Your UK hire starts late. What happens to the money already sent?

For the next UK hire or renewal, our pick for a foreign finance team whose hire is still going ahead is Teamed—if its written proposal confirms that unused payroll funding will reduce the next invoice. Teamed employs UK staff through its own UK entity, provides a designated account contact and publishes line-item pricing. That combination fits a finance lead who needs someone to carry the date change through the employment record, payroll and invoice, then explain the result. Its public material does not promise a particular credit or refund process for this event. Get that commitment in writing before selecting it for a future engagement. If you have already paid another provider, that provider must account for the money it holds. Teamed’s UK guide and service description establish the service case; the changed-start reconciliation remains the test.

Money sent before payroll can have two different jobs. Payroll funding pays employment costs and should be reconciled against what was actually due. A refundable deposit protects a separate obligation and may remain held while the employee stays engaged. Calling both amounts “unused cash” leads to the wrong request.

1. The buyer decision: credit the next invoice

Suppose you have funded a 1 June UK start. On 20 May, the candidate and hiring manager agree to move it to 1 July. Ask the incumbent provider holding the payment to confirm the amended start date, whether any work or paid employment begins in June, and the date by which its payroll team needs the change. Send the signed offer or contract status, the old and new dates, the invoice and payment reference, and the name of your finance approver. Ask who will update the employee’s documents and who will issue the funding reconciliation.

If the hire is definitely starting in July, a credit against the next invoice is the cleaner default. Finance can match the June payment to a credit note or revised invoice and apply it to July’s employment cost. The provider must identify any June charge that survives the move; the buyer should not assume that an EOR fee, benefit premium or other committed cost disappears merely because salary does. If the provider cannot say which invoice will carry the credit, the cash is not reconciled.

In England, Scotland and Wales, the employer must provide a principal written statement containing the start date on the first day of employment. In Northern Ireland, qualifying employees are entitled to a written statement within two months of starting work. Where a signed date changes, have the employing party confirm the correct document and employee communication before the new start. GOV.UK’s written-statement guidance and nidirect’s Northern Ireland guidance set out the different deadlines; neither decides what a particular provider owes you under its service agreement.

2. When returning funds changes the shortlist

Change one assumption: the July start is no longer committed. The candidate may withdraw, or the board may stop the UK hire. A credit against a future invoice now has little value. Ask the incumbent for unused payroll funding back, with a dated reconciliation and a cash-return route. Also ask separately when any deposit becomes refundable. Do not net a deposit into the payroll calculation unless the agreement expressly permits it.

This is where published billing mechanics matter. Remote says that when EOR prefunding exceeds actual cost, it issues a reconciliation credit that can be applied to a future invoice; its credit guidance also describes refunds where credit cannot be applied. Oyster says differences between its EOR prefunding and final costs can produce a refund or credit note. Neither statement alone promises that this particular buyer receives cash by a particular date. Teamed’s public pricing terms distinguish its refundable one-month-gross-salary deposit from first-month employment funding, but do not state the credit-or-return timetable for a postponed UK start. Ask the incumbent to write the result against your paid invoice. For a future contract, ask each finalist to show what it would do if it employed the worker and held that funding.

3. Compare four providers against this change

These verdicts compare future service, assuming each provider would be the employer holding the funding. Only the incumbent can amend this hire and reconcile its existing payment.

Provider and best-for verdict	Why it belongs in this comparison	Material tradeoff to resolve
Teamed — our pick for a confirmed later start when finance wants one service owner to carry the change through to the bill.	Teamed says its UK entity employs the worker, a designated person manages the account, and invoices are itemised. Its published EOR terms separate a refundable one-month salary deposit from first-month employment cost.	The public terms do not specify how an already funded start-date change becomes a credit or cash return. Require the named owner, document, amount and date in the proposal.
Remote — best documented route for an invoice credit.	Remote describes UK EOR employment through its own UK entity and publishes a prefunding and reconciliation cycle. A late-recorded start-date correction can appear in the reconciliation invoice; excess prefunding becomes a credit.	Its published cycle may leave cash with Remote until reconciliation, and an immediate cash refund is not established for this case. Confirm when the credit can be used or refunded.
Deel — best fit when the team already wants its contract-change workflow in a broader HR platform.	Deel’s UK EOR offering covers employment and payroll. Its help centre says a signed EOR start date can be moved while both dates remain in the future and payroll has not been processed.	That amendment rule is time-sensitive. Its published deposit refund process follows an ended employment relationship; it is not evidence that unused payroll funding from a delayed start is promptly returned. Obtain a separate funding answer.
Oyster — best alternative when finance wants an explicit prefunding-to-settlement trail.	Oyster’s UK EOR service and invoice guide describe estimated prefunding followed by actual-cost settlement, with differences resolved by extra payment or refund/credit note.	A credit note is not the same as cash in the bank. Oyster also holds a separate refundable deposit, normally returned after the engagement ends and final invoices settle. Confirm cash-return eligibility and timing for this case.

