In the ever-evolving landscape of global business, the complexities of compliance, payroll, and employer responsibilities can be a daunting task for any organisation, luckily there are businesses out there like Lano that aim to help make your professional life much easier. 

Lano is a fast-growing global compliance platform, offering global Employer of Record, outsourced payroll, payroll consolidation and contractor management solutions.  Essentially, Lano is a one-stop shop for businesses looking for support with all topics related to global HR compliance, HR process optimisation, consolidation and automation.  

As enterprises expand their footprint internationally, the need for a reliable and efficient payroll system becomes essential. Lano’s platform offers a unique and effective way for businesses to efficiently manage their global payroll and international hiring operations. With Lano, companies can access a pre-vetted and integrated local payroll provider network across 170+ countries with a single service agreement. In this Lano review, we look at the core of the unique Lano service model, examining the advantages and disadvantages, looking into pricing, and ultimately arriving at a comprehensive and honest conclusion.

Introduction to Lano

Founded in 2018, Lano.io offers global employment and international payroll solutions to over 2,000 companies across 170 countries. The company is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and with over 100 team members (working across 22 countries) they are on a strong path to becoming the go-to platform for hiring, managing, and paying employees worldwide.

At its core, Lano offers a unified, cloud-based platform that empowers businesses with the flexibility to build and expand their global teams seamlessly. As an organization, Lano is on a mission to unlock global talent by simplifying the intricacies of global employment and payroll, thereby enabling you to thrive on the international stage.

Do you need a global payroll provider?

Managing international HR and payroll operations is a difficult task that many companies cannot face alone. As your business expands abroad, you need to be sure which processes to adapt and tailor in order to operate compliantly. Depending on your objective, one solution may be more beneficial than another, and a provider such as Lano can offer the best advice on which way to proceed - when to use Employer of Record services, when it’s time to open an entity and outsource payroll, or when it’s best to stick to hiring contractors. 

Using a company like Lano can help to ensure you are duly compliant, can save time and often money.

Lano’s main services

Employer of Record (EOR) 

Lano helps you to onboard, manage, and pay full-time employees in over 170 countries without the need for legal entities abroad. Lano’s Employer of Record (EOR) service eliminates compliance hassles and local labor law complexities, allowing you to expand your global team without worries.

• Employ in 170+ countries without establishing a legal entity
• Utilize locally compliant and customizable employment contracts
• Tap into local tax and HR expertise for seamless operations
• Avoid costly legal and payroll setup with Lano's services
• Receive support for visa and immigration processes

Payroll Services

In addition to the Lano Employer of Record solution, outsourced payroll services will be a match for companies looking for support in efficiently and effectively outsourcing payroll operations abroad. With 150 independent, carefully pre-vetter payroll providers connected to the Lano platform, businesses benefit from the following:

• A single point of contact for managing multiple payroll providers in one place
• A single Master Service Agreement to unlock payroll services in 170+ countries while staying compliant with local laws
• Providers that are seamlessly integrated with your favorite HRIS systems such as HiBob, Zoho, Lucca, Workday, and many others, for hassle-free international payroll cycle management 
• Standardized processes and translated documentation, even when working with payroll providers abroad
• Ability to integrate your current payroll providers into the Lano platform, for an efficient unification of all your payroll processes in one place
• In-country knowledge and expertise (ability to respond to taxation, legislation and country-specific questions related to payroll)

Payroll Consolidation 

Having multiple outsourced payroll providers without a structured management process will cause nothing but chaos. A platform for unifying and consolidating multi-country payroll therefore becomes an essential part of any business's HR stack. The Lano platform enables businesses to have all payroll data in one place -  including all international entities, in-country providers, and even Employer of Record employees. Unified reporting of your multi-country payroll providers gives you an accurate overview of your operations, helping you to audit payroll data, monitor monthly payroll cycles, automate payroll runs, and standardize payroll documentation.

• Run payroll for all entities in a centralized platform
• Automate payroll processes and salary adjustments by leveraging Lano HRIS integrations
• Seamlessly accommodate all employment types: direct payroll employees, Employer of Record employees, and contractors
• Integrate your own local payroll providers 
• Access multi-entity reporting and analytics for comprehensive insights into your global workforce costs
• Improve planning with rich insights into payroll data
• A centralised place for all employee payslips
• Self-service functions for your global employees

Global Payments

The Lano wallet helps you to pay your employees and contractors worldwide in their local currency with just one click. Lano currently supports 28 currencies with more in the pipeline to be added.

