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Customer FAQs

Frequently asked questions by company owners, admins and managers.

Updated over a month ago

ℹ️ Important Information: The processes for US vs International employees may differ. If you don't see an answer specifically for US employees, please contact Support to confirm.

Getting started

How do I sign up and create a Plane account?

Interested in using Plane to pay your international contractors and employees? You can sign up here or fill out this demo form, and we'll be in touch with you!

How long does it take for my account to be verified?

The verification process can take 3-5 business days, depending on whether we need more details from you.

General

How can I create a payroll report?

Please follow the steps here.

How can I create a department?

Please find the steps here.

How can I add an admin or manager?

Please go to the People > Access tab to add a new Admin or manager. Please find more details here.

How can I assign a manager to an employee or contractor?

Please go to the People > Team tab to access the team member's profile. Click on the Employment tab, click the pencil icon beside Manager, choose the manager from the drop-down list, and save. Please find more details here.

How do I change account ownership?

Please review this article for the ownership transfer process. If the account owner is no longer at the company, please contact Support for assistance.

How do I switch between my contractor or employee and my admin or manager profiles?

  1. Click on the company name in the upper-left corner.

  2. Click the profile you'd like to switch to from the list that appears

Team members

How do I promote an international employee?

Please contact Support with the following details:

  • Name of the employee

  • New job title and/or job description

  • New compensation amount in local currency if possible

  • Effective date

How do I pay a bonus, commission, or additional payments for international employees?

Please reach out to Support for this request. All changes need to be made before the payroll cutoff, which is shared in this article. If the payroll cutoff is missed, we can pay additional incentives in the next payroll cycle.

Can I pay an international employee a bonus in USD?

We’re required to pay employees in their local currency. We always recommend discussing any additional bonuses or salary increases with employees in local currency. You can use this calculator to see the estimated local currency value.

What benefits can I offer to an international employee?

Benefit options vary according to the law in different countries. Please find the list of benefit options here. You can also find more details here.

What benefits are available for contractors?

We’ve partnered with provider SafetyWing for contractor benefit options. Please contact Support for more details.

How do I convert an international employee to contractor?

First, offboard the employee by following the steps here. Once done, please re-add your team member as a contractor by following the steps here. If you need additional help, please contact Support.

How do I bulk invite global contractors?

We can assist you with bulk invitations by providing a CSV import template that your company completes with your global contractors' information. If you wish to bulk-invite many global contractors to your company, get in touch with us at support@plane.com.

How do I terminate a contractor?

If you no longer work with a contractor, you can terminate them and their contract by following the steps here.

How do I offboard/terminate an international employee?

For all offboarding, including resignations, please follow the steps here.

Contractor payment

How do I pay an approved payment request?

After approving a payment request, you'll need to pick a payment date and schedule the payment. On the Pay contractors tab, click the amount requested next to the global contractor's name and schedule the payment from there. The payment request will automatically be marked as done after you authorize the payment.

Check out this article for more information about scheduling a payment.

Is it possible for a manager to approve a payment request and then have an admin to process it?

Yes! Click here to learn how to set up multi-step payment approvals.

What is the difference between a pay schedule and a payroll?

A "Pay schedule" is a set of instructions that informs us of the frequency in which you would like your contractors or employees to be paid. A "Payroll" is a list of contractor or employee payments that have been created from a pay schedule.

How do I set up a recurring pay schedule?

Please see this article for more details.

Can I cancel a payment that has been scheduled?

If a payment has not been processed yet, you'll be able to cancel it from the platform. Check out this article for more information about canceling a scheduled payment.

How can I pay an authorized expense report?

Please see this article for more information about reviewing an expense report.

If the contractor goes on vacation, how can I adjust payroll to reflect the change in compensation?

Regular earnings for employees and contractors on the payroll are automatically reduced when their unpaid time-off requests are approved. You can find more details on this here.

How does the "Other" wage type work with Payrolls?

Since it is supposed to mean "per pay period," when the wage type is set to "Other," and a global contractor is added to the payroll, they are paid the full amount each pay period. Payrolls are prorated only when the start date is after the start of the pay period.

You can change the wage type from the global contractor's profile to what works best for you. If you prefer to keep "Other" as the wage type, you'll need to ensure the amount paid for each period is correct.

How does the Hourly Wage type work with Payrolls?

When the wage/compensation type is set to "Hourly," and a contractor is added to a payroll, you need to add their amount manually based on the number of hours they worked in a given pay period. This option will be available once the draft payroll is created. You can find more information in the How to use Unified Payroll article.

Contract & Compliance

Does Plane file 1099-NEC?

Yes. Plane generates and fills in 1099-NEC forms for you. Please find more here.

How do I edit the contractor agreement that Plane provides?

An existing contract that has been signed cannot be edited. However, you can create a new agreement. Please review this article on how to create a new contract.

Where can I add equity information to the contractor's agreement that Plane provides?

If you use a Plane generated contract, you can add information about equity under the "Special clause" section.

How do I edit compensation for global contractors?

Check out this article to learn how to edit the compensation for global contractors and edit their contracts to reflect the new compensation.

Why does the compensation amount not show up in the contract?

If you set the wage type as "Other," the compensation details will be excluded from the contract. We recommend using another wage type.

How do I upload a document and link it to contractor profile?

  1. Under the People menu, go to the Team tab.

  2. Select the global contractor's name.

  3. In the Documents section, click "Add a document" or "See all documents."

  4. Click on "Upload first document" if there is no document attached to the global contractor, or click "Upload new document" on the upper right side.

Vendors

How do I convert a vendor to contractor and vice versa?

Please follow these steps here. If you need additional help, please contact Support.

Other

What is the relationship between you (the employer), Plane, and the employer of record (EOR)?

Pilot Platform Inc (Plane) provides the product and service by helping you manage payroll, human resources, and statutory requirements. Plane has its own entities and partners that serve as the EOR/legal employer where the employee is legally hired in another country. Plane and our partner do not manage the performance of the employees since we do not monitor or work directly with them.

Can I use a credit/debit card to pay a contractor?

Currently, payment methods such as credit cards, debit cards, and checks are not supported.

How long does it take to add or withdraw funds from the Balance?

This process can take up to 4 business days.

Does Plane charge me for archived contractors?

Not at all! You're only charged for active contractors (i.e., people to whom you send at least one payment in a given month).

What is the purpose of a security deposit?

If we’re ever unable to draw funds from your account, we can use the security deposit to ensure we can make the payment in a timely manner. You can learn more here.

Can Plane withhold taxes for EOR employees for non-cash compensation such as stocks, options, tokens, or similar?

No, we are unable to withhold additional taxes for employees. We recommend that the employee contacts a tax expert in their country of work for guidance on how to manage stock-related taxes.

Can I grant equity to my international team members?

Yes! With most stock option plans, you can issue equity to your international team members just like you would to your US team members. As long as someone has a service relationship with the company they’d be eligible to receive stock grants like any other international employee. Someone being a global contractor satisfies that test too.

The main difference is that you’d issue NSOs, not ISOs.

Non-qualified stock options (NSOs) are a type of stock option that does not qualify for favourable tax treatment for the employee. Unlike with incentive stock options (ISOs), where you don't pay taxes upon exercise, with NSOs you pay taxes both when you exercise the option (purchase shares) and sell those shares.

Plane doesn't handle the actual issuance of equity. This must be handled by a law firm.

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