How Our Payroll Services Work at Intercompany Solutions

At Intercompany Solutions we are mostly known for our Dutch company incorporation services, but did you know we also offer highly specialized payroll services as well? If you would like to hire staff in the Netherlands, you can do this via a third party like us, which actually saves you a lot of time and hassle. Hiring employees in another country can be quite complicated due to all the laws and regulations involved, which is why payrolling is such a popular concept. You can count on us for services such as registration with Dutch tax authorities, monthly salary processing and payslips, employer and employee tax declarations, social security contributions, annual tax statements, support with Dutch employment law compliance and integration with accounting and reporting systems. If you would like to know more about our array of services, please feel free to contact us with any questions you might have.

Summary: Payroll services in the Netherlands allow foreign companies to hire employees without handling complex issues like legal, tax, and administrative requirements themselves. Intercompany Solutions manages things like contracts, salaries, compliance, and ongoing support, while you stay in control of daily operations. Our process is structured but simple, with a step-by-step approach and integration with services like company formation and accounting. This makes it easier to enter the Dutch market, scale your team and adjust your setup as your business grows.

Step	What we handle
1. Intake	We review your situation, business setup and hiring plans
2. Onboarding	The selected employee is added to the payroll structure
3. Contract setup	A contract following Dutch employment law is prepared and signed
4. Salary processing	Monthly salaries, payslips and reporting are taken care of
5. Tax and contributions	Wage tax and social security are calculated, withheld and paid
6. Compliance monitoring	We keep track of changing rules and adjust where needed
7. Ongoing support	A fixed point of contact for questions along the way
8. Integration	Easy to combine with BV setup, VAT registration and accounting

What are payroll services?

If you have a business that operates in the Netherlands, you might have to hire staff at some point. Hiring employees as a foreign entrepreneur in the Netherlands can seem rather straightforward at first, until you really get into the details. Finding the right person is one part of it, but everything around it can take more time and knowledge than you expected. Contracts need to be set up correctly, payroll taxes have to be handled, and there are local rules that don’t always match what you’re used to in your own country. For many foreign entrepreneurs, that’s where things start to slow down a bit. Not because they don’t want to move forward, but because there are a lot of pieces to arrange before the first employee can even start. 

And that’s where payroll services can make a difference. Instead of building everything yourself from the ground up, you step into a structure that is already there. At Intercompany Solutions, the idea is to keep things simple on your side, while making sure everything behind the scenes is handled properly. You don’t have to learn the Dutch payroll system step by step or worry about missing something important. We handle the formal employer side, which includes contracts, processing salaries, and adhering to local laws. You continue to concentrate on your business at the same time. You oversee your staff, direct the work, and carry on expanding your operations in the Netherlands. It’s a practical way to get started without overcomplicating the first steps. In the following sections, we’ll walk you through how the process works, what we can handle for you, and how everything fits together in practice.

Our easy to follow step-by-step process

So how does the payroll process actually work once you decide to move forward? In practice, it’s quite structured and therefore doesn’t feel complicated for you at all. It usually starts with a short intake. This is where we look at your situation, what kind of employee you want to hire, and how your business is set up. Nothing too heavy, just making sure everything is clear before the next step. After that, the onboarding process begins. Once you’ve selected your employee, we take care of bringing them into the payroll structure. That includes collecting the necessary information and making sure everything is registered correctly. 

Then comes the contract setup. The employee receives an agreement that follows Dutch employment law, so everything is arranged properly from the start. From there, the ongoing part begins. Salaries are processed, taxes and contributions are handled, and payslips are prepared. This continues each month, without you having to manage it yourself. At the same time, support doesn’t stop after the first setup. If something changes, or if you have questions along the way, there is always ongoing assistance available. This can be about anything ranging from regulations, practical situations, or simply making sure everything keeps running smoothly. What you notice on your side is that the process moves forward step by step, without requiring you to figure out each detail yourself. We make sure it is structured in the background for you, but kept simple at the same time in how you experience it.

How our payroll services work

A big part of payroll services is simply taking work off your plate. There are quite a few things that need to be handled once someone is employed, and most of them need to be repeated every month. Salaries need to be processed correctly, taxes have to be calculated and paid, and everything needs to be reported in line with Dutch requirements. If you’re not familiar with the system, it can take time to understand how all those pieces fit together. With payroll services, that responsibility shifts. Our company will take care of the full payroll process for you. That includes preparing and processing salaries, handling wage tax and social security contributions, and making sure everything is submitted correctly. 

