Core Services Provided by Payroll Companies in Europe
Payroll calculation and payslip management
The most vital part of payroll is calculating each employee's monthly pay. But doing that in Europe can feel like an uphill battle due to the complex tax and social security regimes.
For instance, in Germany and France, payroll must account for multiple social insurance layers, such as healthcare, pensions, and unemployment, split between employer and employee contributions. In Poland, the monthly payroll cycle must incorporate not only gross-to-net conversion but also health insurance, pension, disability, accident, and labor funds, each with its own calculation base and reporting form handled on the employer’s behalf.
Another essential factor in payroll processing is the minimum wage, which directly determines the base for social contributions. For instance, Romania’s gross minimum wage was around €814/month (RON 4,050) in 2025. By contrast, many Western European countries have higher statutory minimum wages: Germany (€2,160) and France (€1,800) per month.
When you outsource to a specialized payroll service provider or Employer of Record (EOR), they typically monitor statutory minimum wage changes and manage the payroll cycle process end-to-end. This includes:
- Collect and validate timesheets and compensation data from your HR systems
- Apply local tax rules and social contribution rates
- Generate employer and employee deduction entries
- Produce compliant, itemized payslips that clearly show all elements to employees and auditors.
Payroll reconciliation
After payroll processing is complete, payroll providers in Europe cross-check payroll outputs with accounting ledgers to ensure net payments, employer liabilities, and tax remittances match recorded expenses.
In practice, this means:
- Verifying totals for taxes and social contributions due to the authorities.
- Matching pay runs to recorded journal entries to ensure financial statements reflect true liabilities.
- Correcting differences when new hires, terminations, bonuses, or adjustments occur mid-period.
All of these operations ensure that compliance documentation is in place to prevent possible audits.
Statutory contributions
This is one of the trickiest parts of the payroll process: withholding payments from gross salaries to fund public benefits, including employee Social Security withholdings, employer payroll contributions, and periodic remittances.
Every European country sets its own mix of contributions and filing rules. For instance:
- In Poland, payroll companies remit ZUS contributions plus labor fund levies and file PIT declarations for employees.
- In Romania, payroll firms calculate and withhold employee PIT and SSC, employer social contributions and work insurance levy, and prepare a monthly consolidation tax return to ANAF.
- In Ukraine, payroll outsourcing covers the employer’s unified social contribution (USC) on gross wages, as well as the employee's PIT and military levy.
Take a look at the table below for more information on SSC and tax brackets in these countries:
| Country | Employer | Employee |
| Poland | Social Security: 19.48-22.14% | PIT (progressive): 12% up to PLN 120,000 (~USD 29,800), then 32% on the excess
SSC: 22.71% |
| Ukraine | Social Security: 22% | PIT: 18%
Military Tax: 5% |
| Romania | Social Security: 2.25-10.25% | PIT: 10%
SSC: 35% |
Mandatory benefits management
Payroll outsourcing doesn’t stop with payment. It also ensures that legally required employee benefits are factored into compensation and reported properly. Among the mandatory benefits in Europe are paid vacations and holidays, sick pay, maternity and paternity leave, healthcare and pension entitlements, and severance pay.
Here’s a quick example of statutory benefits in some of the CEE countries:
| Country | Overtime compensation | National holidays | Paid annual leave | Sick leave | Maternity leave |
| Poland | 150% of the regular rate in regular hours and 200% at night, on Sunday, or a public holiday; can be compensated with time off | 14 | 20 working days (if work experience <10 years); 26 working days (if work experience ≥10 years | Paid at 80% of salary:first 33 days (or 14 days if an employee is 50+ y.o.) – by employer;up to 182 days after that – by Social Insurance (ZUS) | 140 calendar days (at least 98 days must be taken after childbirth) |
| Ukraine | 200% of the regular rate in regular hours and public holidays | 11 | 24 calendar days | The first 5 days are compensated by the employer; thereafter, by the Pension Fund; the rate ranges from 50% to 100% of the employee’s average salary | 126 calendar days (70 before and 56 after birth); extended in specific cases |
| Romania | 175% of the base salary in regular hours;200% of the base salary on bank holidays; can be compensated with time off | 17 | 20 working days | For the first 5 days, 75% of average salary, paid by employer, then from 6th to 183rd day — by health insurance | 126 calendar days (63 before and 63 after birth) |
Post-payroll reporting
This is where compliance is tested. Basically, European payroll providers take on all the bureaucratic complexity to shield expanding companies from late-filing penalties and any compliance inconsistencies. They prepare and submit all statutory reports required by authorities, such as:
- Monthly and annual tax returns
- Social security contribution filings
- Local statistical and compliance reports
- Employee declarations
In some countries, such as France, highly structured reporting regimes require standardized digital submission formats. In others, such as Germany, local fund registrations and reporting are critical to maintaining compliance.
