Employ
RecruitTopSource Worldwide EOR Review
TopSource Worldwide Review Summary
Score 8.5 out of 10
Currency
USD & GBP
Monthly fees
$520 per employee/month
Payment options
Credit and debit card
As a certified HR professional, I have onboarded multiple employees with TopSource Worldwide EOR over the years. TopSource Worldwide offers many great services and can help employers hire internationally, but it also has some flaws in its offerings.
Here, based on my first-hand experience onboarding employees with TopSource Worldwide and other EOR providers, I give my take on TopSource Worldwide’s offerings in 2025.
TopSource Worldwide Company Overview
TopSource Worldwide is an employer services provider with over 400 employees and more than 1600 clients worldwide. This company evolved from a payroll bureau into a global payroll and employment services provider. TopSource was founded in 2003 and began offering outsourced payroll solutions for clients in the UK and India.
Growing through mergers and acquisitions, it became TopSource Worldwide and added EOR or Employer of Record, accounting, payroll, and entity services globally. The company is now headquartered in London and maintains offices in the US, South Korea, and India.
TopSource works with businesses large and small. While it started as a payroll provider, this review will focus on what has become the company’s main business which is EOR services. Through its network of partners and entities around the world, this provider is able to support hiring in over 180 countries and territories, giving it nearly complete global coverage.
This provider chooses not to reveal its fee structure online which can make it challenging to figure out how much it will charge without a quote. In this review, we’ll look deeply into the services TopSource Worldwide offers to help you figure out if this is the best service provider for your organization’s needs.
TopSource Worldwide Key Features
TopSource Worldwide has been around for over two decades and has expanded its business to include many services in just about every country around the world. Its key features include:
Employer of Record (EOR)
One of TopSource Worldwide’s main services is EOR or Employer of Record service. When clients want to hire full-time employees (FTEs) in other countries, they can do so legally and compliantly by engaging TopSource as an EOR. The provider has a network of partners and owned entities in over 180 countries and territories globally, and these entities have become the legal employers of local staff in each country. TopSource is able to enter into contracts directly with employees but direct them to work exclusively for its clients.
In this relationship, the client plays the role of the workplace employer and directs the employee’s schedule, tasks, and working hours. At the same time, TopSource, as the EOR, takes on full responsibility for managing the employee’s HR-related needs.
Once a candidate is selected by the client, their name is given to TopSource which creates a locally compliant contract and enters into it with the new hire. When that’s complete, the provider begins the onboarding process, collecting the employee’s personal and banking information and entering them into its databases for easy management.
From there, the employee starts working for the client while TopSource manages their payroll, benefits administration, paid time off, and other administration concerns over the long term. In this way, the client doesn’t need to burden its HR department with these functions. In fact this makes it possible for some smaller organizations to run entire international teams without even having an HR department at all.
TopSource Worldwide, as the legal employer of the client’s local staff in each country, also has the responsibility of maintaining compliance with all local laws. Its local experts keep abreast of changes in legislation to ensure that its contracts are always fully compliant. It also makes sure that employees receive the mandatory benefits they’re entitled to, usually via their social security contributions.
Some service providers display their prices online, while others ask potential clients to contact them for tailored quotes. TopSource is one of the latter, but it doesn’t reveal how much it charges for its EOR services. However, it does provide a salary calculator that can be used to estimate prices for international hires, including EOR fees. These fees seem to vary widely by country, from 5-70% of an employee’s salary. Since these numbers aren’t certain, however, it’s difficult to compare these fees to those of other providers.
PEO
A similar service to an EOR is a PEO or Professional Employment Organization. A PEO essentially allows a client to outsource its HR functions to be managed by a group of experienced professionals. They handle administration, payroll, benefits, leave, and other concerns while the client acts as the workplace employer. However, a PEO takes the role of a co-employer rather than a full legal employer, as in the case of an EOR.
TopSource Worldwide offers PEO services for clients who already own entities in various countries around the world. This allows them to keep more direct control over their employees while still outsourcing their HR needs. TopSource does not, however, give any indication of the price for this service, and clients will have to ask for tailored quotes based on the number of employees they have and where they’re located.
