When reviewing options for pay and bill, most agencies find themselves weighing up two distinct models: SaaS vs managed pay and bill.
Because both approaches can be highly effective, we provide both. The challenge we help you to address is understanding which model best aligns with your growth ambitions, internal capabilities and operational priorities.
The SaaS Pay & Bill Model
With a SaaS model, your recruitment business purchases access to our market-leading software platform, Evertime, and manages the pay and bill process internally.
Evertime is feature-rich and continually developing, enabling you to process timesheets, payroll, invoicing, reporting and related back-office activities, while your team remains responsible for operating the platform and managing day-to-day processes. Many agencies like the high degree of control and cost-effectiveness this SaaS model offers, and they are happy to hire and manage the required staff.
Is SAAS Right For You?
A SaaS approach often appeals to businesses that:
- Have established pay and bill teams.
- Possess strong internal operational expertise.
- Want direct control over processes.
- Have sufficient resources to support future growth.
The success of a SaaS model depends heavily on the strength of the team using it. Evertime is a highly capable platform and, whilst intuitive, it still requires skilled people to manage process, exceptions and compliance.
Whilst Evertime enables you to manage your pay and bill independently, you’re certainly not alone. Our team provides the hands-on support you need to get up and running and to get the most out of the system’s capabilities.
The Managed Pay & Bill Solution
With a managed service model, the use of Evertime is combined with operational expertise and our specialist, highly experienced team becomes responsible for delivering pay and bill on your behalf.
Building on our established and proven systems and processes, our service will be configured to meet your company’s specific needs. Routine tasks will be managed for you, including payroll processing, billing management, timesheet administration, reporting and compliance oversight.
This approach reduces the burden on internal teams and means you can focus on fee-earning work rather than this complex area of recruitment back office.
Is A Managed Service Right For You?
A managed service model often appeals to businesses that:
- Are experiencing rapid growth.
- Have limited internal payroll expertise.#
- Want to reduce operational complexity.
- Need greater scalability.
- Wish to focus resources on revenue-generating activities.
Considering Cost-Effectiveness
When evaluating cost of the SaaS model, many agencies focus solely on software subscription fees. However, software is only one component of the overall investment. Associated costs include payroll and accounting staff salaries, training and onboarding, compliance management, management oversight and system administration.
With a managed service, the service fee may appear higher than a standalone software licence, but the overall cost comparison can be very different once the above has been calculated.
Whilst cost is always a consideration, the primary driver should be determining which option delivers the greatest value, operational efficiency and growth potential for your business.
SaaS vs Managed Pay and Bill – Considerations
1. Resource Requirements
A SaaS solution requires people to operate it effectively. As contractor numbers grow, payroll teams must process larger volumes, handle more queries and manage increasingly complex workflows.
Your strategy may be to build internal capability. However, if you want to keep your back office headcount to a minimum, a managed service will remove these headaches and free up time to focus on activities that directly drive growth.
2. Compliance Responsibilities
Pay and bill sit at the centre of several compliance obligations.
With a SaaS model, responsibility for compliance remains largely within your agency. Internal teams must ensure processes remain aligned with legislative requirements, maintain accurate records and manage audit readiness. This approach can work well for organisations with experienced payroll and compliance teams.
Our managed pay and bill solution includes compliance support as part of the service. We proactively monitor regulatory developments, maintain best-practice processes and help reduce operational risk.
3. Scalability
The right solution should support not only current operations but also future ambitions. Your business plan will help you decide which pay and bill solution to go for.
What happens if contractor volumes double? Will additional payroll staff be required? Can existing processes cope with increased complexity? Will more management oversight be needed?
If you do not wish to add headcount and management, our managed service is designed with scalability in mind. As transaction volumes increase, operational support can scale at pace.
4. Look To Your Business Plan
Both approaches can deliver excellent outcomes when aligned with the needs of your business.
A mature recruitment business with an experienced operations team may gain significant value from our Evertime SaaS platform as it acts as a powerful enabler and provides complete control and flexibility.
A fast-growing agency focused on expansion may achieve better results through our managed service as it reduces the need to hire more back office staff and ensure they are operating correctly. It also allows you to scale at pace.
The best choice depends on your plans for your agency’s growth, so look to your business plan before you decide.