Typical Add-ons Payroll Solutions in Europe
If you need more than just tax payroll processing and tax compliance, most payroll solutions in Europe also include:
- An Employer of Record (EOR) solution is a scope of services that includes payroll, labor law and tax compliance, worker onboarding/offboarding, and benefits management. They’re handled by EOR providers that have established legal entities in multiple countries, allowing them to legally hire a foreign workforce on behalf of expanding companies. EOR becomes a legal employer of talent on paper, managing admin functions, while the client company is the factual employer, managing the team’s day-to-day workflow and performance.
- Payroll audit is an add-on service, usually executed as a part of a broader payroll and accounting solution. It includes a comprehensive overview of the company’s payroll system, processes, and records to ensure compliance with local tax and payment regulations and labor laws.
- European payroll regulation guidance focuses on minimum wage laws and overtime rules, tax compliance, employee classification, and data reporting. It’s a typical extra service provided by payroll companies to enhance payment accuracy and avoid fines for non-compliance.
- HR admin services are a common add-on among payroll agencies in Europe. They serve as an operational backbone, covering compliance with GDPR and internal policies, onboarding/offboarding, and employee record retention.
- Payroll software is a cloud-based platform that automates employee payments, wage calculations, tax withholding, social contribution deductions, and can even cover pay-on-demand. It’s a commonly offered system by EOR and payroll outsourcing companies in Europe to cut time on payroll, reduce errors, and minimize manual work.
Now, let’s move on to exploring the top payroll service providers in Europe.
Alcor
Founded in 2017, Alcor is a full-cycle provider of outsourced payroll for tech as part of its EOR services, recruitment, and operational support to help innovative businesses build software development centers. Originally from Ukraine, the company has a strong presence in Europe, including Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria, and provides its services across the LATAM region.
Alcor moved its website from alcor-bpo.com to alcor.com to maintain its focus on strategic team growth and lasting partnerships, rather than pure service coverage.
Tax compliance expertise
As a legal employer of clients’ software developers in Poland, Romania, and Ukraine, Alcor assumes full liability for compliance. This includes local employment laws, payroll taxes, statutory filings, and labor compliance.
Clients set compensation and approve payroll inputs, while Alcor handles calculations, mandatory withholdings, employer charges, and required submissions. The company has local legal and accounting experts who keep clients up to date on any changes in local laws and regulations.
Payroll processing speed & quality
Alcor’s dedicated payroll specialists follow local requirements for monthly payroll processing, covering:
- Gross-to-net payment calculations
- Payroll tax planning and withholding
- Preparation and allocation of statements
- Preparation and submission of payroll returns to local authorities
- Statutory payroll reporting & audit
- Employee benefits administration
The clients access and track their payroll status and history via the AlcorOS platform.
Pricing transparency
Payroll is not charged as a standalone service since it’s included in Aclor’s EOR service fee. Pricing is custom and negotiated with each client individually, based on their needs. Volume-based discounts can be applied as development teams grow.
Alcor doesn’t charge prepayments, setup, or exit fees. In case clients need additional services, Alcor provides them in-house, without third-party markups or hidden fees.
Employee data security
Alcor protects the employment and payroll data of clients’ developers with role-based access controls and secure systems aligned with GDPR.
The company also drafts NDAs and IP rights agreements to protect sensitive information throughout the recruitment lifecycle. Meanwhile, Alcor doesn’t have access to clients’ source code, product docs, or other materials related to software development.
Customer support SLA
Alcor tailors payroll SLAs based on clients’ pay dates, approval workflow, and the requested level of control. Client support is provided by a dedicated Customer Operations Manager, who takes full ownership of in-country payroll, tax navigation, and operational assistance.
Integrations & automation
AlcorOS is a centralized cloud-system for team management. It enables clients to oversee and approve payroll, track payment history, and expenses. Recurring processes, such as salary payments and tax filings, are prepared and executed in local systems monthly.
