Project reference · Cross-border deployment
Two contracts, one assignment, and an advance that came out even.
A European engineering group wanted an experienced manager from abroad in its Ukrainian office, paid partly by the Ukrainian company and partly by the parent. We employed the manager, signed one agreement with each of the two companies, and ran the pay every month from advances the client approved. When the manager moved on, the last advance matched the last month's cost.
2 service agreements, one with each of the client's companies
Structure
10 monthly pay runs, from the first month to the last working day
Payroll
2 advances from the parent that covered eight of those months
Cash flow
Even advance and actual cost when the assignment ended
Close
The shape of it
Ten months, two payers, one employer
After two monthly invoices the parent chose to pay ahead. Each month we set the actual cost against the advance, so the end needed no extra invoice and no refund.
The brief
What the client actually needed
The manager was already working in Ukraine with us as the employer when the client's Ukrainian office offered a role. The client wanted the local part of the pay to run through its Ukrainian company under Ukrainian rules, and the rest to come from the parent. It did not want to become the manager's employer in two countries for one assignment.
We priced two ways of doing it, then met the manager and the client's local director with drafts of both agreements in hand. The client chose to keep us as the only employer: one agreement with the Ukrainian company for the local part, one with the parent for the rest, and a monthly calculation that both could check.
The first pay run came at the end of the first month. From then on every month followed the same steps.
Why it matters
One person, two payers, one pay day
Someone who works in Ukraine for a foreign group needs a Ukrainian contract, Ukrainian tax and reports, and an employer who pays on time even when the money comes from two companies in two currencies. We kept one employer for the person, and gave each of the client's companies its own agreement, its own invoice and its own monthly act. Neither company had to employ the manager, and neither had to wait for the other.
The hard parts
Where it gets difficult
A contract the local lawyer could sign
The Ukrainian company's lawyer reworked the agreement clause by clause, in the local language. We agreed each change in writing, including who pays for business trips, before anyone signed.
A service list the accountants accepted
The local agreement listed eleven consulting services. Each monthly act named the services actually given that month, worded with the client's accountant.
Paying ahead instead of month by month
After two months the parent asked for one invoice for the rest of the year, so the pay never had to wait for a transfer. We agreed, on one condition: actual cost would be set against the advance every month.
A cost that moved with the exchange rate
Part of the pay was fixed in local currency and part in another, so the monthly cost changed with the rate. The client received each month's calculation and the running balance of its advance.
Trips abroad as approved costs
When the manager travelled to the parent company, the client booked the flights and we paid them. Daily allowances were approved by the local director before the trip, as the agreement required.
An ending agreed on one day
Notice went to both companies on the same day, with the same last working day. We closed both agreements, and the final month's pay used up exactly what was left of the advance.
What we did
Design, contract, run, prepay, close
- Month 0 — Design. Two structures priced, a cost calculation, and drafts of both agreements reviewed with the manager and the client in one meeting.
- Months 0–2 — Contract. An agreement with the parent signed in the first weeks; the local agreement and its annexes finished with the Ukrainian company's lawyer.
- Months 1–10 — Run. Every month: a calculation, an invoice and an act to the Ukrainian company, pay and taxes paid, travel and leave recorded.
- Months 3 and 8 — Prepay. Two advances from the parent, with a reconciliation of advance against actual cost every month.
- Month 10 — Close. Notice to both companies, both agreements ended on the agreed date, and an advance that came out even.
The client had two companies and one question: who pays what, and when. Every month it had the answer on paper.
How we work
We do not show you another company’s name
The client and its people are not named here, and they will not be named in a meeting either. We are glad to talk this project through in detail. What we will not do is discuss the last client that way with you, or you with the next one.
Next step
Bringing a manager into your Ukrainian office, paid from more than one place?
Tell us who pays which part, the start date and the monthly budget. We will show you the agreements, the monthly calculation and the exit, line by line, before anything starts.