Contractor Management
Not all international team members need to be FTEs. Independent contractors can be effectively used to provide short-term work for non-durable tasks or to provide specialized expertise or technical skills when required. Most EOR providers also manage contractors around the world including their onboarding, invoices, and payments. However, TopSource does not indicate if it also manages these functions though it may do so through its global payroll service.
Recruitment
Few EOR service providers also offer recruitment services as this is seen as a complicated and specialized function.
TopSource Worldwide, too, doesn’t employ any recruiters, though it does have a network of international employees it has worked with in the past who it can recommend.
Its platform, however, includes a useful applicant tracking system (ATS). This feature allows clients to create job orders, link to career websites, add applicants and candidates, and schedule interviews and appointments with them.
It can also integrate with the careers page of the client’s website so that applicant data can be directly collected by the ATS. While clients have to source their own candidates, these tools make it much easier to do so.
Payroll
The other key service that TopSource Worldwide provides is managed payroll. It offers local payroll services in both India and the UK for companies that want to completely outsource this function. Even more importantly, it handles global payroll for companies that have teams of workers distributed around the world.
TopSource’s Global payroll works like this. All employees are first onboarded to its platform, and their salary and benefits equations are built automatically. Then, for each pay period, their time and attendance data are collected, usually by integrating the TopSource platform with the client’s biometric or swipe card data collection system.
From this data, the platform runs its automatic calculations to determine each employee’s gross salary, tax withholdings, and deductions. It ends up with net salaries, which TopSource pays out to each employee. The provider also makes tax payments and social security contributions as appropriate, based on the rules for each country. Using these automatic calculations, payroll is run accurately, and payments are made in strict compliance with the tax and labor laws of each country.
This outsourced payroll service lets clients easily keep track of payments to their employees, which are normally made by bank transfer. The system automatically records all payroll information and also generates detailed payslips for workers’ records. It can also be used to manage expense claims for employees who need to travel or otherwise be repaid for their out-of-pocket expenses. Once again, the fees for local and global payroll services are not publicly available, and clients will have to ask TopSource for quotes.
Accounting
In addition to payroll, TopSource can also manage full accounting services for its clients. This allows them to outsource their entire accounting departments to the provider which claims that it can reduce accounting costs by up to 50%.
TopSource works with professional accountants in each country where it offers services around the world. These experienced professionals have complete knowledge of tax and reporting regulations in their respective countries and ensure that all accounting is performed compliantly.
Global Entity Services
Most EORs take great pains to point out how difficult and expensive it is to establish entities in foreign countries to make their EOR services look more attractive by comparison. TopSource Worldwide, however, sees these two options as complementary and recognizes that many organizations may wish to take advantage of both of them at different times.
For example, a startup might find EOR services helpful when hiring international teams for their initial development. As their businesses grow, however, they may find it necessary to establish themselves in different markets and would require their own entities to do so.
TopSource offers a unique service to help clients set up entities around the world. This includes not only registration but also establishing systems for management, tax collections and payments, social security, and reporting to various authorities. Setting up an entity abroad can take a lot of time and resources but by outsourcing this activity to TopSource Worldwide, clients can do this a lot more quickly and efficiently.
Platform
Like nearly all competitors in the HR services space these days, TopSource bases its service provision around an online cloud-based platform. The TopSource platform is called Portico, and it’s a powerful application suite that can be used as a standalone HRMS or human resources management system. Portico helps clients with their HR and payroll management and also functions as a document workflow and storage solution.
Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) will find that this platform has the full functionality they require to manage their entire teams both locally and internationally. It has features for managing HR data, time and attendance, payroll data, training, reporting, and much more. It offers service portals for both employees and administrators. Admin can manage payroll, expenses, training, recruitment, leave schedules, and more, while employees can access their timesheets, payslips, and PTO allowances.
Portico also provides a mobile app that lets both iOS and Android device users access the platform while on the go.
Admins can set permissions levels so that employees and managers at different levels can use the system as required. Portico can integrate with Salesforce out-of-the-box, and engineers can design custom integrations with clients’ software to help them easily and smoothly transfer data to and from their software stacks. This platform encrypts all user data in motion and at rest and uses encrypted passwords and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to help keep data secure.
Resources
Like most of the competition, TopSource Worldwide provides its clients and potential clients with some useful resources to increase its value proposition. These resources include salary calculators for many different countries to help clients work out the costs of hiring employees around the world.
