But not every payroll solution supports cross-border payments. Companies with employees in different countries also need to understand payroll compliance and tax laws in multiple jurisdictions. 

The best international payroll services make it easy for any business to pay employees regardless of their location while remaining compliant. 

The Top 6 Best International Payroll Services

1. Papaya Global — Best Global HR Solution With Built-In Payroll
2. ADP Global Payroll — Best For International Payroll Compliance
3. Immedis — Best For Streamlining Administrative Payroll Tasks
4. Globalization Partners — Best For Businesses Expanding to New Countries
5. Payoneer — Best For Paying International Contractors
6. Rippling — Best For Fast International Payroll Runs

After extensive research, we’ve narrowed down the top six international payroll providers on the market. The in-depth reviews below will help you find the best international payroll service for your specific business.

#1 – Papaya Global — Best Global HR Solution With Built-In Payroll

Papaya Global is an all-in-one solution for international hiring, onboarding, and cross-border payroll. This award-winning payroll provider is trusted by global brands like Microsoft, Toyota, Johnson & Johnson, Intel, Wix, and more.

The fully integrated HRIS platform has everything you need to manage your global workforce.

Papaya Global doubles as an Employer of Record (EOR). This means you can hire employees internationally without establishing a local entity and still remain compliant. 

The platform makes it easy for you to streamline the hiring process and standardize international onboarding procedures. Papaya Global even has the tools you need for employee relocation, work permits, residence permits, and other immigration solutions. 

In addition to international payroll, Papaya Global supports HR and benefits administration in 140+ countries as well. 

The payroll solution ensures that employees will be paid in their local currencies and receive pay stubs in native languages. Papaya Global takes the stress out of cross-border payments with automation, built-in compliance, and payroll reports from a single source of truth.

Payroll plans start as low as $20 per employee per month, and contractor payments start at $25 per pay cycle. 

To get the most out of Papaya Global, I recommend the payroll intelligence suite, starting at $250 with an annual billing cycle. Your plan is backed by a 60-day money-back guarantee. 

#2 – ADP Global Payroll — Best For International Payroll Compliance

As previously mentioned, maintaining compliance with international employees must be a top priority for all businesses.

ADP is one of the most trusted names in the payroll industry. They’ve been an innovation leader in this category for 70+ years. So it should come as no surprise to see that ADP Global Payroll lives up to the standards for maintaining compliance. 

Every global payroll solution comes with built-in compliance expertise. The team at ADP understands all of the government regulations and local laws that must be followed when you’re hiring and paying employees in different countries. 

These compliance experts are available in 140+ countries across the globe. You’ll also benefit from built-in security provisions and data privacy for your payroll system. 

There are actually two different ADP Global Payroll solutions to consider—ADP Celegro and ADP GlobalView Payroll.

ADP Celergo is built for companies with employees in at least three countries, with up to 1,000 employees per country. ADP GlobalView Payroll is designed for multinational businesses in up to 42 countries. You need to have at least 1,000 employees in a single country to be eligible for ADP GlobalView Payroll. 

Request a demo and free quote to learn more.

#3 – Immedis — Best For Streamlining Administrative Payroll Tasks

Immedis is a technology-forward cloud-based payroll system. It supports complete payroll cycles for international pay runs in 150+ countries with real-time analytics and advanced reporting tools.

Global brands like Uber, Wayfair, McAfee, Adobe, and Twilio all rely on Immedis for international payroll processing. 

Compared to other international payroll services, Immedis really stands out with its robust technology. The platform lets you automate payroll inputs and other processes to reduce the administrative labor required to run payroll. 

The software also comes with an employee self-service portal so each employee can enter and access their own data from anywhere. Your staff can access old pay stubs or update bank details without needing to contact your payroll department. 

If you run into any problems or need some help, Immedis offers 24/7 payroll support and fast ticket response. So you can rest easy knowing they have your back if trouble arises. 

Request a free demo to get started. 

#4 – Globalization Partners — Best For Businesses Expanding to New Countries

Globalization Partners is a bit unique compared to some of the other solutions on our list. That’s because this service goes above and beyond basic international payroll. 

It’s designed for companies that want to expand to new countries without creating a subsidiary or local office. You can use Globalization Partners to expand your business to a new country with just a few simple clicks online.

Globalization Partners offers exceptional Employer of Record (EOR) services in addition to international payroll. It’s a low-risk way to expand since they handle all of the responsibility. Here’s how it works.

All you need to do is find the employees you want to hire internationally, and their team takes care of the rest.

Globalization Partners manages the onboarding process to ensure compliance. They also handle payroll and benefits administration in 187 countries. This includes tax filings and other country-specific laws. 

Adding bonuses, commissions, and other payroll exceptions is a breeze. 

Their reputation speaks for itself. Globalization Partners boasts a 97% customer satisfaction rating and 99% payroll accuracy score. 

Request a free proposal online to get started with Globalization Partners. 

