Last updated: 15 September 2026
When you move a group of people across several countries, the provider's fee is the small part of the bill. Most of what you pay is the cost of employing each person where they live. An EOR invoice has four moving parts: salary, employer contributions set by local law, statutory benefits, and the provider's fee. Only the last of those is quoted to you. The first three are set by each country, and they vary far more than a headline fee suggests.
That is why two quotes for the same group of people can look so different. One may show a low fee and fold the local costs into a single line. Another may show a higher fee with every local cost set out. If you compare the two on the fee alone, you are comparing the smallest number on the page. What follows is what to line up instead.
What makes up the cost of an EOR hire?
The cost of an EOR hire is salary, plus employer contributions, plus statutory benefits, plus the provider's fee. Some providers also ask for a deposit before the first payroll runs. Those are the only things on the bill. Everything else is either a label for one of them, or a charge you should ask about before you sign.
Employer contributions are the payments an employer must make by law on top of salary, such as social security, pension or state insurance. They are set by each country, not by your provider. Move the same salary from one country to another and this number can change a lot. It is usually the main reason a group costs more than a finance team expected.
Statutory benefits work the same way. Paid leave, public holidays, sick pay, notice and end of service payments are all set locally, and they reach your costs whether or not they show up as a line on the quote. Our employer cost calculator shows the local build up for one hire, which is a useful check before you look at a whole group.
Why do two quotes for the same people differ?
They differ because they are built on different bases. One common model is a flat fee for each employee each month, with local costs passed on at cost. The other is a share of payroll, where the provider takes a percentage of what each person is paid. The two can look alike for one junior hire and very unalike across a senior group.
A share of payroll rises every time a salary rises. A flat fee does not. Across a group with mixed salaries in several countries, that gap adds up quietly over a year. Neither model is wrong. You just cannot compare them until you turn both into the same thing: the total cost for this group, for twelve months, in one currency.
The second difference is what counts as a pass through and what counts as margin. A cost passed on at cost should match the local receipt or filing. A margin is what the provider keeps. Ask which lines are which, for each country. A provider who cannot tell you has told you something useful.
What should be in a quote before you compare it?
A quote you can compare shows the fee basis, the local costs for each country, and how everything else is handled. If any of those are missing, the number you have been given is an estimate dressed up as a price. Ask for the gaps in writing before you take it to your board.
The table below is what we would line up side by side. None of it is a claim about any provider. These are simply the questions that turn two quotes into one comparison you can defend later, when someone asks you why you picked the one you picked.
| What to line up | What to ask for |
|---|---|
| Fee basis | Is the fee flat for each employee, or a share of payroll? Get it in writing for every country. |
| What is passed through | Which lines are local costs at cost, and which lines are the provider's margin? |
| FX treatment | Which rate is used, when it is taken, and whether the conversion shows as its own line. |
| Deposit | Is a deposit required, how much is it, when is it taken and when does it come back? |
| Notice to leave | How much notice to end the contract, and what happens to the people already employed. |
| A month with no pay | How the fee is handled in a month where an employee is not paid. |
| Employment risk | Who is the legal employer in each country, and who carries the cost if a claim is brought. |
Does the number of people change the price?
It can, and it depends on the provider. There is no standard rate card across the market for a group move. Some providers price country by country. Some price one rate across a group. Some change nothing at all. A published rate is the start of a conversation, not the end of one, and the real number is agreed case by case.
What we can say is what usually shapes that answer: how many countries, how many people in each one, the salary range, how long the contracts are likely to run, and how much work the move itself takes. A group in six countries is six sets of local paperwork, not one. That is the honest reason a group is not just one hire multiplied.
The right answer depends on your group and where those people sit. Talk to an Expert at Teamed to work through yours.
What does FX do to the total?
Salaries are paid in local currency. You are invoiced in yours. Somewhere in between, money is converted, and the rate used decides part of what you pay. Across several countries that conversion happens several times a month, so a small difference in the rate is not a small difference by the end of the year.
The thing to check is whether the conversion is visible at all. Ask which rate was used, what time it was taken, and whether the converted amount appears as its own line on the invoice. If it is folded into one total, you cannot check it, and neither can your auditor. Our honest invoice page shows what an itemised version looks like.
What to ask before you move a group
Before you move anyone, get both quotes onto the same basis and into the same currency, for a full year. Then ask the seven questions in the table above, and get the answers in writing. Most of the risk in a group move is not in the fee at all. It sits in the things nobody wrote down.
Ask what happens during the move itself as well. Who runs payroll in the overlap month, what the employees are told, and what happens to their existing terms. A cheap quote that breaks a payroll run in three countries is not a cheap quote. Our EOR pricing guide covers the single hire version of this in more depth.
Teamed charges a flat £479 per employee per month, with zero FX markup. For a group across several countries, the number that matters is the full local cost in each one, so we work that out with you first.