super easy to pay in multiple currencies with the click of a button and arrange everything in one place. Everything is compliant and we can onboard quickly to respond to spikes in demand.” - Georg Herzog, Head of People, Mimo

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