Contracts are also arranged in line with Dutch employment law, so there is a proper legal foundation from the start. Compliance plays a role here as well. Regulations can change, and it’s important that everything stays up to date. That’s part of what we monitor and manage in the background. For you, that means fewer things to keep track of. You don’t have to check deadlines, calculate contributions, or wonder if something has been missed. At the same time, it’s not about removing you from the process completely. It’s more about handling the technical and administrative side, so you can focus on the practical side of running your business. Over time, that makes things feel a lot more manageable, especially if payroll is not something you deal with every day.

What you control in the end

Even though a payroll provider handles the formal employer side, you still stay fully involved in how your business runs. That part doesn’t really change. You decide who you want to hire, what their role looks like, and how they fit into your team. The daily work stays exactly where you expect it to be. You give direction, set priorities, and stay in contact with your employee as you normally would. From their perspective, they are simply working for you, even if it’s not technically the truth on paper. That’s usually what people notice once everything is set up: it doesn’t feel distant or complicated in day-to-day practice.

The main difference sits more in the background. In simple terms, this basically means that you can concentrate on the actual work, whilst the payroll provider handles administrative duties. This also covers your clients, your projects, and the change of your staff throughout time. So, you're simply shifting some tasks to a company that can do these more effectively, and you're definitely not giving up control. For many companies, that already makes a big difference. It basically removes a layer of things you don’t necessarily want to deal with every day.

At the same time, you’re still closely involved in how things evolve. If the employee role changes, or if you want to expand your team, those decisions stay with you. Payrolling doesn’t take that away, it simply supports the surrounding structure. That’s also why it works well in practice, because it doesn’t interrupt the way you normally manage people. It just makes the setup behind it a bit lighter. In the end, it’s really all about balance: you keep control over your business and your team, whilst the more technical side of employment is handled elsewhere. That combination is what allows many companies to move forward without feeling slowed down by the details.

Why Intercompany Solutions is different

There are quite a few payroll providers out there, so you might ask yourself what makes us different? A big part of it comes down to whom the service is built for. We mainly work with foreign entrepreneurs who want to enter the Dutch market. That means that our approach is not just focused on payroll itself, but on the bigger picture around it that concerns foreign entrepreneurs. In practice, hiring someone is often just one step in a larger plan. At the same time, you might still be setting up your company, arranging things like registrations, or simply figuring out how your business structure should look in the Netherlands. That’s where things connect.

Instead of treating payroll as a separate service, it’s essentially part of a broader setup. For example, if you don’t have a Dutch BV yet, that can be arranged alongside payroll. If you do have one, payroll can be integrated into that structure without needing to coordinate between multiple parties. That saves time and also avoids lots of confusion, because you don’t have to explain your situation over and over again to different parties. Everything stays in one place. Another difference is communication. Working across countries can already come with gaps, especially when it comes to legal and administrative topics. At Intercompany Solutions, we work with international clients on a daily basis, which means communication is kept clear and practical. You’re not left trying to translate local rules on your own. Things are explained in a way that makes sense from your perspective and not just from a Dutch legal point of view.

There’s also the ongoing side of things. It’s not just about getting started and establishing a company and hiring staff, but also (and even much more) about keeping everything running smoothly over time. This means that questions might come up, situations continually change, and sometimes you just need some advice in general. In such cases, it helps to have a point of contact who already knows your setup. That makes it easier to adjust when needed, without starting from scratch each time. In the end, the difference is not just in the service itself, but in how everything fits together. Payroll is one part of the services we offer, but it connects to company formation, compliance, and ongoing support. Having that combined approach tends to make things a lot more straightforward, especially when you’re operating from abroad.

Integration with other services

One thing that often comes up, is how payroll fits with everything else you need to take care of as a (foreign) business owner when operating in the Netherlands. Think of it like this: hiring employees is usually not a standalone step. It connects to how your company is set up, how you handle taxes, and how your administration is organized. If those parts are handled separately by different companies and/or third parties, it can take more time to keep everything aligned because you'll have to keep up with every single one of them. Information has to be shared back and forth, and sometimes things don’t connect as smoothly as expected.

