Small business
At your company you handle multiple responsibilities. It’s time to take 'payroll processor' off your list. Remote’s intuitive platform enables small businesses with 1 – 200 employees to process international payroll, submit tax filings, and maintain compliance, regardless of where their employees live.
What do you get when you use Remote to pay and hire your distributed team? You get a partner you can trust and a platform to rely on. That means confidence and compliance at every stage of your HR processes.
Foster ownership and morale with your team by offering stock options or equity incentives to international employees. Our global equity expertise keeps you compliant every step of the way, from equity planning to tax withholding and reporting.
Stop spending time responding to employee and contractor queries thanks to our guided onboarding process, intuitive platform (including time off and reimbursement management), and strong self-serve support resources.
Leverage Remote's 100% owned-entity model, giving you a global footprint without the burden, risk, and cost. Stay compliant during every step of the hiring and employment process with built-in security and proactive monitoring that covers right to hire, payroll, taxes, benefits, and more.
Access country-specific benefits packages at highly-negotiated prices so you can offer equitable, best-in-class benefits to your employees for a fraction of the usual cost. That means you can compete locally for talent on a global scale.
Join the customers who rely on Remote to transform their business.
“We regard Remote as a prominent and dependable partner in this domain. Their specialist support in administering local payroll, ensuring tax compliance, and managing HR operations has rationalised our internal processes and enabled us to pursue greater opportunities for growth and success on a global scale.”
“Had we been obliged to handle and co-ordinate every aspect internally, our costs would have exceeded $500,000 annually. Remote not only removes that fiscal pressure but also lifts the operational responsibility from us, enabling a focused expansion of our business with confidence and efficiency.”
“Across the globe, we run payroll monthly, semi-monthly and hourly in multiple currencies, and our Finance Manager has comprehensive visibility within a single platform. With Remote, you can make it happen.”
“We collaborate with 460+ Contractors worldwide. Otherwise, I would have to employ 5 or 6 full-time people to manage compliance, administration and payroll. Remote has unquestionably saved us both time and money.”
“We regard Remote as a prominent and dependable partner in this domain. Their specialist support in administering local payroll, ensuring tax compliance, and managing HR operations has rationalised our internal processes and enabled us to pursue greater opportunities for growth and success on a global scale.”
“Had we been obliged to handle and co-ordinate every aspect internally, our costs would have exceeded $500,000 annually. Remote not only removes that fiscal pressure but also lifts the operational responsibility from us, enabling a focused expansion of our business with confidence and efficiency.”
“Across the globe, we run payroll monthly, semi-monthly and hourly in multiple currencies, and our Finance Manager has comprehensive visibility within a single platform. With Remote, you can make it happen.”
“We collaborate with 460+ Contractors worldwide. Otherwise, I would have to employ 5 or 6 full-time people to manage compliance, administration and payroll. Remote has unquestionably saved us both time and money.”
“We regard Remote as a prominent and dependable partner in this domain. Their specialist support in administering local payroll, ensuring tax compliance, and managing HR operations has rationalised our internal processes and enabled us to pursue greater opportunities for growth and success on a global scale.”
“Had we been obliged to handle and co-ordinate every aspect internally, our costs would have exceeded $500,000 annually. Remote not only removes that fiscal pressure but also lifts the operational responsibility from us, enabling a focused expansion of our business with confidence and efficiency.”
“Across the globe, we run payroll monthly, semi-monthly and hourly in multiple currencies, and our Finance Manager has comprehensive visibility within a single platform. With Remote, you can make it happen.”
“We collaborate with 460+ Contractors worldwide. Otherwise, I would have to employ 5 or 6 full-time people to manage compliance, administration and payroll. Remote has unquestionably saved us both time and money.”
Small business payroll software enables organisations without the scale of large corporations to run payroll for team members in multiple locations. While many firms may operate locally, the rise of remote work now allows companies of all sizes to engage team members in different regions, including overseas. Whether a small business needs to run payroll for a few team members or an entire distributed international team, payroll software must be able to adapt to that business’s needs.
