Contractor Management Built for Agencies

Agencies live and die by their contractor network. You have 10-30 freelancers you work with regularly—designers for brand projects, developers for web builds, copywriters for content campaigns, video editors for social media. Each one has their own rates, payment preferences, and project schedules.

Right now, you're probably managing this in a spreadsheet. Contractor names, email addresses, rates, payment methods (Wise? PayPal? Both?), last payment dates, and total paid this year. Someone accidentally sorts one column. You have three versions. Nobody knows which one is current.

Invoices come via email. You mean to pay them, forget about them, they follow up. You scramble to find the original email, copy payment details into Wise, take a screenshot, email it back. At 20-50 invoices per month, that's 5-10 hours just moving money around.

Platforms like Deel or Remote.com charge $49-99 per contractor per month. For 15 contractors, that's $735-1,485/month or $8,820-17,820/year. You're paying for employee infrastructure—payroll, benefits, compliance—that independent contractors don't need.

The spreadsheet method: Most agencies start here. A Google Sheet or Excel file with contractor details, rates, and payment history. It works until it doesn't—someone forgets to update it, sorts one column by accident, or creates a duplicate version. Come tax time, you're reconciling three different spreadsheets while your accountant charges $150/hour.

The email chaos: Invoices arrive via email. You create a folder, maybe tag them, possibly remember to move them there. When it's time to pay, you search through emails, copy payment details, send money via Wise or PayPal, screenshot the confirmation, and email it back. Repeat 20-50 times per month.

The project management workaround: Some agencies try using Asana, Monday, or ClickUp for contractor management. These tools are great for tasks, terrible for payments. You still need spreadsheets for rates and payment tracking. You still process invoices via email. You're just adding another tool to the stack.

The expensive EOR platforms: A few agencies bite the bullet and use Deel or Remote.com. They pay $735-1,485/month for 15 contractors, getting features built for hiring employees internationally—payroll processing, benefits administration, local entity setup. None of which applies to independent contractors who handle their own taxes.

Agencies don't need payroll processing or benefits administration. They need contractor coordination tools that match how they actually work.

Organized contractor database: All your freelancers in one place with their rates, specialties, payment preferences, and availability. No more spreadsheets. No more "which email did they send their PayPal to?"

Project-based tracking: Assign contractors to client projects, set milestones, track deliverables. See who's working on what, what's due when, and what's been completed. Link invoices to specific projects for client billing.

Invoice management: Contractors submit invoices through the platform. You review, approve, and pay via your existing Wise, PayPal, or Payoneer account. Mark as paid, they confirm receipt. Everything tracked and documented.

Payment coordination: See who needs to be paid this week, who's waiting on payment, who's been paid. Batch payments by method (all Wise payments together, all PayPal together). Export payment records for accounting.

Tax documentation: Collect W-9s or W-8BENs automatically when contractors join. Track cumulative payments per contractor. Generate 1099-NEC forms at year-end. Everything your accountant needs, organized and ready.

Client billing integration: Link contractor costs to client projects. See project profitability in real-time. Export contractor expenses for client invoicing. Know exactly what you're spending vs. what you're billing.

Absolutely. Many agencies manage contractors manually for years. Here's what that looks like in practice.

The spreadsheet system: Create a master contractor spreadsheet with columns for name, email, specialty, rate, payment method, payment details, last payment date, and YTD total. Update it religiously after every payment. Make sure everyone on your team knows where it is and actually uses it. Back it up regularly.

The email organization: Create a dedicated email folder for contractor invoices. Set up filters to automatically tag them. When invoices arrive, move them to the folder, add them to your payment queue spreadsheet, and set a reminder to pay them. After paying, move them to a "Paid" subfolder and update your tracking spreadsheet.

The payment process: Set aside 2-3 hours every Friday for contractor payments. Open your spreadsheet, check who needs to be paid. Log into Wise for international contractors, PayPal for domestic ones. Copy payment details from your spreadsheet, send money, screenshot confirmations, email them to contractors, update your spreadsheet with payment dates.

The tax documentation: Create a folder (Google Drive or Dropbox) for tax forms. When you hire a contractor, send them a W-9 or W-8BEN form via email. When they send it back, save it to the folder with their name. At year-end, export your payment spreadsheet, calculate totals per contractor, and send the data to your accountant for 1099 generation.

The project tracking: Use your existing project management tool (Asana, Monday, ClickUp) for task management. Maintain a separate spreadsheet linking contractors to projects. Manually calculate project costs by summing contractor payments per project. Export to Excel for client billing.

This works. It's free (except for your time). It's flexible. But it takes 5-10 hours per month, and one mistake—a forgotten payment, a lost invoice, a missing tax form—can cost you contractor relationships or create accounting headaches.

Kontrable is built specifically for agencies managing independent contractors. No payroll processing. No benefits administration. No employee infrastructure. Just the tools you need to organize, track, and pay your contractor network.

Use your existing payment accounts: We don't try to be your bank. You already have Wise, PayPal, or Payoneer. They're great at moving money. We just tell you who to pay, help you track payments, and keep records for accounting. Your money stays in your account until you send it.

Project-based organization: Create client projects, assign contractors, set milestones. See who's working on what, track deliverables, link invoices to projects. Know exactly what each project costs in contractor expenses.

Automated tax documentation: Contractors fill out W-9 or W-8BEN forms when they join. We track cumulative payments automatically. At year-end, export 1099-NEC data for your accountant. Everything organized and ready.

Pricing that makes sense: $99/month for up to 25 contractors. No per-contractor fees. No transfer fees. No hidden costs. If Deel would cost you $735/month for 15 contractors, we cost you $99. You save $636/month, or $7,632/year.

Kontrable launches in Q1 2026. Early access users get 50% off for 6 months—$50/month instead of $99. Join the waitlist below to get notified when we open beta access.