As we already explained in the previous paragraph, we combine payroll with many other services, which makes the entire process a bit more straightforward. For example, if you are setting up a Dutch BV, payroll can be arranged as part of that same setup. The same applies to things like VAT registrations or accounting. When those services are connected, it becomes easier to keep a clear overview. From a practical point of view, this mostly means less coordination on your side. You’re not managing several separate processes at once. Instead, things are handled in a way that fits together from the start. That doesn’t make everything completely effortless, but it does remove a lot of extra work. Over time, having those services connected also helps when something changes, since we can take care of these for you too. The structure is already there, and adjustments can be made without having to rebuild everything around it.

Transparency & communication

When working with a payroll company, clarity matters more than people sometimes expect. It’s not just about getting things done, but also about knowing what is happening and what to expect. Especially if you’re working from another country, small uncertainties can quickly turn into bigger questions. What are you paying for exactly? Who do you contact if something changes? Those things need to be clear from the start.

At Intercompany Solutions, the focus is on keeping communication straightforward. You’re not dealing with a system where everything feels distant or unclear. There is always a fixed point of contact who understands your situation and can answer questions when they come up. That makes a huge difference over time. Instead of explaining your setup again and again, you can simply reach out and continue where you left off.

Pricing is another part of that clarity. Payroll costs can sometimes feel confusing if they are broken up into many separate elements. By working with a clear structure, it becomes easier to understand what you’re paying each month. That doesn’t mean anything ever changes, but it does mean there are fewer surprises along the way. In practice, this mostly comes down to communication that stays consistent. You know where you stand, and you know who to contact if something needs attention. For many companies, especially when operating across borders, that sense of clarity is just as important as the service itself.

A case example

It can help to picture how this works in a real situation, even if every case is a bit different. Say a company from outside the EU is looking at the Netherlands as a next step. They don’t have a local setup yet, but they’ve already found one or two people they would like to hire. That’s usually where things get a bit stuck. Hiring sounds simple, but then the questions start. Do we need a Dutch company first? What about contracts, taxes, all of that? It’s not always clear right away. Instead of waiting until everything is fully set up, they decide to start with a payroll solution. That way, the employees can begin working without delay. 

The payroll provider takes care of the formal side. Contracts are arranged, salaries are processed, and the required taxes are handled in the background. This means that, on the company’s side, things gradually and easily move forward as planned. They stay in contact with the employees, guide the work, and start building their presence in the Dutch market. After some time, usually a few months, the picture becomes clearer. Maybe the market responds well, maybe there is more work coming in. At that point, setting up a Dutch BV starts to make more sense. Because they are already working with the same company, that step doesn’t feel like starting over. It’s more of a continuation. The structure is already partly there, it just shifts into a more permanent setup. That’s often how it goes in practice. Not everything decided upfront, but step by step, based on how things actually develop.

Are our payroll services the next step for your company?

So how do payroll services at Intercompany Solutions fit into the bigger picture of your desired Dutch company and possible employment needs? In the end, it’s about making things workable from the start, without adding more complexity than needed. Hiring in the Netherlands comes with its own rules and responsibilities, and those don’t always line up with how things are done in other countries. That’s where many companies slow down. Not because they don’t want to move forward, but because there are too many things to figure out at once. At this point, payroll services help to bridge that gap. You can hire, start working with your team, and build your activities, while the formal side is handled in the background.

At the same time, it’s not just about payroll on its own. It connects to how your business is set up and how you plan to grow. Some companies use it as a starting point, others combine it with their existing structure, and some transition later to their own Dutch entity. In essence, there isn’t one fixed path, but it depends on your situation and how your plans develop over time. That’s also where having the right support can make a difference. At our company, payroll is usually not something that stands on its own. It often connects to other steps, like setting up a Dutch BV or getting the administrative side in order. For many foreign entrepreneurs, those things come together at the same time. So instead of treating each part separately, it’s looked at as one process that needs to make sense as a whole.

If you’re thinking about hiring in the Netherlands and not completely sure what fits best for you, it can help to go through your situation step by step. What you need now might not be the same a few months from now, and that’s fine. The idea is to find something that works for you for where you (feel you) are at the moment, without making things unnecessarily more complicated than they actually need to be. So, if you feel ready to explore your options, you can always get in touch with our expert team at Intercompany Solutions. We can go over your plans together, decide whether these make sense and see what kind of setup would make you happy, both for now and a bit further down the line.