To learn more about our invoicing process, log in to your Oyster account and head to the Invoices page. There are two invoicing processes at Oyster - one for permanent employees and one for contractors. Also, see How and when are invoices generated for contractors?
For more information, please download our "Guide to Invoicing" in the "How invoices work" dropdown.
Invoice types
Pre-funding invoice
This invoice is a statistical estimation of the payroll costs. This estimation will help us collect a reasonable amount of funds before the monthly payroll. It is unlikely to be higher than the actual payroll because it does not include every payroll item. This means we tend to underestimate the pre-funding invoice. The invoice cannot be disputed to ensure we have the funds to pay the Team Members on time.
It includes the following information:
- Monthly Rate: Annual salary / 12 months, with generic pro-rata in case of hire or termination
- Bonuses
- Commissions
- Allowances
- Benefits
- Approved expenses
- Taxes & Contributions: Estimated statutory employment taxes and social security payments/contributions applicable in a Team Member's service region.
- Service taxes: Represent local sales tax costs arising from the provision of Team Member Services in certain regions, such as VAT or Brazil ISS. It is calculated as a percentage applied to the Total Service Cost except for Expenses and Benefits. See Value-added Tax (VAT) and how it works.
Settlement invoice
This invoice reflects the final payroll costs. Any deviations or errors in the pre-funding invoice will be made whole as an extra amount owing or a refund/credit note. See What are credit notes and what happens after I receive one? The settlement invoice also contains the Oyster fee. This invoice can be disputed. See How To Dispute An Invoice.
It includes the same columns as the pre-funding invoice, but with the actual monthly costs:
- Monthly Rate: with country-specific pro-rata in case of hire or termination
- Bonuses
- Commissions
- Allowances
- Benefits
- Approved expenses
- Taxes & Contributions: Actual employment taxes and social security contributions
- Service taxes: Updated accordingly to the updated Total Service Cost
In addition, it contains columns that were not present in the pre-funding invoice:
- 13th/14th Month rate: Pro-rated based on Engagement Start / End Date
- Other Local Accruals: For example for severance, time off, profit share
- Termination Costs: Final payments made to Team Members upon termination of service, e.g. payment of notice period, redundancy pay, negotiated severance, etc.
- Unused Vacation Payment: If a Team Member has an unused vacation balance, this will typically be paid out in their payslip upon termination, or in some cases, at the end of the year.
- Other Employer Costs: Typically for onboarding, e.g., statutory medical or right-to-work checks
- Oysters fees: For example the Oyster subscription fee and Oyster benefit fee
Invoice breakdown
You can download a breakdown of gross salary, employer taxes and contributions, Oyster fees, and other costs for an invoice. This breakdown is not available for contractor invoices.
Definition of terms
- Amount is the amount of the invoice at the moment when it is generated.
- Amount due is the amount to be paid after applying credit notes and payments to the invoice.
- FX rate is the foreign exchange rate on the last day of the previous month. For example, a pre-funding invoice issued on the June 11th will use the FX rate as of May 31st. The same FX rate is applied to the settlement invoice for consistency. For more information see How does Oyster handle currency conversion or foreign exchange?
Invoice payment to Oyster
With direct debit
- Available for companies in the US, UK and eurozone
- Your bank account is connected to Oyster and debited directly
- Applies to both pre-funding and settlement invoices
- Invoices move to the Approved section
- Invoice status is "Charge in process"
- Invoice status updates to "Paid" approximately 2 business days following the date of the charge
Without direct debit
- Your bank account is not connected to Oyster
- Invoice status is "Unpaid"
- Use the payment information on the invoice to transfer funds to Oyster
- After Oyster receives the funds, the status updates to "Paid"
