The 10 Best Payroll Services in Tbilisi

Two pricing shapes dominate. Dedicated payroll and EOR firms charge per employee per month, commonly 35 to 60 EUR a head with the rate dropping as headcount rises. Firms that fold salaries into a monthly accounting retainer tend to quote 250 to 750 GEL a month for a small company, depending on transaction volume and staff count. Employer of record is a different product and typically costs several hundred euros per employee per month on top of gross pay. Very few Tbilisi firms publish a full price list, so treat these as indicative and get a written quote against your real headcount.

Employment income is taxed at a flat 20%, withheld and paid by the employer. Pension contributions add 2% from the employee and 2% from the employer for those enrolled in the mandatory scheme, with the state adding its own share. The employer files a monthly declaration to the Revenue Service and pays by the 15th of the following month. Foreign nationals are treated differently on pension enrolment, so confirm the position for each hire rather than assuming. Rates and enrolment rules do change, so check the current position with your provider before you budget.

Only if you want to hire someone in Georgia without owning a Georgian entity. An EOR becomes the legal employer, signs the contract, runs payroll and carries the compliance risk, and you reimburse the cost plus a fee. If you already have an LLC, an EOR is usually the more expensive route and plain outsourced payroll is enough. The common exception is a pilot, where you hire one or two people through an EOR and move them onto your own entity once the numbers justify registration.

For a company with fewer than about five employees, usually yes. Most Tbilisi accounting firms include salary calculation and the monthly declaration in a standard package. You start needing a specialist when you have shift work, bonuses tied to targets, foreign hires, or your first termination. Georgian labour law rules on notice, severance and unused leave carry real cost when they are miscalculated. Ask your accountant directly whether they draft employment contracts and calculate termination costs, and go elsewhere if the answer is vague.

A refusal to put scope in writing is the main one. Ask what happens if a declaration is filed late and who pays the penalty, then get that answer into the contract. Be careful with anyone selling payroll primarily as a tax reduction scheme, especially structures that reclassify employees as individual entrepreneurs, because that is a known audit target and the exposure lands on you rather than the provider. Also check who handles your account day to day, since an English-language website is not the same thing as an English-speaking payroll officer.

Registering an employee with the Revenue Service is quick, often the same day the contract is signed, provided the company and its bank account already exist. The slow parts sit elsewhere. A foreign hire may need a work residence permit first, and the payroll account has to be funded before the first run. Plan on roughly a month from a standing start to a clean first payslip, and a couple of days to add a person to a payroll that is already running.