On top of the payroll layer, clients can also monitor hiring progress, team size, PTO, benefits, and equipment procurement.
Expansion flexibility
International companies can nearshore their development teams without disrupting EOR and payroll services across Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Mexico, and Colombia, where Alcor has legal entities. Further expansion in Europe and LATAM can be supported via Acor’s Contractor of Record service, which covers B2B agreements and protects from contractor misclassification.
A typical team scaling via Alcor’s tech R&D center solution looks the following way:
- 5 developers in the first month
- 30 developers in 3 months
- 100+ engineers in a year.
BPiON
Founded in 2017, BPiON is a Central and Eastern European Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company focused on payroll, accounting, HR, and interim staffing services.
Tax Compliance Expertise
BPiON offers tax compliance services as a part of its finance & accounting outsourcing suite. The company helps its clients with local tax reporting and ensuring compliance with statutory tax regulations in European jurisdictions. Tax review and audit support are provided on request.
According to the BPiON website, its payroll and HR services are handled by local specialists who understand regional laws and regulations.
Payroll processing speed & quality
BPiON provides full-cycle payroll outsourcing services, covering everything from gross-to-net calculation and PIT and SSC withholding to pay stub distribution, payment bank files automation, payroll management reporting, and audits. BPiON also claims to have offerings for SMBs and enterprises with enhanced automation and standardization.
Pricing Transparency
Their website doesn’t list standard service fees or tiers, focusing on custom pricing and a tailored scope of services.
Employee data security
BPiON runs its digital payroll, accounting, and HR solutions on Microsoft Azure, which provides enterprise-grade security, including identity controls and resilient infrastructure, to ensure robust data protection. Further supported by ISO 27001 certification and GDPR compliance, employee- and client-sensitive data receives enhanced protection and compliance with local regulatory requirements.
Customer support SLA
BPiON negotiates an SLA with each client individually to ensure mutual agreement on key factors such as service scope, performance metrics, communication flows, and the point of contact.
Integrations & automation
Apart from Microsoft Azure, BPiON states that its platform has strong ecosystem compatibility with major HRIS and HCM integrations, such as SAP, Workday, and SuccessFactors, which streamlines operational management. Meanwhile, the company emphasises digital transformation services like e-signatures and paperless HR workflows.
Expansion flexibility
With an HQ in Budapest, Hungary, BPiON is also physically present in Poland, Romania, Czechia, Ukraine, Slovakia, and the UK, allowing its clients to scale their operations across Europe. For a more comprehensive cross-border support, BPiON relies on its IR global partners.
Accace
Founded in 2006, Accace is a CEE outsourcing and consulting firm that specializes in payroll, accounting, and HR services for mid- to enterprise-level companies. The company began as an accounting firm in Slovakia and has grown into an international BPO service provider focused on the CEE region.
Tax compliance expertise
Accace handles international tax compliance, tax audit support, VAT and PIT compliance, and IFRS services to ensure correct filings and record-keeping for its clients across 60 jurisdictions. The company also positions its tax advisory as an integral part of its payroll and compliance services. Accace covers everything from withholding tax services to transaction and strategic international tax advisory.
Payroll processing speed & quality
Accace standardizes payroll across multiple entities for its clients. It handles gross-to-net payroll calculations, payroll taxes and statutory deductions, payslip generation and distribution, off-cycle payments, bonus/sick leave processing, and time & attendance integrations. The company's payroll experts also maintain statutory reporting throughout the tax year and communicate with local authorities.
When it comes to employees, they can access payslips, tax forms, leave requests, and travel expenses, as well as have their benefits and bonuses calculated via a single cloud-based platform. The platform experience gets further enhanced with self-service tools and hotline support.
Pricing transparency
The company doesn’t publicly disclose its pricing tiers, emphasising tailored proposals based on service scope, employee models, and the number of countries.
Employee data security
Accace holds ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certifications that ensure security, service quality, and business continuity, while the company’s GDPR compliance strengthens the data security of both its clients and employees.
Customer support SLA
Accace combines local support teams and a single point of contact across 60 jurisdictions to provide end-to-end BPO services.
Integrations & automation
According to Accece website, the company specializes in designing inbound and outbound payroll data flows tailored to its clients’ environment. Their platform integrates with HR, HCM, and attendance systems, including SAP, Workday, Oracle HCM, Dayforce, and Kronos. They also offer two-way data transfer to keep data synchronized and fully compliant, as well as self-service payroll and HR portals.
