Broward County Fence
How a Fence Contractor Made Its First International Hire Compliant
“We love that Remote Leverage helps us find the contractors, hire them, and also manage them.”
The Challenge
Broward County Fence, founded by Brian Anderson, installs wood, PVC, aluminum, and chain link fencing and wood pergolas across Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties. Business is growing, and the team needed back-office help that’s hard to find locally.
Hiring internationally was new territory. Shiran runs HR and handles payroll herself, so the payroll part wasn’t the worry. The legal side was.
- No playbook for paying abroad. The company had only ever used local payroll providers. It wasn’t sure how taxes worked when the person on the other end lives outside the U.S.
- Real IRS exposure. “We don’t want to hire people outside the States and then get into a complication with the IRS,” Shiran says.
- A shortcut that wouldn’t hold. For the first two weeks, the company paid its new hire directly. Shiran calls it plainly: “That was the wrong way to do it.”
- No visibility. With the hire working remotely, “we know he clocks in, but we have no idea” whether the work is getting done. And watching over his shoulder wasn’t an option: “I don’t really have the time to sit down at a computer and check everything they do every minute.”
Why Remote Leverage
Broward County Fence wanted one partner to find the talent, pay it legally, and keep an eye on the work. “We didn’t know how to handle the legal matters. That’s why we decided to hire you guys,” Shiran says. Remote Leverage does all three.
- Pre-vetted talent. The company met several qualified candidates and picked the best fit. Compared to U.S. hires, Shiran says, “the talent that we get from you guys is the same, or sometimes I would say even higher. It’s helping us get better people than we would get ourselves.”
- Worry-free compliance. Remote Leverage takes on the legal side of paying someone outside the country.
- Hands-on management. Time tracking and daily reports show what the hire is working on, with guidance on where to adjust.
The Solution
1. Recruit and vet.
Remote Leverage handled background checks and interviews, then sent over candidates who fit the role. “You just minimize it to the right-fit people for us,” Shiran says.
2. Onboard with guidance.
The owner led the first conversations. From there, a dedicated representative walked the team through setup. “The onboarding was really easy,” Shiran says. “Our representative did everything for us. We didn’t do anything.”
3. Move payroll onto compliant rails.
The company stopped paying its hire directly. Remote Leverage now processes each payment and sends one invoice at the end of every pay cycle.
4. Track and report.
Remote Leverage tracks the hire’s time and sends reports on what got done each day. It also flags when the job description needs updating or when a task should take less time.
“I like the fact that you have the whole package. I can process payroll with no problem, the contractor gets his money on time, and we can actually track his work and see how he’s doing.”
Shiran, HR, Broward County Fence
The Outcomes
Compliance off the to-do list. Every payment to the company’s international hire now runs through a compliant Contractor of Record setup. “It protects your company, because everything is legal,” Shiran says.
An hour or two back every day. Shiran no longer spends “at least an hour or two” of her day processing payroll, and she doesn’t have to monitor the hire’s screen time herself.
Real savings. By avoiding stateside fees and taxes, “it saves us a couple thousand dollars a year to hire somebody through your company,” Shiran says.
Fast, responsive support. “If we had a payment issue, it was resolved pretty quickly.” An email gets “a response right away,” or a quick call settles it.
“We had fraud in the past. That was really concerning for us.”
Handing bank details to a fully remote company the team had never met in person felt risky. Broward County Fence had been hit by fraud before, so the stakes felt high.
A call with a Remote Leverage representative answered every question. Every bank account and detail was verified. “It was very calming, and we knew we could trust you guys,” Shiran says. Months later, her verdict: “I can definitely say that it was very safe,” and it’s “working perfectly fine.”
Results Summary
| Metric | Before Remote Leverage | With Remote Leverage |
|---|---|---|
| International payments | Paid directly, with unclear legal footing | Compliant Contractor of Record setup |
| Payroll processing | An hour or two of Shiran’s day | One invoice per pay cycle |
| Visibility into the work | “We know he clocks in” and little else | Time tracking and daily reports |
| Hiring | Not Shiran’s main job | Pre-vetted, right-fit candidates |
| Would recommend | “I really recommend Remote Leverage. It protects your company, and it’s easy to do.” |
What Comes Next
Broward County Fence is growing, and Shiran says the company could “grow really fast” with Remote Leverage. Next on the list: phone-based sales reps who can quote customers on the first call, plus post-job customer service to confirm every install was done right.
Her advice to other business owners is simple: “They take care of you from day one of hiring, find the best match for you, and process everything else: payroll and legal matters.”
If your contracting business needs back-office help without the legal guesswork, book a call with Remote Leverage and see how fast a pre-vetted, English-fluent hire can join your team, with worry-free compliance built in.
Related reading: Stonewall Golf Club case study