Lucy - BQ Magazine EditorExpanding into a new country is exciting, but it is rarely as simple as finding customers and translating your website. If you are planning a genuine expansion, such as opening an overseas office, hiring locally, or moving parts of your operations into a new market, you will usually need support across several areas at once.
Incorporation and compliance are often the first hurdles, but they are not the only ones. You may need help with setting up banking and payments, understanding tax and reporting obligations, building a local team, and putting the right HR and payroll processes in place so you can operate day-to-day without constant firefighting.
Below are seven professional service providers that can support entrepreneurs and growing teams with international expansion. The numbering reflects the structure of the article, not a quality ranking. Use it as a starting point to shortlist partners based on where you are expanding and what stage you are at.
7 Professional Service Providers for International Business Expansion
1) Primasia (Hong Kong company incorporation and corporate support)
If Hong Kong is on your expansion roadmap, getting the setup right from day one matters. Primasia supports entrepreneurs and international businesses with company incorporation and related corporate services, helping you navigate the documentation, local requirements, and admin that often come with establishing a presence in a new jurisdiction.
For founders setting up a company in Hong Kong, professional guidance can reduce delays and help you avoid common compliance missteps that slow down market entry. In practice, incorporation typically involves choosing the right company structure, preparing and filing documents, and meeting local requirements that may be unfamiliar if you are entering the region for the first time.
Primasia is also relevant after the company is formed. Many businesses need ongoing corporate support once they start operating locally, such as keeping filings on track, maintaining statutory records, and staying organised as they sign contracts, open accounts, and begin hiring.
2) Deel (global hiring, HR, and payroll)
Hiring is often the fastest way to build traction in a new market, but it can also be one of the easiest ways to create risk if you are not set up to handle local employment rules. Deel supports companies hiring internationally through a mix of contractor management and Employer of Record services, plus payroll and HR workflows.
For expansion planning, Deel can help in two common scenarios:
- Testing a market by hiring your first local employee or contractor, such as a sales rep, customer support hire, or local operations lead.
- Building a distributed team across multiple countries while keeping contracts, onboarding, and payments consistent.
With an Employer of Record model, you may be able to hire in a country without setting up your own local entity right away. That can be useful when you are validating demand, building partnerships, or preparing to open a small office, because it reduces the upfront legal and administrative burden.
Example locations covered: UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, US, Canada, Australia, Singapore.
3) Remote (Employer of Record, payroll, and HR compliance)
Remote is another widely used option for building a compliant international team. Like other Employer of Record providers, it can help you hire employees in countries where you do not yet have a local entity, while supporting payroll, benefits, and compliance.
Remote can be particularly helpful if your expansion plan involves hiring employees, not just contractors. Employee hiring usually brings additional complexity, such as statutory benefits, local payroll rules, and country-specific employment protections.
For businesses opening physical offices, Remote can also be a bridge solution. You can start hiring and operating while you work through longer-term decisions like whether to incorporate locally, how to structure compensation, and how to manage benefits across regions. It can also support you when you are hiring in more than one country at the same time and want a consistent HR process.
Example locations covered: UK, Germany, France, Portugal, Sweden, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand.
4) Wise Business (international banking and payments)
Once you are operating across borders, money movement becomes a daily operational task, not a one-off admin job. Wise Business is commonly used for multi-currency accounts and international transfers, helping businesses pay suppliers and contractors, handle cross-border invoices, and manage currency conversion more efficiently.
For a planned expansion, Wise Business can help you:
- Pay overseas suppliers and service providers in the right currency.
- Pay international contractors and freelancers.
- Receive payments from clients in other countries, which can simplify invoicing and reconciliation.
- Reduce friction when you are managing budgets across currencies and want clearer visibility over what you are spending.
If you are setting up an overseas office, this can also support practical needs like reimbursing travel, paying recurring local expenses where available, and keeping payments organised as your team grows.
Example regions and currencies used for expansion: UK (GBP), Eurozone (EUR), US (USD), Australia (AUD), Singapore (SGD), plus many others.
5) Airwallex (cross-border business account, FX, and payments)
Airwallex offers cross-border payment and FX tools designed for businesses operating internationally. It is often used by companies that need more control over multi-currency flows, such as paying overseas suppliers, collecting international revenue, or managing multiple currencies as they expand.
Airwallex can be useful when your expansion becomes more operationally complex, for example when you are:
- Paying multiple overseas suppliers on a regular schedule.
- Collecting revenue in more than one currency.