It also has an extensive blog with articles on topics related to HR, payroll, hiring, and international employment. Finally, it provides access to whitepapers and case studies relating to many of the same topics.
TopSource Worldwide Reviews
The average scores (as of the time of writing) were:
- TopSource Worldwide Glassdoor = 4.1/5 (46 reviews)
- TopSource Worldwide G2 = 2.8/5 (4 reviews)
TopSource Worldwide Pros and Cons
All providers offer slightly different services and provide them in different ways which creates a specific set of advantages and disadvantages. TopSource Worldwide’s pros and cons include:
- Pros
Extensive Features
The Portico platform includes a large range of features which enables it to be used as a standalone HRMS for SMBs.
Global Coverage
TopSource provides EOR and global payroll services in over 180 countries and territories through a network of partners and owned entities.
Platform Integrations
The Portico platform integrates with Salesforce out of the box and custom integrations can be built for clients to simply data transfer with their other software.
Mobile App
TopSource has a mobile app for iOS and Android users that gives employees and admins convenient access to the platform.
Entity Services
Unlike most EORs, TopSource also offers entity registration for clients who need to expand to other markets.
- Cons
No Fees Posted Online
While many competitors show their service prices online, TopSource chooses not to and instead asks potential clients to ask for tailored quotes. This can take time and makes it less convenient to compare this provider with others.
No recruitment
TopSource doesn’t offer any active recruiting services. However, its Portico platform does include features like an ATS to help clients perform their own recruiting.
Unique Selling Point of TopSource Worldwide EOR
TopSource Worldwide’s unique selling point is its range of services, from accounting and global payroll to EOR and even entity setup. This range allows clients to use the same service provider to address their needs at different stages of their business development.
Remote People Score for TopSource Worldwide
9.5/10
Our expert score for TopSource Worldwide
I came to this score by considering the following components in the following weightings:
Employer of Record features
25%
Payroll features
10%
HR features
10%
Compliance features
10%
Platform features
10%
Pricing
20%
User reviews
15%
For each component, TopSource Worldwide received the following score:
Employer of Record features
22/25
Payroll features
9/10
HR features
10/10
Compliance features
10/10
Platform features
10/10
Pricing
20/20
User reviews
14/15
Overall Assessment: TopSource Worldwide
TopSource Worldwide is a good choice for companies with long-term plans to expand their international presence. They can start with EOR services to build teams abroad and eventually register entities in other markets while letting TopSource manage their payroll or entire accounting function.
TopSource Worldwide EOR Alternatives
Horizons
Horizons provides broad international reach, enabling hiring in more than 180 countries while offering in-house recruitment services to support business growth. With pricing starting at $299 per employee, it delivers an affordable solution for companies expanding globally.
💡 Read our in-depth review: Horizons Review
Oyster
Exploring alternatives to TopSource Worldwide? Oyster offers a comprehensive EOR solution with built-in compliance, payroll, and global HR tools in a user-friendly platform.
With robust customer support and automation, it’s an excellent option for companies expanding internationally.
💡 Read our in-depth review: Oyster Review
Safeguard Global
Safeguard Global and TopSource Worldwide both provide high-quality EOR services, each excelling in different areas. Safeguard Global sets itself apart with extensive country coverage, AI-powered HR tools, and strategic workforce solutions.
For businesses seeking a scalable and expert-backed approach to global hiring, Safeguard Global could be the ideal fit.
💡 Read our in-depth review: Safeguard Global Review
Deel
Deel is a top Employer of Record (EOR) provider, allowing companies to hire and pay employees across 150+ countries while ensuring full compliance. Its integrated platform simplifies payroll, localized contracts, and tax management for effortless global workforce operations.
For those exploring alternatives to TopSource Worldwide, Deel delivers powerful features designed for growing businesses.
💡 Read our in-depth review: Deel Review
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, TopSource Worldwide is a global payroll service provider and can manage payroll in over 180 countries and territories across the globe. It’s not clear, however, if this service is only for full-time employees or if the company can also support contractor hiring.
TopSource provides a salary calculator to help clients estimate the total cost of hiring employees in different countries. While it doesn’t post its fee structure online, this calculator suggests that EOR fees could run from 10-70% of an employee’s salary depending on the country.
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