The question usually arrives as "should we hire someone or bring in a consultant?" It is really two questions. The first is about the work. Is it a list of tasks that will keep changing, a piece of work with a finish line, or a role that will last for years?
The second is about the person: how they are hired, how they are paid, and who handles the paperwork. Getting the first question right matters more. The second matters less than most hiring managers expect.
The figures below come from vetted consultants on Turbin and from engagements run through Turbin so far. Rates are the hourly rates consultants set for themselves, before Turbin's fee is added.
What are the three ways to hire a Workday consultant?
There are three: a contract, a consulting project and a permanent hire. A contract is hourly work at the consultant's rate. Your lead approves a timesheet each week, and you get one invoice a month.
A consulting project is a set piece of work for a fixed price. It is written up in a short statement of work (SOW: a document that sets the scope, price and timeline). The price comes from the same rate times an estimate of the hours. Contracts and projects both run under one master services agreement (MSA), the main contract you sign with Turbin once.
A permanent hire is a full-time employee on your payroll, placed with a 90-day guarantee.
| Shape | How you pay | Commitment | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract Hourly, the most common shape | The consultant's rate plus a flat 20%, from weekly timesheets on one monthly invoice | None; 30 days' written notice ends it | A backlog that will change: stabilization, tickets, phase-two work |
| Consulting project Fixed scope, under the same MSA | One agreed price: the same rate and fee times an hours estimate | The deliverable; the consultant carries the overrun risk | A deliverable you can name: an integration, a model, a year-end |
| Permanent hire Full-time, on your payroll | A salary, plus a placement fee that depends on the role | A 90-day guarantee from the start date | Work that will still be there in two years |
Contracts and consulting projects run under the same MSA with Turbin, so the work can move between the two shapes. Permanent placement fees are quoted per role.
Contracts are the default for a reason. On the network, 72% of consultants take part-time work, and the median engagement on Turbin is 15 hours a week. Most Workday needs are a fraction of a person, not a whole one.
A salaried hire for a part-time workload is either expensive or drifts into other work. Neither is what you set out to buy.
How much does each option cost?
A contract is priced by the hour, a consulting project by the result, and a permanent hire by salary plus a placement fee. At the network median of $92 an hour, a contract bills $110 with Turbin's flat 20%. The consultant receives their full rate.
Over the median engagement of 15 hours a week for 6 months, that comes to about $43k in total. The fee is its own line on a monthly invoice, on Net-30 terms.
Through a staffing agency, the same consultant typically bills $129–$184 an hour. The agency adds 40–100% on top of the consultant's rate and shows you one number. That markup applies to every hour of the contract, so a longer engagement widens the gap.
A consulting project uses the same rate and fee, times an hours estimate both sides agree before work starts. You get one price, one SOW and one invoice schedule, and the finish line is written down. It suits work you can describe up front. If you cannot say what "done" looks like, the estimate will be a guess, and a contract is the better fit.
A contract has no long-term commitment and no fee for ending early. Written notice of 30 days ends it, and you pay for the work done. If the first week's work is not good enough to bill, the consultant is replaced within 72 hours at no charge.
A permanent hire carries a placement fee that depends on the role, so ask for it when you plan the search. It also comes with a 90-day guarantee from the start date. If the hire resigns or is let go for performance, the search runs again at no extra placement fee. Comparing an agency for a permanent search? Ask for its placement fee, how long its guarantee lasts, and what it does if the hire leaves early.
Does W-2, 1099 or corp-to-corp change anything for you?
Not on Turbin. W-2, 1099 and corp-to-corp describe how a US consultant is paid and taxed, not what they cost or how good they are. Turbin holds the contract and pays the consultant, whatever their setup. You sign one MSA, get one invoice, and pay the consultant's rate plus a flat 20% in every case.
The three setups are still worth knowing, because every route you compare will mention them. The names come from US tax forms and contract types.
