Best Contractor Management Software for Global Businesses

The rise of remote work and freelance contracting has transformed how businesses approach hiring. In 2024, it’s estimated that 76.4 million workers in the US alone were involved in freelance work, contributing to a global trend that continues to grow​. 

Choosing the right contractor management software increases efficiency and allows businesses to shift focus on the bottom line

By streamlining time tracking, recruiting, payments, and communication, these tools empower companies to efficiently manage remote contractors, reduce administrative burdens, and maintain compliance across multiple regions.

What is contractor management software?

Contractor management software (CMS) is a cloud-based tool that helps businesses automate the processes involved in hiring, managing, and paying independent contractors. With a centralized platform, companies can streamline contractor onboarding, oversee assignments, and handle payments securely.

Benefits include:

• Access to larger pools of qualified contractors based on specific skills and credentials
• Automated onboarding that allows contractors to self-manage documentation and setup
• Fast mobilization of talent for projects, improving efficiency
• Simplified management of both on-site and remote work assignments
• Flexible, global e-payment options for seamless contractor payouts
• Enhanced control over contractor spend, with tools for forecasting and compliance tracking
• Improved communication and engagement with contractors through real-time updates

Additionally, CMS ensures compliance with tax laws and labor regulations by generating auditable records, reducing the risk of misclassification and reporting errors.

Best tools for managing contractors in 2024

Managing contractors efficiently is critical as businesses increasingly rely on remote and global talent. In 2024, contractor management tools offer solutions that streamline hiring, payments, compliance, and HR processes, ensuring seamless operations across different regions and worker types. Below are some of the best tools for managing contractors that cater to these evolving needs.

Deel Contractor

Deel Contractor is a powerful platform designed to streamline the hiring, managing, and paying of contractors globally, with a focus on compliance and flexible payment options. It helps businesses onboard contractors from over 150 countries while handling the complexities of international compliance, payment processing, and HR management. 

• Compliant onboarding: Contractors in 150+ countries can be onboarded through Deel’s system, which ensures all legal and regulatory documents are collected and compliant with local labor laws.
• Global payments: Deel offers 8 different payment options, including local currencies and crypto. Contractors can withdraw their earnings using services like Wise, Revolut, and Deel Card. Employers can process one bulk payment to handle all contractors, reducing admin time significantly.
• Expense and invoice management: Contractors can automatically generate invoices through the platform, and clients can approve expenses. All payments are synced with accounting systems, allowing for seamless financial tracking.
• Time tracking for PAYG contractors: Time tracking for PAYG contractors allows contractors to submit their hours through an intuitive platform that supports features like start and end times, breaks, and a timesheet view. Contractors can choose to submit their hours in bulk or use the clock in/out functionality, with their hours automatically translated into monetary payouts based on the approved time worked. The submitted hours integrate seamlessly with existing payment and payroll processes, ensuring consistency in billing and timely payouts for the work completed.
• Global HRIS integration: Deel consolidates HR tasks like tracking time off, managing documents, and automating onboarding tasks for both employees and contractors, all within one platform

Time Doctor

Time Doctor is a comprehensive time tracking tool designed to simplify the management of work hours and payroll for remote and distributed teams. By integrating seamlessly with Deel, Time Doctor ensures accurate time-tracking and payroll automation for businesses that operate on a pay-as-you-go basis. Its automated timesheets ensure precise tracking of work hours, minimizing errors from manual submissions and helping businesses optimize payroll processes for contractors and freelancers.