For a small business, payroll software may cover just the basics, such as making timely and accurate payments to team members. For international teams, payroll software also ensures team members are paid in the correct currencies and, where applicable, through approved banks. More comprehensive payroll platforms like Remote include additional services, such as benefits administration and globally compliant employee stock option plans.
Generally, small businesses are unable to manage payroll in-house for international teams. To pay team members in other countries legally, they typically have three options: open an entity in each country where employees live, work with an employer of record, or engage workers as contractors.
Although some companies choose to engage all workers as contractors, that approach can create complex compliance risks. Misclassifying international contractors is a serious issue that could cost a small business thousands of dollars, not to mention time spent in remote legal disputes. Hiring international contractors can be appropriate, but only when they are genuine contractors and when using an international contractor management platform.
Some small businesses opt to open one or two legal entities in countries where they have a significant number of employees and a solid business presence. Few, however, establish entities everywhere they hire because doing so is costly and can take months to complete.
An employer of record is the fastest, simplest way for small businesses to operate payroll for global teams. An EOR enables a small business to hire employees legally in other countries. A global employment platform such as Remote manages global payroll and taxes, administers benefits to satisfy local employment obligations, and handles all issues of compliance.
Small businesses outsource HR services because it is usually more cost-effective than bringing every HR function in-house. The resources required to run payroll; manage benefits; withhold taxes; make statutory payroll deductions; run employee stock option plans; and remain compliant with evolving regulations are often too great for a small business to manage. Even many enterprise organisations outsource their HR services to specialist providers.
For small businesses hiring internationally, HR management challenges intensify. Remote’s guide to international payroll processing highlights several of the difficulties small businesses face and offers practical tips on how to navigate them.
Outsourcing payroll reduces costs for small businesses while helping to deliver a consistent employee experience. Even in large organisations, payroll and benefits management problems are common when using in-house tools.
In a small business, every employee plays a critical role in the organisation’s success, so mismanagement of payroll can quickly damage the employee–employer relationship.
Outsourcing payroll allows small businesses to save time on administrative processes while significantly reducing payroll errors. Employees expect on-time, accurate and consistent payroll as a basic condition of employment.
For a small business with limited resources, meeting the standard of 100% error-free payroll with an in-house tool or solution is difficult. With an outsourced payroll solution, however, even the smallest operations can enjoy world-class reliability in payroll.
Startups operate under different expectations and face distinct challenges compared with small businesses. Growth phases for startups can be sudden and unpredictable, with rapid pivots. Small businesses also experience growth, but for more established firms those changes tend to be less chaotic.
Both startups and small businesses require reliability and flexibility from their chosen payroll services. Small businesses often lack the investor backing available to startups, meaning costs typically need to be covered by revenue rather than investor capital. For this reason, small businesses should be especially cautious to avoid payroll vendors with hidden fees or unpredictable expenses.
It is important for small businesses to ask the right questions about payroll before entering into any new relationship with a payroll services provider.
Costs for small business payroll services vary depending on where employees live, the company’s total payroll and which benefits are offered. In general, small businesses do not need to pay high fees for basic payroll services, particularly for local teams.
Small businesses with remote teams spread across multiple countries incur higher payroll costs, but those fees typically cover services such as benefits administration, foreign tax withholding and compliance with local employment regulations.
When the choice is between getting the right candidate for an open role or continuing to search locally, onboarding an employee in another country can produce significant cost savings over time. For more information on costs for small business payroll across multiple countries, see Remote’s pricing page.
Employers of record (EORs) were once services reserved for larger, well-funded enterprises, but that is no longer the case. The growth of remote work has driven EOR pricing down, enabling small businesses to access international talent without paying high fees or salary mark-ups.
Any small business looking to use an EOR to onboard international talent should pose the following questions to prospective EOR providers:
Does this EOR operate owned entities in every country, or does it outsource its services to third parties in some jurisdictions?
What protections does the EOR provide for intellectual property and invention rights?
How securely will the EOR manage your employees’ sensitive personal information?
If you offer an employee stock purchase plan, can the EOR administer that plan for you, including tax withholding?
Will you need separate platforms for contractors and employees?
Are there hidden fees that vary between countries?
Does the EOR have special discounts for startups or social purpose organisations?