How we calculate and rank EOR costs

What we calculate

For every salary + country + provider combination, we compute the total monthly employer outlay as:

total_monthly =
    gross_salary_local
  + statutory_employer_contributions(country, gross_salary_local)   # local currency, no FX markup
  + platform_monthly_fee_usd × usd_to_billing × (1 + fx_spread)      # FX spread applies only to the USD platform fee
  + amortised_one_time_fees_usd × usd_to_billing × (1 + fx_spread) / expected_tenure_months

Employee-side burden is settled in local currency, so no cross-currency spread is added twice. Where a country has statutory 13th- or 14th-month pay (Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Indonesia), the annual cash base is scaled by payPeriods / 12 before employer contributions are applied.

Data sources

• Statutory employer contributions: each country's tax authority and social-security agency (SSA, HMRC, DRV, URSSAF, INPS, ATO, CPF Board, SGK, EPFO, SSS, IMSS, ANAF, ONSS, NAV, ČSSZ, KWSP, SSO, BPJS, VSI, Segurança Social, virk.dk, Skatteverket, Nenkin.go.jp), plus the OECD Taxing Wages dataset and PwC / KPMG country tax summaries as cross-checks.
• Platform monthly fees: each provider's public pricing page, captured on the date shown on the provider's pricing route.
• FX rates: mid-market rates. Provider FX spreads are our estimates — no major EOR publishes a live spread(WhichPayroll's 17-provider benchmark found 0/17 disclose it). Always confirm the applied spread with the provider in writing.
• Country deep-dives: statutory contributions, mandatory benefits, and termination rules sourced from local labour codes; dates of last review are shown on each country page.

How rankings work

Provider cards are ordered by lowest total monthly cost for the salary and country you enter. The badge labelled "Lowest total cost" marks the cheapest provider for the current inputs and updates on every change. Ranking is arithmetic — we do not accept payment for placement, and commission rates do not influence order. Details and legal basis on our Affiliate Disclosure page.

What we DO model

• Statutory employer social security and payroll levies, with brackets/caps where applicable.
• Statutory 13th- and 14th-month pay via payPeriods (Portugal 14, Spain 14, Italy 14, Brazil 13, Mexico 13, Colombia 12 + accruals, Indonesia 13 THR, Belgium 13.92).
• Platform monthly fee, one-time setup and offboarding fees (amortised over 24 months by default).
• Refundable security deposit expressed in months of total monthly cost.
• Cross-currency FX spread on the USD-denominated platform fee only.

What we don't model

• Volume discounts negotiated with individual providers.
• Discretionary bonuses (Japan semi-annual bonuses, UK/US variable pay).
• Accrual-based severance and termination penalties (Brazil FGTS 40+10%, UAE end-of-service gratuity, Turkey kıdem tazminatı, Chile 1-month-per-year severance) — flagged in the country deep-dive but not in the monthly cost.
• Employee-side income tax (we only model the employer-side cost).
• Equity, private medical benefits, and one-off relocation expenses.
• Country-specific risk-class variables (Switzerland BVG age band, Colombia ARL by activity, South Africa COIDA risk class) — we use a mid-range default and flag the range on the country page.

Update cadence

Platform fees and FX assumptions are reviewed monthly. Country statutory rates are reviewed quarterly and whenever a country publishes a budget or tax-table change. Each country page shows its individual last-reviewed date.

Corrections policy

If you spot an outdated rate, a missing statutory contribution, or a provider fee that has changed, email admin@eorlens.com with a primary source. Corrections are applied within five business days and the country page's last-reviewed date is bumped. Material corrections are noted at the bottom of the affected page.