• Automated time tracking: Time Doctor tracks hours automatically, providing businesses with precise timesheets for accurate payroll calculations.
• Payroll integration: It integrates with Deel to automate batch payments and bulk billing, reducing admin work by syncing timesheets with payroll systems in one click.
• Real-time dashboards: Businesses can monitor productivity and schedule adherence, offering insights into contractor performance while ensuring accountability and compliance​

Hubstaff

Hubstaff is a time tracking and workforce management software primarily designed for managing remote and distributed teams. It helps companies monitor employee productivity, track work hours, and manage payroll for hourly workers. Key features include:

• Time tracking: Hubstaff lets employees and contractors log their work hours either automatically (with a start/stop timer) or manually, ensuring accurate records for payroll and project tracking.
• Productivity monitoring: The platform offers optional productivity monitoring tools like screenshots and activity tracking (keyboard/mouse usage), providing insights into employee performance. You can also adjust the settings to meet privacy preferences or compliance needs.
• Location tracking and geofencing: For field teams or remote workers, Hubstaff can track location in real-time. It allows geofencing, which automatically starts/stops time tracking when a worker enters or leaves a job site.
• Payroll automation: Hubstaff integrates with payment platforms like PayPal and Wise, automating payments to contractors based on the hours tracked. You can also set custom pay rates for each team member or project and handle multi-currency payments for global teams.
• Project management: Managers can assign tasks, track time spent on specific projects, and monitor task completion to ensure team members stay on schedule.
• Reporting: Hubstaff offers detailed reports on time spent, productivity, and project progress. Managers can also set budgets and get notified if hours or costs exceed limits.
• Integrations: Hubstaff works with project management tools like Trello, Jira, and Asana, as well as accounting platforms like QuickBooks, making it easy to streamline workflows across the business

JazzHR

JazzHR is primarily a recruitment software focused on streamlining the hiring process. It provides tools for posting job ads, managing candidates, and automating parts of the recruitment process. Key features include:

• Job posting: JazzHR allows users to post jobs to multiple job boards from one platform (like Indeed, Glassdoor, LinkedIn, etc.). You can customize job descriptions using templates, making it easy to update and modify postings.
• Applicant tracking: The system provides a centralized dashboard to manage applicants at every stage of the hiring process. Users can track candidates, organize them into categories (interviewed, hired, etc.), and filter through resumes using automated resume parsing.
• Collaborative hiring: You can involve your team in the hiring process by sharing feedback on candidates, assigning scores, and leaving internal comments. This streamlines decision-making as multiple team members can engage in the review process directly within the platform.
• Interview scheduling: JazzHR integrates with calendars to allow automatic interview scheduling, syncing directly with the candidate and interviewers’ availability.
• Offer letter management: The platform provides templates for offer letters and allows you to send them electronically, collecting e-signatures directly through the system. This keeps the hiring process seamless from start to finish.
• Reports and analytics: Users can generate detailed reports on recruiting metrics like time-to-hire and the effectiveness of various job boards. JazzHR also supports compliance reporting, which can help ensure you meet regulatory requirements.

Deel Contractor of Record

Deel Contractor of Record (CoR) helps businesses reduce the risks of misclassifying workers by serving as an agent of record, assuming the liability for compliance and legal risks.

• Worker classification: Deel assesses the proper classification of workers (contractor vs. employee) and advises businesses on compliance. This helps companies avoid penalties related to misclassification, which could otherwise result in fines and tax violations.
• Compliant contracts: Deel handles the creation of localized contracts and takes care of background checks, ensuring that every contractor operates under the correct legal framework.
• HR management: The platform centralizes HR tasks such as managing equipment provisioning, payments, and compliance monitoring, all in one system. It also offers Continuous Compliance™, monitoring local labor law changes and providing actionable insights.

Key features of contractor management software

Managing contractors across different countries and regions comes with unique challenges. While we've discussed some of the top tools available, let's dive into details—all the key features that make contractor management software so valuable for global businesses.

Contractor onboarding

Bringing contractors on board efficiently is key to maintaining momentum, especially for growing businesses. A good onboarding process should streamline tasks like signing contracts, gathering necessary documentation, and introducing contractors to project management systems. Automated onboarding features help businesses scale faster by reducing administrative work, allowing contractors to be up and running quickly.