#5 – Payoneer — Best For Paying International Contractors

Payoneer is not a full-service payroll provider. With that said, it’s still an excellent and reliable solution for businesses that need to issue payments to international workers. 

It’s perfect for sending payments to contractors, suppliers, freelancers, and remote employees overseas. 

Use Payoneer to issue contractor payments via bank transfer, ACH debit, or even credit card. This gives you lots of flexibility in terms of how you pay your contractors.

The platform supports one-off payments, recurring payments, and monthly salaries. So whether you’re working with contractors on a per-project basis or for ongoing work, Payoneer has you covered. 

For those of you working with multiple contractors or freelancers, Payoneer even supports batch payments. So you can issue payments to all of your contractors at the same time, making it easy for you to scale without adding extra administrative work on the back end. 

Payoneer supports international payments in 200+ different countries, which is the largest number we’ve seen when researching global payroll solutions. 

The service is available for businesses registered in the US, Canada, Switzerland, India, Chile, Brazil, Israel, Peru, Turkey, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Columbia, and the Russian Federation. 

It’s free to sign up, and fees are only assessed when payments are sent. Depending on the recipient, your business might not pay any fees to use Payoneer. 

#6 – Rippling — Best For Fast International Payroll Runs

Rippling is branded as an “employee management platform” as it supports payroll, HR, benefits, onboarding, and more. If you’re looking for the easiest way to run international payroll, Rippling is second to none.

In fact, Rippling’s platform lets you run international payroll in just 90 seconds.

Rippling’s pay runs are so quick because you never need to manually enter data or make calculations on your own. The platform syncs all of your HR data with the payroll system, so all of this gets handled automatically.

It’s just a matter of setting your pay periods, reviewing the payroll, and approving it. 

The platform comes with built-in compliance tools, automatic tax filings, time tracking, reporting tools, and so much more. 

Rippling’s only major drawback is its scalability. It’s designed for businesses with up to 1,000 employees. So if your company currently has more people on the payroll or you’re planning to grow beyond the 1,000 employee mark, Rippling probably won’t work for you.

Plans start at just $8 per user per month. Contact Rippling for a free custom quote to learn more about the company’s international payroll services. 

How to Find the Best International Payroll Service For You

All international payroll services have one thing in common—they allow you to pay employees in multiple countries. So you’ll see lots of common features from one service provider to another.

With that said, there are some key factors that you should take into your final decision as you’re shopping around and comparing services. This will help you distinguish which international payroll services support the needs specific to your company.  

HR Tools

Beyond payroll, some of the top options in this category provide an all-in-one solution for workforce management. This includes tools for international hiring, onboarding, benefits administration, time-off tracking, and more. 

Most businesses use some type of HR software to manage their international teams. So it’s just a matter of deciding whether you want a separate solution for HR or if you want a fully integrated solution with your payroll provider. 

Going with an all-in-one solution for HR and payroll definitely has its fair share of benefits. 

For starters, it limits the amount of software you and your staff need to use for everyday tasks. But these solutions also tend to simplify payroll in the sense that all of the data exists in one place. So you won’t have to worry about imports, exports, and integrations between different systems. 

These solutions typically offer more accurate payroll runs as well since all of the employee data is coming from the same source. 

Employees vs. Contractors

There are several differences that you need to consider when you’re paying an employee compared to a contractor. 

Some international payroll services support both employee and contractor payments, while others are better for one or the other. 

Make sure the platform you’re evaluating can handle payments for the type of workers you need to pay. To remain compliant in some countries, you need to set up a local presence to legally pay employees. This requirement typically isn’t necessary if you’re paying contract workers. 

Tax forms, filing status, and other variables need to be taken into consideration here as well.

Employer of Record (EOR) Services

This piggybacks off of our last point about the requirements needed to pay employees in certain countries. An employer of record is a company that’s legally responsible for payroll, employment taxes, insurance, visa applications, immigration forms, and more. 

So if you want to hire employees in certain regions without actually setting up a local presence there, you need to go with an international payroll service that offers EOR services.

In this case, the service provider will handle everything for you. They’ll become legally responsible for maintaining the payroll services and everything else required for you to remain compliant. 

This route is much more cost-effective and offers less risk than starting a new entity or subsidiary in every country where you hire a new employee. 

Not every international payroll provider offers this type of service. So you can quickly eliminate certain providers if an EOR is something you need. 

Summary

Payroll is a significant responsibility for employers. For those of you with employees in different countries, finding the right international payroll service for your business is an important decision. 

Use the top recommendations and methodology described in this guide to narrow down your options. 

Papaya Global is ideal for organizations that want an all-in-one solution for HR and international payroll. ADP Global is our top recommendation for international payroll compliance. For payroll automation and reducing the administrative burden, check out Immedis.

Globalization Partners works well for companies that want to expand to new countries without setting up a local office. For one-off and recurring payments to contractors and freelancers, try Payoneer.

If your business has less than 1,000 employees and you want a simple way to manage international payroll, Rippling should be at the top of your list.

Regardless of your needs, this guide has something for everyone. 

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