• Lano Wallet lets you pay in 28 different currencies across 170+ countries
• Profit from up to 3% savings in FX fees and free local payments
• Issue multi-currency payments with a single click
• See your costs upfront without high bank fees or volume-based pricing

Pros of using Lano

There are many positives to using a service like Lano for your business, these include:

• 170+ countries are covered by Lano’s Employer of Record and payroll services - meaning that the countries in which your team operates or in which you are planning to hire are most likely covered
• Scalability - the “Lego” concept allows you to either pick services from the Lano EOR and payroll provider network or to bring your own services together in a single platform
• Compliance covered - local providers ensure expertise and compliance with ever-changing local labour and tax laws
• Unified Payroll Management - the ability to be able to view your teams' payroll all in one place can be great for giving yourself an overview of your payroll situation, making it more efficient and ensuring compliance.
• Pay employees in their preferred currency - the ability to pay your employees in their local currency can be a big competitive benefit, currently, Lano supports 28 currencies and this is growing.

Cons of Lano

There are some important things to consider though when using services such as Lano, these include: 

• The initial time to set up - as with any new software or service for your business, you will initially need time to set up the platform to suit your needs. You should also be aware that setting up EOR and payroll solutions can also take several weeks.
• Costs - in general most companies who use Lano or other similar services end up saving money in the long term, however, if your business is looking for bespoke HR setup and specialist integrations, this may result in additional one-time costs. Pricing can also be country-dependent.
• Billing - You can pay in most local currencies. Typically clients choose to pay in popular currencies such as EUR, USD or GBP. However, for some services like Contractor Management billing is set in Euro, which may be less attractive for businesses that work in either Dollars or Pounds. 

As is the case when selecting new software for your business in any area it’s always important to weigh up the pros and cons based on your specific needs and circumstances before making a decision. 

Lano pricing

Lano prides itself on having no hidden costs, one fixed fee and a dedicated Account Manager for every customer. The prices are competitive and a great option to consider if you’re looking for a flexible HR compliance solution, whether this is international salary payments or contractor payments.

Employer of Record starts from just €550 per employee per month. Contractor management starts from as little as €20 per contractor per month. These are competitive rates in this space and industry, given that due to the complexity of HR laws some countries can become very expensive to hire in.

Multi-country payroll starts from just €300 per month (up to 5 employees) but this does involve a one-time setup fee of €1000 per provider, so bear that in mind. If your team is larger than 5 employees, an additional cost of €30 per month per employee is added to the service cost.

When it comes to payroll consolidation, Lano pricing starts from just €2.50 per employee per month. 

Lano Reviews

It's always important to take a look at other reviews when it comes to using a new software or platform, as well as our honest Lano review here, we took a look at other reviews online to get a general consensus on how other customers have felt. Although Lano is a younger provider in the market, the reviews are positive, on Capterra, a software review site, Lano.io has a rating of 4.6 stars out of 5 from 12 reviews, although a small number, it does show an overall positive experience for the majority of those who have used the platform and left a review.

Lano review summary

If you already employ a team globally and find keeping up with compliance, payroll and payments an issue then Lano is certainly a service you should consider using.

The same can be said if you’re planning to hire in different countries,  by starting using a platform like Lano you’ll be able to stay compliant from day one and take away the stresses and potential slow down that staying compliant, meeting local laws and regulations and making payments to team members in different countries can bring. 

Cost-wise, Lano is competitively priced and with a customer base of over 2,000 companies including big names such as Scaleway, Hygraph, Pretashop, GetResponse and Foodspring. Therefore, you can rest assured that you are trustworthy and credible hands.

Essentially the core benefit of using Lano is that you can stay compliant, reduce human error and increase automation, making your life when it comes to managing your global hiring and multi-country payroll much easier.

Founderpass readers can benefit from a 20% discount to Lano’s Employer of Record Services and, additionally, access the Lano Payroll Consolidation Platform for free for 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which countries does Lano cover?

Lano extends its services across over 170 countries for Employer of Record and payroll services, supporting transactions in 28 local currencies. The global reach encompasses all countries and regions except those restricted by legal prohibitions. As of August 2022, Lano services are unavailable in Belarus, Crimea, Cuba, the Donetsk region of Ukraine, Iran, Libya, the Luhansk region of Ukraine, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan and Syria.

What integrations does Lano have?

They have a wide range of apps and integrations, these include Auth0, Merge, Adobe Sign, DocuSign, Google Drive, Okta, Quickbooks, Xero and Salesforce as well as many more. Additional HRIS integrations with HiBob, Lucca, Zoho People and Workday to help businesses automate their global payroll runs, in a hassle-free manner.

So, is Lano good?

Our conclusion is yes, they’ve invested a lot of money into building the platform and the results speak for themselves, it’s intuitive to use, looks great and has all the features the majority of customers wanting to use this type of platform will need.