[mikro2nd]

You just do it. They invoice you in whatever currency suits you both, you pay them. PayPal is, unfortunately, likely to be the easiest way, unless you're willing to hack direct bank transfers or cryptocurrencies. The contractor's taxes are their problem (and thus their decision whether to operate as a company) not yours.

IMHO an intermediate platform is just going to eat into the money without adding value, unless you're using it to find the worker(s) you need. It all boils down to trust: do you trust them to do the work and report progress/time accurately? do they trust you to pay timeously? That's the one point where an intermediary might play a role, but, frankly, if trust is lacking, you don't want to be working together anyway.

DM me if you're looking for very part-time writing/dev work. I'm in ZA, so close-enough timezone to BE.

[vfc1]

Thank you for commenting, that would be great news. But is it really that simple?

What about work contracts, and should I ask them to issue a company invoice explicitly?

A company invoice can always be included as expenses, right?

[inphovore]

It is trial and error, by luck and persistence.

Are you a contractor? Do you bill?

You start with what you think works for you and opinionated contractors will offer alternatives if necessary.

Unreliability, lack of communication, and expectations are all on you.

Have clear goals, never delegate an abstract idea, always delegate a discrete task (refine over time.)

As a contractor I always budget 25% of costs as administrivia. That’s correspondence, invoicing, or other non product related time.

[s1artibartfast]

Yes, it is that simple.

Contracts are optional, but may be useful to be clear.

Invoices are easy, you can make them in word or excel, or notepad, or on a napkin.

Regarding expenses, more info is required (eg where you are, do you have a company, ect)