- W-2: the consultant is an employee of the firm that hires them, for the length of the project. That firm takes income tax out of their pay. A W-2 is the form US employers use to report an employee's pay.
- 1099: the consultant is self-employed. They send invoices for their work and pay their own taxes. A 1099 is the form used to report pay to someone who is not an employee.
- Corp-to-corp: the consultant works through their own company. That company signs the contract and sends the invoices, business to business.
Canada and the UK have their own versions, such as incorporated contractors and UK limited companies. The answer for you, the client, is the same.
Hire directly, and the setup becomes your team's work. Legal reviews each agreement and whether the person counts as a contractor or an employee. Your accounts payable team sets up each consultant as a vendor. Four consultants means four agreements and four invoices on four schedules.
Through Turbin, the setup stops with the consultant. You sign one MSA once, then a short rate confirmation for each consultant. You get one monthly invoice, built from the weekly timesheets your lead approves. Ending an engagement works the same way for every setup: 30 days' written notice.
Which shape fits which problem?
Match the option to how the work will change. Work that keeps moving is a contract. One example is fixing issues after go-live, the day a new Workday setup goes into use. Others are a queue of support tickets, or a project where nobody knows yet how big it is.
Paying by the hour means you never pay for work you did not use. Part-time hours keep a specialist close at hand without a full-time cost.
A result you can name is a consulting project. One example is two integrations (connections that send data between Workday and another system). Others are a budget model in Adaptive Planning (Workday's planning tool), a rework of who can see and change what in Workday, or a payroll year-end. Each has a finish line, which is what a fixed scope needs. The year-end guide covers that last one in detail. You get one price, and the consultant carries the risk of going over.
Work that never ends is a permanent hire. If the skill is rare enough that a salaried search would take months, a long contract works too. Common examples are running your Workday system day to day, keeping up with Workday's two feature releases a year, and leading a Workday team. If the work will still be there in two years, hire for it.
If you are not sure, start with a contract. Three months tells you whether the role is real and whether the person fits. Converting then costs 10% of base salary, not a new search.
Can a contractor convert to a permanent hire?
Yes. If the consultant wants the role, Turbin never blocks the move, and the fee is 10% of first-year base salary. It is often the safest way to make a permanent Workday hire. Three months of real work in your Workday system tells you more about a person's skills and working style than any round of interviews.
Contract-to-hire through a staffing agency often costs more, so read the terms before you sign. Conversion fees are common, and the agency's markup runs on every contract hour before the switch. Ask the agency three questions. What is the fee to hire the consultant permanently, and how is it worked out? Does the consultant have to work a set number of months first? Can the consultant accept your offer, or does their contract with the agency stop them?
Say you want this when you describe the project. The matching engine then builds the shortlist from consultants who have said they are open to permanent roles. That avoids an awkward talk three months in with someone who prefers contract work.
Most do prefer it: only 17% of consultants on the network are open to permanent roles. So a contract-to-permanent request draws on a smaller group, and saying so up front keeps the shortlist honest.
Questions we get asked.
No. The rate on the consultant's profile is the rate, and Turbin's flat 20% is the fee. That holds whether the consultant works W-2, 1099, corp-to-corp or under a Canadian or UK equivalent. Turbin holds the contract and pays the consultant, so their setup never shows up on your invoice as a different number. You see their hours, their rate, and the fee as its own line.
It is more predictable, not cheaper. The SOW is priced from the same consultant rate and an estimate of the hours. Because the consultant carries the risk of going over, the estimate usually has some cushion in it. Choose a fixed scope when you can name the result and want one number. Choose hourly when the work is a list that will keep changing.
Your own lead. The consultant submits a timesheet each week, and the person you name on your side approves it. The approved weeks roll into one monthly invoice from Turbin on Net-30 terms. Each consultant's hours and Turbin's 20% appear as separate lines. That keeps hourly spend visible week by week, which matters most when the scope keeps moving.