Question 1

How long does onboarding take?

Accepted Answer

Two to four weeks for most companies. Week one is discovery and document collection, week two is system setup and opening balances, and we run the first cycle in parallel with your current process before going live.

Question 2

Is there a minimum company size?

Accepted Answer

No. We work with single-director companies and with groups of several hundred employees. What changes is the service plan, not whether we take you on.

Question 3

What do you need from us to start?

Accepted Answer

Your statutory documents, last closed financial year, current payroll register, employee contracts and access to your banking and accounting systems. We send a single checklist and work through it with you.

Question 4

When is the monthly payroll cut-off?

Accepted Answer

Typically five working days before the pay date, agreed with you at onboarding. Changes after cut-off go into the next run, or as an off-cycle payment where the deadline allows.

Question 5

Do you replace our social secretary?

Accepted Answer

Only if you want us to. Most clients keep their social secretary and use us to prepare, check and reconcile everything that flows to and from it.

Question 6

Can we switch to you mid-year?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We migrate year-to-date balances, cumulative tax positions and leave balances, then run one month in parallel and only go live once both calculations reconcile to the cent.

Question 7

Which accounting software do you use?

Accepted Answer

Yours, wherever possible. Where you have no preference we recommend a package suited to your size and country mix, and handle the migration of opening balances and history ourselves.

Question 8

When do we receive monthly figures?

Accepted Answer

Within ten working days of month end once your document flow is established, with a short written commentary on anything that moved unexpectedly.

Question 9

Do we need a VAT registration in every country we sell to?

Accepted Answer

Often not — the One-Stop Shop scheme covers many cross-border flows from a single registration. We assess your actual sales flows before recommending any registration.

Question 10

How is our data protected?

Accepted Answer

Under a signed GDPR data-processing agreement. Data moves over encrypted channels only, sits in access-controlled systems, and is visible to a named team on a least-privilege basis. Retention clocks are applied per jurisdiction.

Question 11

Our data is processed outside the EU. Is that allowed?

Accepted Answer

Yes, under Article 46 safeguards. Processing by our Islamabad delivery centre is covered by Standard Contractual Clauses, a transfer impact assessment and the same technical controls applied to EU-side processing. The documentation is provided at onboarding.

Question 12

What happens if we are audited?

Accepted Answer

We assemble the documentation, respond to the administration on your behalf and stay on the file until the query is closed. Audit support is part of the engagement, not a separate invoice.

Question 13

How do you price?

Accepted Answer

A fixed monthly fee based on headcount, transaction volume and the services in scope. You get the figure in writing before you commit, and it does not move unless the scope does.

Question 14

Are we locked into a contract?

Accepted Answer

Engagements run on a rolling annual basis with a three-month notice period, so a full financial year can always be closed cleanly by whoever is holding the file.

Question 15

Which languages can we work in?

Accepted Answer

Dutch, French, English, Italian and Spanish. Correspondence, payslips and reporting are all delivered in the language your team actually works in.

Question 16

We operate outside your four markets. Can you help?

Accepted Answer

We can extend into five or six additional European countries on request. Tell us where you are heading and we will tell you honestly whether we can serve it well or should refer you on.

Questions we get asked before the first call.

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