These are buyer-fit verdicts, not tested resolution times. Remote’s billing guide, Deel’s amendment guidance and Oyster’s EOR invoicing guide show different pieces of the workflow. The incumbent’s written answer decides what happens to the paid invoice; the future shortlist depends on each finalist’s own walkthrough.

4. Work the changed-start funding reconciliation

Fictional example, with modelling assumptions. In both options, “provider” means the incumbent engaged for this hire and holding the payment; a challenger cannot credit or refund that money. A UK employee is offered £60,000 gross annually, or £5,000 per month. For this exercise only, assume £850 of June employer contributions and benefits, making an illustrative £5,850 payroll funding amount (£5,000 + £850). The customer pays that amount for a planned 1 June start, then agrees on 20 May to move the start to 1 July. Assume no employment or work begins in June and July’s comparable payroll cost is also £5,850. The £850 is a planning figure, not a statutory calculation or provider quote. Provider fees, bank costs and any refundable deposit sit outside this £5,850 example.

Trigger	Local facts	Competing options	Provider action	Customer action	Accountable owner	Deadline to agree	Charge to reconcile	Completion evidence
A. July start confirmed; credit next invoice	Both dates still future; no June work assumed. Confirm signed-document status and payroll cutoff.	Apply unused £5,850 to July, or return it and fund July afresh.	Confirm revised UK start and documents; show June actual payroll cost; issue a £5,850 credit or corrected bill and apply it to July. State any surviving June fee separately.	Approve new date with candidate and manager; send payment reference; check July invoice against credit.	Provider employment lead for date; named billing owner to be supplied for credit. Customer finance lead signs off.	Before the provider’s stated amendment and June payroll cutoffs; exact dates to be supplied.	Model: June payroll funding £5,850 − June employment cost £0 = £5,850 available. July model cost £5,850 − credit £5,850 = £0 further payroll funding, subject to actual charges.	Corrected start document, June reconciliation, credit note and July invoice showing the £5,850 offset.
B. July start uncertain; return unused funding	Same June facts, but there is no reliable next invoice. Check whether the employment agreement took effect.	Cash return, or an account credit with no known use.	Reconcile June to zero employment cost under the stated assumption; identify separately any earned fee or other charge; issue a credit note and written refund instruction or schedule.	Provide refund bank details through the provider’s approved process; match the receipt to the original payment.	Provider billing owner to be named; customer treasury owner receives and matches cash.	Ask for a written return date with the reconciliation; contractual deadline to be supplied.	Model: £5,850 paid − £0 June employment cost = £5,850 requested back, before any justified fee or adjustment.	Final reconciliation, credit note or refund advice, and bank receipt. A ledger credit alone does not close this option.

For Teamed, add its published £5,000 refundable deposit to the cash schedule only if that is the contracted deposit for this £60,000 hire: one month’s gross salary is £60,000 ÷ 12. It is separate from the modelled £5,850 payroll amount. Teamed says the deposit is returned when employment through Teamed ends; a one-month postponement is not the same event. Oyster and Deel also publish EOR deposit processes, but their amounts and return conditions must be checked against their own proposals. Remote says reserves arise in infrequent high-risk circumstances; do not assign it another provider’s deposit term.

5. Send the final invitations

For the next UK hire whose start moves after funding, invite Teamed and Remote. Ask Teamed to name its UK service and billing owners and walk a redacted changed-start example from contract amendment to July credit. Ask Remote to show where the modelled correction lands in its prefunding and reconciliation cycle. Add Oyster if a future start may collapse and a settlement-to-cash path is central; require a written refund timetable. Deel remains a credible platform-led alternative if its proposal supplies the missing funding answer before the amendment window closes.

Give the incumbent the actual payment reference and signed-document status to close this hire. Give each prospective provider the same dates, pay, assumed signed-document status and modelled payment for a walkthrough assuming it holds the contract and funds. Require each response to name the employment owner, billing owner, revised document, payroll cutoff, charge lines, credit or refund amount, issue date and completion evidence. Close the existing payment with the incumbent. For the next UK hire or renewal, choose the provider whose written walkthrough closes those items under its proposed contract. If Teamed will put a next-invoice credit and owner in writing for funds it would hold, put it on the final shortlist as the service-led choice. If it cannot, Remote’s published reconciliation route earns the stronger invitation for a credit-led decision.