Expansion flexibility
The company has a community called Access Circle, covering Europe (30+ countries), the Middle East, Africa, and Asia with a team of 7,000 experts. This broad reach allows Accace clients to scale their payroll and HR operations without disruptions by getting umbrella services coupled with centralized global oversight and localized execution.
WorkMotion
Founded in 2020, WorkMotion is a Berlin-based HR platform that enables companies to hire, onboard, and manage a workforce in over 160 countries. Its outsourced payroll service is embedded in a broader EOR solution that covers onboarding, compliance, and benefits.
Tax compliance expertise
With EU roots, the company has strong compliance expertise in Europe, which it offers through its EOR solution, handling payroll, tax, and statutory compliance obligations for each jurisdiction. The company claims that compliance is embedded in its platform, which helps generate locally compliant contracts, handle deductions and filings, and stay updated on legal changes with its AI chatbot.
WorkMotion is one of the few EOR providers to have IEC Gold Certification. This is an independent compliance audit covering licensing, payroll accuracy, data protection, and legal compliance across countries, providing an extra layer of protection for its clients.
Payroll processing speed & quality
The payroll lifecycle, including CTC (cost-to-company), along with talent expenses and PTO, is automated via WorkMotion’s platform for accuracy and efficiency. Clients can still make contract changes, such as promotions, salary changes, and reductions in work hours, and request a breakdown of invoices and payslip history.
Pricing transparency
WorkMotion’s payroll services are included in its EOR pricing, which starts at $549 per employee/month, according to its website. The company claims no hidden or onboarding fees, no deposits, and ensures clear pricing calculations on the platform.
Employee data security
The company is ISO-certified and GDPR-compliant, reflecting its structured controls over the personal and payroll data of its clients and employees.
Customer support SLA
WorkMotion ensures ongoing payroll and compliance support across 160 countries via its dedicated customer success team. According to its website, the average customer response time is 28 business hours, demonstrating its commitment to efficiently addressing and resolving requests.
Integrations & automation
The platform automates contract creation, payroll runs, PTO, time tracking, and expenses, reducing manual work for clients. Among WorkMotion’s integrations are major HR systems such as Personio, HiBob, BambooHR, and Workday, which sync key employee data and reduce duplicate administrative work. One of their standout integrations is SafetyWing for global health insurance.
WorkNotion’s platform is further supported by an AI chatbot, Wanda AI, that provides guidance on local regulations to streamline HR processes.
Expansion flexibility
WorkMotion covers 160+ countries globally, enabling uninterrupted workforce and payroll scaling without local entities. Along with its EOR services, the firm also offers direct hiring and contractor management, providing clients with flexibility for onshore and offshore expansion.
Lano
Founded in 2018, Lano is a cloud-based payroll and global employment platform that helps expanding companies hire, onboard, and pay full-time employees and contractors across 170 countries.
Tax compliance expertise
Based in Germany, Lano brings deep expertise in European payroll and compliance. This is further reinforced by its network of vetted in-country partners specialized in local tax, payroll regulations, and employment laws, who ensure compliance accuracy before payroll finalization.
Payroll processing speed & quality
While local partners execute calculations and filings in one of the 28 currencies, Lano ensures quality control and coordination. All payroll processes are available through its cloud platform, where clients can unify employee and payroll data, consolidate data across existing and new partners, and improve planning. According to Lano’s website, clients can also save on FX fees and transfer money between entities.
Pricing transparency
Lano offers its payroll services separately for about 19 EUR ($22 USD) per employee/month, or via its EOR solution for 499 EUR ($594 USD) per employee/month. Its multi-country payroll service offers broader functionality, including gross-to-net standardization, automated payroll and salary changes, and consolidated payroll tracking across multiple entities.
The company claims no hidden fees or add-ons, as all services are clearly outlined during scoping. Volume discounts are available.
Employee data security
Since Lano works with globally dispersed payroll and compliance specialists, it takes extra precautions during the vetting process. It audits them through a comprehensive due diligence process to make sure their quality meets service, compliance, and security standards before working with Lano clients. Plus, Lano applied encrypted data handling across payroll operations available on its platform.
