Sources reviewed · Decision preparation, not a legal opinion.
01 / FRAME THE DECISION
Three questions. A clearer next step.
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Use this for an intended employee hire, not to classify a contractor or select a PEO. Choose what is actually confirmed. The result organises your checks; it does not verify registrations, work permission, tax exposure or provider availability.
YOUR PREPARATION CHECKLIST
Who should do what?
Answer the three questions to see which responsibilities and unresolved checks to discuss. There is no score, automatic EOR recommendation or data sent to a provider.
Prefer to read first? The comparison and checklist below work without filling in the form.
Your company employs the person. Delegating payroll does not, by itself, replace that relationship.
Operational scope
Define calculation, payslips, reporting and payment tasks. Do not assume a provider both files returns and transfers funds.
Your team's work
Agree who supplies changes, approves the payroll, funds it and checks completion. Keep an accountable owner inside your business.
What to budget
Salary and employment costs, plus payroll fees, implementation and other quoted services. A processing fee is not the full employment cost.
EMPLOYER OF RECORD
The provider supplies the employing arrangement.
Employment relationship
Identify the provider entity named as employer in the worker's agreement. Confirm the arrangement is permitted and available for the role.
Operational scope
Payroll sits within a broader employment service. Check exactly which employment, benefits and administrative duties are covered.
Your team's work
Confirm the client responsibilities and service boundaries. Do not read “EOR” as a promise that every business, tax or workplace risk disappears.
What to budget
Employment costs and provider fees, with any one-off charges and deposit shown separately. Compare the written terms, not a headline fee.
A concrete example, not a global rule: GOV.UK says the UK employer remains legally responsible for PAYE tasks even when paying a payroll provider to perform them. The allocation in other countries needs its own review. GOV.UK — Choose how to run payroll — source reference below
PEO/co-employment, contractor management and HR software are separate arrangements. A product called “global payroll” does not answer all of these employment questions.
03 / CHECK WHAT EXISTS
Have an entity? Check its readiness.
Before moving straight to price, establish which company can employ the worker in the actual location and which registrations are required. An existing company can still have an unfinished employer setup.
Your Europe describes employer and employee registration in another EU country, with specific treatment for cross-border and posted workers. Do not assume that where someone lives alone determines the rules. Your Europe — Registering as an employer — source reference below
Entity and employer setup confirmed
If you want to employ directly, request a payroll scope. There may be no need to move employment to an EOR solely to outsource payroll.
Entity exists, setup unfinished
List the missing registrations, employment documents and operational steps. A payroll quote does not complete them automatically.
No local entity
Check whether a foreign-employer route is available, alongside any suitable EOR option. Urssaf provides a French example for qualifying employers without an establishment in France; its eligibility rules and exceptions matter. Urssaf — Foreign companies service (French) — source reference below
These checks do not decide tax presence, immigration, licensing or the legality of a particular arrangement. Resolve those separately for the country and role.
04 / MAKE THE REQUEST COMPARABLE
Six things to put in the scope.
Use this checklist with your internal team and prospective providers. Request responsibilities and evidence of completion, not just a feature list.
Name the proposed employing company and the entity signing each agreement. Do not infer this from who operates the payment platform.
Which location and arrangement?
Document country, role, work pattern and planned start date. Identify any residence, travel or posting issue still requiring review.
Who owns each payroll task?
List inputs, calculation, approval, payslips, filings, salary payments and authority payments. Confirm which tasks are included and who handles corrections.
What must be ready first?
Request an onboarding checklist covering registrations, required documents, benefit setup and first-payroll cutoffs. Assign an owner to every dependency.
What is the complete budget?
Keep the same pay package and period. Separate employment costs from implementation, recurring, off-cycle, year-end, payment/FX and exit fees. Identify exclusions and deposits.
How would a change or exit work?
Ask about notice, data export, final filings and any change of employer. Transferring employees is not simply switching a software subscription.
05 / TAKE A DEFINED NEED FORWARD
Ask for the service you actually need.
For a real hire, take the employer decision, country, role, target date and unresolved checks to the discussion. If your company will employ directly, say that you need a payroll scope. If you need an EOR, ask for the named employer and employment terms.
The button opens Deel's pricing page. Use Book a demo there if you choose to discuss the scope. No answers or contact details are sent automatically from this guide.
Confirm current coverage, responsibilities, pricing and contract terms for your situation.
QUICK ANSWERS
EOR versus payroll questions
01Do I need an EOR if I already have a local entity?+
Not automatically. First confirm that the entity can employ for the actual location and role, and that employer registrations and other obligations are ready. If your company will remain the employer and needs payroll administration, scope that service. Assess EOR separately if you want a provider to employ the worker and the arrangement is suitable.
02Can a payroll provider be different from the legal employer?+
Yes. For example, Deel distinguishes EOR employees from Direct Employee – Payroll: in the latter model the client employs through its own entity and Deel runs payroll. Confirm who signs the employment agreement and who is responsible for each filing and payment. Processing pay does not by itself establish the employer relationship.
Do not assume so. GOV.UK expressly says a UK employer remains legally responsible for PAYE tasks even when a provider performs them. Other countries and arrangements require their own review. Set written responsibilities, approval deadlines and evidence of completed filings and payments.
04Does no local entity always mean I must use an EOR?+
No. Some jurisdictions provide a foreign-employer registration route. France, for example, has an Urssaf service for qualifying foreign companies without an establishment in France. Confirm eligibility, exceptions and all employment and tax obligations; this is not a rule that direct hiring is possible everywhere.
05Can this questionnaire confirm that my hiring setup is compliant?+
No. It uses only three categorical answers to organise your next checks. It does not verify your entity, registrations, work permission, tax position or provider coverage. Cross-border, multi-country and posting situations need a specific review before choosing a service.
Sources, scope & review
Reviewed on 2026-10-19. Government examples below apply to their stated jurisdictions. Deel documentation explains its own service models, not every provider's terms. The questionnaire is Yepaa's editorial scoping aid, not a legal test from these sources.
Le service Firmes étrangères · updated 31 March 2025; eligibility and exceptions apply.
Deel Help — Contract models
What Types Of Contracts Can I Create On Deel? · article 4407745439761 · updated 9 January 2026.
Deel Help — Employer and payroll roles
What Type Of Employee Am I? · article 21068364477841 · consulted 19 October 2026.
Deel Help references are identified by exact article title and number. The commercial action above leads to pricing, not to an article. Actual duties depend on the applicable law and agreed arrangement.