Cost modeling before the decision
What an assignment actually costs, allowances, tax gross-up, housing, shipping, before anyone commits. Modeled by scenario so finance can compare options rather than approve a single number.
Global mobility
Global mobility software
Global mobility software, also called expatriate management software, manages international assignments and relocations along with the tax, payroll and immigration obligations they create. It replaces spreadsheets and email chains with cost modeling, structured workflows and a record of every decision.Most platforms in this category handle the logistics of moving people. Fewer handle what those moves cost you and what they oblige you to do.
One platform
Every type of employee movement.
Model first
Costs and tax exposure before you commit.
Full audit trail
Every assignment, approval and document on record.
What it covers
What global mobility software actually covers
Tax and social security obligations
Where income tax and social security are owed once someone moves, which treaties apply, and what the employer is responsible for. This is the half of the category most platforms treat as an afterthought.
Immigration and right to work
Visas, work permits, permitted activities and expiry dates. Checked before travel rather than discovered at a border.
Documents and the record
Assignment letters, cost estimates, policy acknowledgments, all generated from the same data and retained with the decisions they support.
Most mobility programs run on spreadsheets that are out of date the day they are built. Costs are estimated once and never revisited. Tax positions are checked after the fact. 69% of mobility teams want AI-powered scenario modeling. (Source: AI Inflection Point report) The demand is for better modeling, not more administration.
Manual vs software
Most mobility programmes are still run by hand.
Manual
ManualManual
- Cost estimates built by hand in a spreadsheet, per assignment.
- Tax treatment checked after the assignment is approved.
- Policy applied from memory, differently by each coordinator.
- Documents written from scratch or copied from the last one.
- No single view of who is on assignment, where, or until when.
- Immigration tracked in a separate file, if at all.
With software
SoftwareWith software
- 1Cost scenarios modeled in minutes and compared side by side.
- 2Tax and social security positions surfaced before approval.
- 3Policy rules applied consistently by the system.
- 4Documents generated from the same data as the estimate.
- 5One view of every assignee, location and end date.
- 6Immigration status and expiry tracked alongside the assignment.
What to look for
What to look for in global mobility software
The category splits between platforms that move people and platforms that manage what moving them obliges you to do. These six questions separate them.
Cost modeling
Can you model several scenarios before committing, or only produce one estimate after the decision?
Tax and social security
Does the platform surface the obligations a move creates, or leave that to your adviser?
Immigration
Are permits, permitted activities and expiry dates tracked in the same system as the assignment?
Policy enforcement
Are your policy rules applied by the system, or interpreted by whoever handles the case?
Document generation
Are assignment letters and cost estimates generated from live data, or written by hand?
Coverage and connections
Does the country coverage match your footprint, and does it read from the HR and payroll systems you already run?
How it works
How global mobility software works.
1
Model
Build cost scenarios for the assignment before anyone commits. Compare locations, durations and policy options side by side.
2
Approve
Route the case through your policy rules. Reviewers see cost, tax exposure and immigration requirements together rather than in three separate threads.
3
Move
Generate the documents, initiate the vendors, and track the move against the plan that was approved.
4
Manage
Monitor the assignment through its life. Track permit expiry, duration limits and cost variance, and keep the record for as long as the tax authority might ask.
What automation changes
What automation changes.
Scenario modeling
Compare several versions of an assignment in minutes rather than rebuilding a spreadsheet for each one.
Obligations surfaced early
Tax, social security and immigration requirements appear while the decision can still change.
Consistent policy
The same rules produce the same answer for every assignee, regardless of who handles the case.
One record
Estimates, approvals, documents and decisions retained together, with attribution and dates.
One system
Every type of employee movement
Relocations
Permanent moves and long-term assignments, cost modeling, document generation
Business travel
Cross-border trips, day counting, pre-travel risk checks
Remote work
Work-from-anywhere requests, hybrid arrangements, distributed teams
Visa and immigration
Right to work, permits, permitted activities, expiry tracking
Who needs this
Who needs it.
Mobility
Run more assignments without adding headcount. Stop rebuilding the same spreadsheet.
Finance
See what an assignment costs before it is approved, and compare options rather than approving a single figure.
Risk and compliance
Know which obligations each move creates, and hold a record that stands up to an audit.
HR
Give employees a consistent experience and a predictable answer, wherever they are going.
On the platform
How Topia Horizon handles global mobility
Horizon manages assignments, relocations, travel and remote work as one system rather than four.
FAQs
Global mobility software questions
What is global mobility software?
Software that manages international assignments and relocations along with the obligations they create. It typically covers cost modeling, policy and approval workflows, immigration tracking, document generation and a record of decisions.
Is expatriate management software the same thing?
Yes. Expatriate management software, global mobility software and assignment management software describe the same category. Vendors differ mainly in whether they emphasize moving people or managing the compliance that follows them.
What is the difference between relocation management and global mobility software?
Relocation management focuses on the logistics of the move: shipping, temporary housing, vendor coordination. Global mobility software covers those logistics and adds cost modeling, tax and social security obligations, immigration, and the audit record. If your concern is tax and compliance rather than moving boxes, that is the distinction to test vendors on.
How is this different from an Employer of Record?
An EOR employs people on your behalf in countries where you have no legal entity. Global mobility software does not employ anyone. It models what a move costs, applies your policy, tracks the obligations created, and keeps the record. Companies often use both.
When should a company move off spreadsheets?
Usually when the number of assignees exceeds what one person can hold in their head, when finance starts asking for scenario comparisons rather than single estimates, or after the first compliance surprise. The trigger is rarely headcount alone.
Does global mobility software handle immigration?
It should. Permits, permitted activities and expiry dates belong in the same system as the assignment, because an immigration problem is usually discovered at a border rather than in a report.
Ready when you are
See what an assignment really costs.
Book a 30-minute demo. We will model a real scenario with you and show what the obligations look like before you commit.