Customer support SLA
Clients receive centralized support and payroll coordination through Lano’s internal team, while additional assistance is provided by its vetted local specialists across 170 jurisdictions. Lano manages SLAs with in-country partners, ensuring payroll deadlines and responsiveness are met.
Integrations & automation
Lano’s centralized platform handles multi-country payroll, reporting, and HR documentation storage. Its API and integrations allow syncing with HRIS and finance systems to simplify global payroll and minimize manual work.
Expansion flexibility
Lano’s clients can rapidly expand in Europe and globally without forming new legal entities or engaging third parties, thanks to Lano’s comprehensive EOR and contractor management solutions. With its team present in19 countries and its vetted partners located in over 150, clients can expand across borders without interrupting operations.
TMF Group
Founded in 1988, TMF Group is an international provider of accounting, payroll, tax, and HR services that helps companies operate globally. With HQ in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the TMF Group has 13,000 specialists and operates in 87 jurisdictions.
Tax compliance expertise
TMF Group performs localised payroll reporting, statutory filings, pension/benefit reporting, and multi-country compliance process oversight via a central service delivery model. Its payroll services are supported by local compliance experts in each jurisdiction. They interpret and apply local employment tax, social security, and statutory requirements to ensure payroll accuracy.
Payroll processing speed & quality
TMF Group offers global payroll across 150 jurisdictions, including support for data collection, validation, gross-to-net calculations, financial-year payroll reporting, payslips, and statutory period closing.
The company combines local expertise with its TMF Optix to ensure clients receive timely, accurate payments. The TMF team of payroll professionals reviews and validates the input data for the platform to process payroll and generate payslips. Clients can review all payroll activity from full gross to net reports to local payroll processing files and multi-level payroll approvals.
Pricing transparency
TMF Group doesn’t publicly disclose its pricing. Instead, it relies on custom quotes and service agreements tailored to clients' needs, jurisdiction complexity, and scaling plans.
Employee data security
TMF has enterprise-grade data security. Each year, it undergoes global information security controls, audits, risk and cybersecurity monitoring, which tests the company’s ability to protect clients’ data and ensure robust compliance. TMF also implements an information security management system, backed by ISO/IEC 27001 certification, and Business Continuity Measures (BCM) to mitigate risks.
Customer support SLA
According to its website, TMF offers local payroll and HR experts who speak English and native languages across 150 jurisdictions to help its clients with market entry and tax and policy guidance.
Integrations & automation
TMF Optix is a cloud-based payroll software that consolidates payroll and HR operations across borders. It’s designed to integrate with existing HR and IT systems and to support API, file-feed inputs, customizable dashboards, and reporting.
Expansion flexibility
TMF operates in 125+ offices and provides payroll and compliance expertise across 150 jurisdictions. A wide suite of services that goes beyond payroll, including EOR and global entity management, enables companies to expand without additional operational friction.
Best Payroll Solutions in Europe for Remote Teams
- Alcor is an Employer of Record Service Provider in Europe that offers end-to-end payroll services and covers liability in Ukraine, Poland, and Romania, where it owns its entities. For more dispersed development teams, Alcor offers Contractor of Record service across Europe, with B2B payments routed through a separate foreign-currency flow in EUR or USD. All clients’ operations are supported by its in-house team and managed via the AlcorOS platform.
- WorkMotion is a centralized platform for workforce employment and payroll, available in Europe and across 160 countries globally. The company applies strong GDPR and legal expertise across Europe to handle payroll, tax, and statutory compliance obligations in each jurisdiction.
- BPiON offers Europe-centric payroll and compliance services, with a strong presence in the CEE region. By offering a variety of BPO services, including regional payroll & HR outsourcing, interim staffing, and corporate setup services, the provider enables international companies to scale without operational disruption and risk.
Payroll Service Providers in Europe for Large Companies
- Accace combines payroll and tax expertise with integrated accounting and legal services to support complex multi-country payroll operations of expanding mid- to enterprise-level companies. A suite of additional services, including global company registration, HR, and legal advisory, enables operational scaling across Europe and in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
- Lano supports the management of large, distributed teams in Europe, offering centralized global payroll backed by vetted in-country experts that enable standardized oversight while ensuring local compliance in each jurisdiction.
- TMF Group combines an extensive network of local offices and deep regulatory expertise with payroll, entity management, and EOR services (powered by G-P) to enable enterprise expansion in Eastern and Western Europe.


