Contractors

Manage contractors, freelancers, consultants and gig workers: their business details, contracts, invoices and payments, all in one place and separate from staff payroll.

Contents: Who can use it · Contractors · Contracts · Invoices · Paying · The contractor's own page · Reports · Settings · Example · FAQ

Who can use it

Every plan includes contractors.

• Contractors, contracts, invoices, settings: staff with the matching permission (List, Create, Update, Approve, Pay). Approving or sending back an invoice needs the invoice Approve permission; marking it paid needs the invoice Pay permission.
• My contractor page: a contractor who signs in. No permission is needed.
• Guest link: a contractor with no sign-in uses a personal link HR sends.

Where: HR → People → Contractors.

A contractor is a person with a worker type of Contractor, Freelancer, Consultant or Gig worker. They are not part of staff payroll and never get salary, overtime or leave pay.

Contractors list

The list shows each contractor with their current contract, invoices waiting for approval or payment, and whether their file is in order (the documents your organization requires are on file and they have an active contract).

Add a contractor: click New contractor, fill in the name, email, worker type and role, and optionally the business name, tax number and country. The tax number is stored securely and only its last digits are shown. No invitation email is sent unless you turn on Send invitation.

Open a contractor to see Overview, Contracts, Invoices and Documents. Documents lists what is required (for example the tax form) and each one's state: ok, missing, pending, rejected or expired. Documents with an expiry date remind HR before they lapse.

Contracts

1. On the contractor, click New contract. The form starts from your country rules: standard clauses, the tax withheld from invoices and the payment terms. You can change any of them for this contract.
2. Choose how it is priced:
   • Hourly: a rate per hour, with an optional Cap on the total.
   • Fixed fee: one amount, billed in parts.
   • Milestones: a list of deliverables, each with an amount and a due date.
3. Fill in the scope, currency and dates, then Save. A draft can be changed freely.

To make it active:

• Send for signature: the contractor (after an optional company signer) gets a signing link. When everyone has signed, the contract becomes Active. If the contractor declines, or you click Cancel signature request, it returns to a draft.
• Mark as signed: use this when it was signed on paper.

An active contract can only have its end date, payment terms, scope or cap changed. Complete ends it normally; Terminate needs a reason. A contract past its end date expires by itself. Renew makes a new draft for the next term. Download signed copy opens the signed file.

Milestones: the contractor can mark one Delivered; HR clicks Accept when the work is good, and only accepted milestones can be invoiced. HR can also add a milestone to an active contract or Cancel one.

Invoices

Invoices come from three places: HR keys one in, the contractor sends one, or it is generated.

1. Click New invoice, pick the contractor and the contract.
2. Add the lines, or:
   • for Hourly contracts click Bill timesheet hours, choose the period, and approved billable timesheet hours become lines. Hours are billed only once.
   • for Milestones contracts tick the accepted milestones.
3. Add any tax the contractor charges. The page shows the Subtotal, the Withholding (the contract's percentage of the subtotal, kept back for the tax authority), the tax, and the Net the contractor receives.
4. Save draft or Submit.

An invoice may not take the total billed past the fixed fee, the milestones' total or the cap. A contractor cannot reuse their own invoice number.

Submitted invoices follow the approval flow you set for contractor invoices; with no flow, someone with the Approve permission decides. Nobody approves their own invoice. Send back needs a reason; the contractor edits and sends again. After approval the due date is set from the contract's payment terms. An approved invoice that should not be paid can be Voided with a reason; its milestones and hours are free to bill again.

Paying invoices

Payments are marked by hand, as for payroll and expenses; nothing is sent from 9bx.

1. In Invoices, open To pay, tick invoices and click Mark as paid.
2. Choose the method and the company account, enter the reference and date, and attach proof if you have it.
3. The net amount is recorded for each invoice. Several invoices marked together form one batch.

Download bank file makes a file for your bank from the contractors' verified accounts; anyone left out is listed. It changes nothing until you mark the invoices paid. A payment marked by mistake can be undone with a reason; the invoice goes back to approved.

If Hold payment until documents are in order is on in the settings, an invoice cannot be paid while the contractor lacks a required document.

The contractor's own page

With an account: HR → Self service → My contractor. Without one: the personal link from HR. HR opens it on the contractor, clicks Open guest link, and may email it. It works for up to 90 days, and Close guest link ends it at once. It also stops when the contractor leaves.

The page shows contracts, milestones, invoices and their status, where the contractor is paid (masked), and the documents still needed. The contractor can send an invoice with their own file attached, mark milestones delivered and upload documents such as the tax form.

Payments and withholding report

Open Reports, choose a Year and see for each contractor the number of invoices, subtotal, tax, withholding and net paid, with totals per currency. Export CSV gives the same for your accountant. Only paid invoices count, in the year they were paid.

Contractor settings

Under Contractor settings: default payment terms, the default withholding percentage (used when your country rules have none), the documents every contractor must have, Hold payment until documents are in order, and standard clauses for new contracts. Country rules, when installed, are used first.

Example scenario

Nadia is a freelance network engineer on an hourly contract at 50 per hour, with 10% withheld. She logs 19.5 approved hours. HR clicks Bill timesheet hours for the period: the subtotal is 975, withholding 97.50, net 877.50. The invoice is approved, finance marks it paid with reference TRX-9, and the year's report shows 97.50 withheld for Nadia.

Troubleshooting and FAQ

I cannot pick a contract on an invoice. Only active contracts can be billed. The invoice says it is more than what is left. Lower it, or raise the contract cap. No timesheet hours were found. Hours must be approved, billable and not already on an invoice. The guest link says it is no longer available. It expired, was closed, or the contractor left. Open a new one. Payment is on hold. A required document is missing, pending or expired; check the contractor's Documents.