Available for the following plans: All Payroll plans
Available for the following user access levels: Admins
Use Contractor Payments to manage and pay independent contractors in the same platform you use for employees. You can run payroll, sync approved hours into pay runs, and manage CRA T4A reporting in one place.
Important
To help prevent employee misclassification, the platform keeps contractor profiles, workflows, and terminology separate from standard employee records.
Key benefits
- Run payroll in one place: Pay employees and contractors side-by-side, without switching workflows.
- Simplify compliance: Generate and submit T4As to the CRA, with built-in prompts to reduce reporting errors (including warnings for contractors under the $500 threshold).
- Reduce manual entry: Approved contractor timesheets automatically sync into your active pay run.
- Keep supporting documents together: Attach invoices directly to contractor profiles to support record-keeping.
System capabilities and limitations
What you can do
- Individual vs business classification: Capture relevant tax identifiers (SIN, Business Number, or GST Number) based on contractor type for CRA reporting.
- No tax withholdings: Pay independent contractors without tax, CPP, or EI deductions.
- Flexible pay schedule mapping: Assign contractors to any standard company pay schedule.
- Direct T4A filing and distribution: Generate and submit T4As to the CRA, and publish them to contractor portals during tax season.
- Unavailability tracking: Allow contractors to set one-off or recurring unavailability windows.
- Reactivate concluded contracts: Reactivate past contractor profiles with historical data intact, without re-entering details.
System limitations and important restrictions
- No sub-contractor support: Supports independent contractors only. Sub-contractors (for example, T5018 tax slips for construction) are not supported.
- Single pay schedule assignment: A contractor can only be assigned to one active pay schedule at a time.
- No admin timesheet editing: Admins can’t edit submitted contractor timesheets. To preserve legal independence, the contractor must correct and resubmit the timesheet.
- No native invoice generation or automatic OCR: The system does not auto-generate invoices, and uploading an invoice does not extract amounts into payroll. Admins must manually verify amounts.
- No automated payroll submission: Hours sync into draft pay runs, but an admin must manually review, approve, and finalise the pay run.
- Canadian bank accounts only: Contractors must provide a valid Canadian bank account. Non-Canadian bank accounts are not supported.
- No cheque generation or printing: If you pay by cheque, you must create and print cheques outside the platform.
- Quebec RL-1 slips unsupported: The platform does not currently generate RL-1 slips for Quebec-based contractors. These must be processed externally.
- Locked tax identifiers: Contractor classification and tax details (SIN/BN/GST) can’t be edited after the first payment is processed.
What you’ll see in the app
Interface highlights
- Guided setup track: An onboarding workflow designed specifically for contractors.
- Clear B2B terminology: Professional language throughout the app (for example, Contract Conclusion rather than Termination).
- Contractor badges: A visual tag next to a contractor’s name, so you can quickly confirm their worker type.
What contractors can and can’t access
Contractor overview and permissions
Contractor access is restricted to help maintain clear legal boundaries between internal employees and third-party vendors.
| Feature module | Contractor access level | Access notes |
|---|---|---|
| Personal information and documents | Full access | Can view and update their own banking, tax data, and documents. |
| Time tracking | Full access | Can submit timesheets and view approved hours. Note: Admins can’t edit entries. |
| Submit unavailability | Full access | Can submit one-off or recurring unavailability windows. |
| Company directory and org chart | Limited access | Read-only view (same as regular employees). |
| Asset management | Limited access | Admins can assign assets; contractors can view assigned assets on their profile. |
| Company feed | Limited access | Read-only. Can view posts and announcements, but can’t post or react. |
| Performance | Limited access | Can access 1:1s, feedback, and goals (admins can further restrict access). |
| Time off | No access | Can’t view or request employee leave. |
| Compliance | No access | Restricted from compliance settings and policies. |
| Benefits and perks | No access | Can’t view employee benefit schemes. |
| Company values | No access | Hidden from view. |
| Ask Hero AI | No access | Restricted from the AI chatbot. |
Troubleshooting and FAQs
Why can’t I edit a contractor’s timesheet as an admin?
To reduce misclassification risk, contractors control their own hours. If something looks wrong, reject the timesheet and ask the contractor to correct and resubmit it.
How do I change a contractor’s GST number or Business Number after running payroll?
After you pay a contractor for the first time, their tax details are locked. If their business details change, end the current contract in the platform and create a new contractor profile.
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