- Trying to reduce FX costs and improve predictability in your cash flow.
- Building repeatable finance processes that can scale as you add markets.
For founders planning an overseas presence, the value is often in creating smoother payment operations so finance does not become a bottleneck as the business grows.
Example locations with strong presence: UK, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong. Availability varies by market.
6) TMF Group (international accounting, compliance, and payroll support)
International expansion gets more complex once you have entities, recurring filings, and local compliance obligations. TMF Group supports businesses with corporate services such as entity management, accounting and reporting support, compliance administration, and payroll-related services across many jurisdictions.
TMF Group is relevant when your expansion plan includes a real operating footprint, such as a local entity, a local payroll, or ongoing reporting requirements. At that stage, the challenge is not only getting set up, but staying compliant month after month.
This kind of support can help you keep deadlines under control, maintain accurate records, and reduce the risk of penalties or operational delays that come from missing local requirements.
Example locations: UK, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, US, and more.
7) Robert Half (recruitment and staffing)
When you are opening a physical presence overseas, hiring locally can make or break your launch. Robert Half is a well-known recruitment and staffing firm that can support hiring across functions like finance, administration, operations, and technology.
If you are expanding into a new country, a recruitment partner can help you move faster and hire with more confidence, especially when you:
- Need local candidates with market knowledge and language skills.
- Do not yet have a strong local network.
- Want support shaping job descriptions, screening candidates, and understanding salary expectations.
- Need temporary or contract staff to get an office running before you hire a full permanent team.
For SMBs, this can be a practical way to build an on-the-ground team without overloading founders and managers who are already juggling expansion planning.
Example locations covered: UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Netherlands, US, Canada, Australia.
Quick scan table
If you want a fast overview, the table below summarises what each provider does, when it is most useful, and a sensible first step you can take as you plan your expansion. Use it to shortlist the services you may need now, and the ones you can bring in later as your overseas operations become more established.
| Provider | Category | What they help with | Good fit when you are | Locations |
| Primasia | Company incorporation and corporate support | Incorporating in Hong Kong, handling setup requirements, staying organised with ongoing corporate admin | Entering Hong Kong and want help getting incorporated correctly and operating compliantly | Hong Kong |
| Deel | HR, global payroll, Employer of Record | Hiring employees or contractors abroad, onboarding, contracts, payroll and compliance support | Testing a market with your first hire or building a multi-country team without setting up entities everywhere | UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, US, Canada, Australia, Singapore |
| Remote | HR, global payroll, Employer of Record | Hiring employees abroad with payroll, benefits and compliance support | Hiring employees, not just contractors, and want a compliant setup while you plan longer-term entity decisions | UK, Germany, France, Portugal, Sweden, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand |
| Wise Business | Banking and cross-border payments | Multi-currency account, international transfers, paying suppliers and contractors, receiving overseas payments | Paying overseas expenses regularly and want simpler multi-currency operations | UK, Eurozone, US, Australia, Singapore (via major currencies) |
| Airwallex | Cross-border payments and FX | Multi-currency tools, FX, paying suppliers, collecting revenue in multiple currencies | Scaling cross-border payment flows and want more control over FX and multi-currency operations | UK, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong (availability varies) |
| TMF Group | Compliance, accounting, entity management, payroll support | Ongoing compliance admin, reporting support, entity management, payroll-related services across jurisdictions | Moving from initial setup into real multi-country operations with recurring filings and deadlines | UK, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, US (and more) |
| Robert Half | Recruitment and staffing | Local hiring support, temp/contract/permanent recruitment, candidate screening and market insights | Opening a physical presence and need local talent quickly without a deep local network | UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Netherlands, US, Canada, Australia |
Planning expansion just got easier
Taking your business international is a big step, and the operational details add up fast. The right providers can help you move quicker while reducing risk, whether you are incorporating in a new jurisdiction, hiring your first overseas employee, setting up cross-border payments, or keeping up with compliance as you scale.
If you are planning an expansion, it can help to map your needs in the order they tend to appear:
- Market entry and legal setup, such as incorporation and local compliance basics
- Money movement, including multi-currency accounts, invoicing, and paying suppliers
- Hiring and people operations, including contracts, payroll, and benefits
- Ongoing compliance and reporting once you have an operating footprint
Choose partners based on your stage and your target countries, and do not be afraid to start with a lighter setup while you validate demand. The goal is to build a structure that lets you operate confidently in-market without slowing growth.