Additionally, platforms that enable smooth data transfer from recruitment to onboarding ensure that no details are missed during the transition from candidate to active contractor.

Compliance and misclassification protection

Ensuring compliance extends beyond just onboarding. With different labor laws in different countries, misclassification of contractors can incur fines and even legal consequences. The usual case of contractor misclassification happens when a business incorrectly classifies an employee as a contractor, opening up that business to potential penalties by any government agency for failure to comply with worker protection laws.

Effective contractor management software provides tools like classification questionnaires or Contractor of Record (CoR) services to help businesses:

• Correctly classify workers
• Ensure compliance with local labor regulations
• Minimize the risk of lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny

Payment options for contractors

Having flexible means of payment and getting paid in a currency of choice is quite important to a contractor. And a happy contractor is a productive contractor.

The contractor management platforms with multi-currency payment support definitely help global contractors get paid easily without the extra hassle and fees related to the conversion of money or any delays. 

Best contractor management platforms may also give different methods for withdrawal, like global debit cards, local bank transfers, and even cryptocurrency, to suit varied preferences. Such flexibility helps businesses retain talent by giving them a seamless payment experience with contractors across the world.

Global payroll

While flexible payment options are critical for contractors, businesses need a streamlined payroll system to handle payments for multiple contractors across different countries. Since contractors typically manage their own taxes, the key need for businesses is efficient bulk payment processing rather than handling individual tax responsibilities.

Effective payroll software allows companies to:

• Pay multiple contractors in bulk, simplifying global payroll processes.
• Automate payments to ensure contractors receive their compensation on time.
• Support payments in multiple currencies, making it easier to pay contractors regardless of location.

This automation reduces administrative overhead for businesses and ensures a seamless payment process, allowing companies to focus on maintaining strong relationships with their contractors.

Automated invoicing

Manual invoicing can lead to errors and delays, especially when dealing with contractors in multiple regions. Automated invoicing software ensures accurate and timely invoices, improving efficiency for businesses and guaranteeing that contractors are paid correctly for their work.

These systems often generate invoices based on work submitted and approved, reducing the burden on contractors to track their billable hours manually. It’s a win-win, improving efficiency for businesses while ensuring contractors are compensated fairly and on time.

Time tracking and productivity monitoring

Tracking work hours is important for hourly contractors and for companies that bill based on time worked. Time tracking tools allow contractors to log their hours easily, and some advanced systems offer features like bulk hour submission or clock in/out functionality for convenience.

In addition, platforms offering productivity monitoring can give managers insights into how contractors are spending their time. This might include features like screenshots, activity levels, and even location tracking for field service teams. These insights help businesses optimize workloads and ensure contractors remain productive, while also providing transparency and accountability.

Tax support

Global contractors often face different tax obligations depending on their location. While contractor’s taxes are not their client’s direct responsibility, certain platforms offer support in that matter. These tools can assist with tax document collection and offer guidance on managing tax regulations across various countries. This helps contractors stay compliant with local tax authorities, reducing the risk of future complications.

For businesses, such features also streamline the process of generating accurate tax reports, ensuring that both the company and its contractors meet their tax obligations.

Perks and benefits for contractors

While typically reserved for full-time employees, offering perks and benefits to contractors can be a valuable differentiator. Some platforms allow contractors to access health benefits, insurance, or financial perks like advances on payments. These features help businesses attract and retain top contractor talent by offering more than just competitive pay.

See also: Hiring and Managing Contractors: A Global Client's Guide

Leverage Hubstaff, JazzHR and Deel for ultimate contractor management experience

By combining Deel with Hubstaff and JazzHR, you’re equipped with a powerful, all-in-one solution for contractor management. These tools together provide everything you need to manage contractors seamlessly—from recruitment to productivity tracking to global payments—ensuring efficiency and scalability for your growing business.

Schedule a call with our experts today to see Deel in action and take your contractor management operations to the next level.