Global Payroll Software Development

Global payroll software built around the countries you actually hire in

Platforms like Deel, Rippling, and Remote charge a flat per-employee fee whether you have three people in a country or three hundred. Once your international headcount is large and stable, that fee stops making sense. We build a compliance-automation layer over your local payroll partners in each country, so you keep the compliance coverage without paying seat-license pricing for it.

  • Compliance automation layered over local payroll partners in each country you hire in

  • Contractor and employee payment workflows built around your actual entities and headcount

  • Tax, benefits, and statutory filing tracking scoped to the countries you operate in

  • Fixed-cost delivery, scoped up front, with source code ownership

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See our work

The problem

Sound familiar?

  • Paying per-employee EOR fees on headcount that hasn't changed in two years?

  • Juggling payroll data across Deel, local providers, and spreadsheets because no platform covers every country you hire in?

Short answer

Global payroll software handles pay runs, tax withholding, benefits, and statutory compliance for employees and contractors across multiple countries. Companies with growing international headcount buy it instead of managing a different local provider in every country by hand. Platforms like Deel, Rippling, and Remote charge roughly $500-600 per employee per month regardless of headcount stability, which is efficient for a company just starting to hire internationally but expensive once headcount in specific countries is large and stable. RaftLabs builds a custom compliance-automation layer over local payroll partners instead: an MVP runs $55,000-$100,000 over 18-22 weeks, and a full build with multi-country compliance tracking runs $100,000-$180,000 over 22-28 weeks, at a fixed cost.

Key takeaways

  • EOR and global payroll platforms charge a flat per-employee fee, so cost scales with headcount even after that headcount stops changing.
  • A custom compliance-automation layer over local payroll partners gets cheaper than per-employee EOR fees once international headcount in specific countries is large and stable.
  • Tax, benefits, and statutory filing rules differ by country and need to be tracked as data, not handled ad hoc by whoever's running payroll that month.
  • A full build with multi-country compliance tracking typically takes 22-28 weeks at a fixed, agreed cost.

Trusted by

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Global payroll software delivery, by the numbers

products shipped
100+
cost delivery
Fixed
week delivery cycles
18-28

Per-employee pricing doesn't stay cheap once headcount is stable

EOR and global payroll platforms charge roughly $500-600 per employee per month, no matter how long that employee has been on payroll or how settled the country is for your business. That model is efficient for a company hiring its first few people abroad. It stops being efficient once you have real, stable headcount in specific countries and are still paying the same per-seat rate every month. We build the compliance-automation layer that sits over your local payroll partners instead, so the platform costs what it costs to build and run, not what it costs to rent per employee.

Capabilities

What we build

  • 01
    Multi-country compliance automation

    Tax withholding rules, statutory filing deadlines, and benefits requirements tracked per country, so compliance doesn't depend on one person remembering the rules for each location.

  • 02
    Local payroll partner integration

    Pay run data synced with the local payroll partners or entities you work with in each country, replacing manual handoffs and spreadsheet reconciliation.

  • 03
    Employer of record style compliance coverage

    EOR-style compliance workflows built for the specific countries you operate in, covering employment status, statutory benefits, and termination rules where relevant.

  • 04
    Contractor and employee payment workflows

    Payment runs for both contractors and employees, scoped to how your international workforce is actually structured, in the currencies you pay in.

  • 05
    Tax and statutory filing tracking

    Country-specific filing deadlines and requirements tracked as structured data, with reminders and status tracking instead of a shared calendar.

  • 06
    Reporting and headcount cost visibility

    Consolidated reporting across countries and entities, so finance can see total payroll cost by country without pulling numbers from multiple providers.

How we work

From country footprint to live payroll software

  1. Weeks 1-3
    01

    Discovery and country mapping

    We map the countries you hire in, your current EOR or payroll provider mix, and the compliance rules that apply in each location. You leave with a written scope and a fixed-price quote.

  2. Weeks 3-8
    02

    Compliance and integration design

    We design the compliance rule engine per country and the integration layer for your local payroll partners. Data architecture for tax, benefits, and filing tracking is designed alongside it.

  3. Weeks 8-24
    03

    Build in two-week sprints

    You review working software at each sprint. Payroll workflows, compliance tracking, and reporting are built and tested incrementally, country by country.

  4. Final 3-4 weeks
    04

    Parallel-run and rollout

    The platform runs alongside your existing provider for a full pay cycle so your team can validate compliance and payment accuracy before cutting over.

Why us

Why companies choose RaftLabs for global payroll

  • 01
    Senior engineers build what they scope

    The engineers who map your country footprint also build the compliance layer. No offshore handoff after the contract is signed.

  • 02
    Fixed price before development starts

    We scope the work, calculate the cost, and lock it in writing before any development starts.

  • 03
    Founded 2015, 100+ products shipped

    A track record building compliance-conscious platforms that handle sensitive payroll and tax data with the controls that require.

  • 04
    You own the source code

    No per-employee fee, no vendor lock-in after delivery. The codebase, and everything built into it, is yours.

Have a global payroll software project?

Tell us which countries you hire in and how you handle payroll today. We'll scope a fixed-cost build.

Scope your global payroll software project

Related services

What clients say

What clients say about working with us

Three-year average engagement. Founders and operators describing the work in their own words. No marketing varnish.

Gil Nugraha
Gil Nugraha
Indonesia flagIndonesia
Founder at UrShipper

I definitely recommend RaftLabs, especially to solo founders like me. Their clear communication and detailed discussions have always helped me make better decisions.

01 / 06

Global Payroll Software Development, scoped in one call.

Tell us what's broken. Within one business day you get a straight take on cost, timeline, and the right first step. No deck, no pressure.

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Frequently asked questions

Global payroll software runs pay for employees and contractors across multiple countries: calculating pay, withholding tax, tracking benefits, and handling the statutory filings each country requires. It replaces manually coordinating a separate local payroll provider or spreadsheet per country.

An EOR platform employs your workers on your behalf in countries where you have no legal entity, and charges a per-employee monthly fee for that. Our build assumes you already have (or are setting up) local entities or payroll partners, and automates the compliance and payroll workflow on top of them, without the per-seat fee.

Yes. We scope contractor payment workflows, employee payroll, or both during discovery, depending on how your international workforce is structured.

An MVP covering core payroll and compliance workflows typically runs $55,000-$100,000 and takes 18-22 weeks. A full build with multi-country compliance tracking and reporting runs $100,000-$180,000 over 22-28 weeks. We scope a fixed cost after discovery.

We scope the specific countries during discovery, based on where you currently hire and where you plan to expand. The platform is built around your actual footprint, not a generic set of pre-supported countries.

Established EOR and payroll platforms are strong for companies just starting to hire internationally: you get compliance coverage in a new country without setting up an entity or vetting a local partner. Custom software makes sense once your headcount in specific countries is large and stable enough that the per-employee EOR fees add up to more than a purpose-built platform would cost.

Work with us

Tell us what you need. We'll tell you what it would take.

We scope Global Payroll Software Development in 30 minutes. You walk away with a clear cost, timeline, and approach. No commitment required.

  • Scope and cost agreed before work starts. No surprises. No obligation.
  • Working prototype within 3 weeks of kickoff.
  • Pay by milestone. You see progress before each invoice.
  • 60-day post-launch warranty. Bug fixes, UI tweaks, and deployment support. No retainer.
  • All conversations are NDA-protected.