SDP Solutions review: contractor payroll and EOR in New Zealand
A Sydney contractor-management and payroll-funding firm, in business since 2004, with a New Zealand limited company on the register since 2012. Its New Zealand website is a copy of its Australian one. We verified the entity and scored the service on our eight criteria: a credible Australian contractor payroll operator with almost no New Zealand-specific substance.
An Australian contractor-payroll specialist with a New Zealand company and no New Zealand content.
SDP Solutions was founded in Sydney in February 2004 by Raj Sesha and makes its living paying contractors on behalf of recruitment agencies and enterprises: timesheets, invoicing, payroll funding, insurance and salary packaging, with a back-office in Bengaluru and a portal called Contractor Hub. It describes an Employer of Record and "Global Pay" service for hiring without an entity, and New Zealand is on its map. The New Zealand company is real and current: SDP Solutions Limited, incorporated in January 2012, owned personally by the founder. Everything else about the New Zealand offer is missing. The sdpsolutions.co.nz site reproduces the Australian site, down to the 1300 phone number, superannuation, fringe benefits tax and 482 visa sponsorship, and contains no mention of the Holidays Act, KiwiSaver, ACC, Inland Revenue or payday filing. The Wellington address is a serviced suite with no phone number and no Google listing. For an Australian recruitment agency that already uses SDP and needs the odd New Zealand contractor paid, it is a natural extension. For a company choosing a New Zealand employer from scratch, it has not yet made its case.
Choose SDP Solutions if you are a recruitment agency or enterprise already running contractors through SDP in Australia and want the same back-office, funding and portal for occasional New Zealand placements. Look elsewhere if you are hiring New Zealand employees directly, want a provider that documents New Zealand payroll compliance, or need New Zealand-hours support from New Zealand staff.
Who actually employs your staff: SDP Solutions Limited, owned by the founder
The register shows SDP Solutions Limited (NZBN 9429030819030, company number 3708525), a New Zealand limited company incorporated on 19 January 2012 with annual returns filed every year through October 2026. Its sole director is Rangaraj (Raj) Sesha, resident in New South Wales, who also personally holds all 100 shares. The New Zealand company is therefore not a subsidiary of the Australian SDP Solutions Pty Ltd (ABN 70 108 572 032); it is a sister company owned by the same individual, and no ultimate holding company is declared.
The registered office is Suite 4200, Level 1, 6 Johnsonville Road, Johnsonville, Wellington, while the website gives Suite 4200, 24B Moorefield Road, Johnsonville: the same suite number at two addresses, with no New Zealand phone number and the Australian email as contact. The NZBN record lists the company's website as sdpsolutions.com.au. The company's history page says a New Zealand office opened in Auckland in 2009; the company was incorporated in 2012 and is registered in Wellington.
| Register field | What the New Zealand Companies Register shows |
|---|---|
| NZBN | 9429030819030 |
| Company number | 3708525 |
| Entity type | New Zealand limited company (locally incorporated), Registered |
| Incorporated | 19 January 2012; annual return filed 13 October 2026 |
| Registered office | Suite 4200, Level 1, 6 Johnsonville Road, Johnsonville, Wellington 6037 (website: Suite 4200, 24B Moorefield Road) |
| Director | Rangaraj Sesha, Castle Hill NSW, Australia; also a director of SDP Solutions Blue Pty Ltd (ACN 159 442 930) |
| Ownership | 100 shares held personally by Rangaraj Sesha; no ultimate holding company declared |
| Australian affiliates | SDP Solutions Pty Ltd (ABN 70 108 572 032, since 2004); SDP Solutions Blue Pty Ltd (ABN 72 159 442 930) |
| Immigration NZ accreditation | NZBN returns no result on the public accredited employer list; no AEWV service offered (482 sponsorship is Australia only) |
Register fields read on 24 October 2026 at app.companiesoffice.govt.nz and abr.business.gov.au. Ask SDP which entity contracts with you for New Zealand placements and where New Zealand payroll is processed.
Eight criteria, the same for every provider
- New Zealand limited company on the register with fourteen years of annual returns
- Twenty-two years in contractor payroll with payroll funding, insurance and a contractor portal, built for recruitment agencies
- Strong Google rating at its Sydney office (4.9 from 108 reviews) and a 2–4 hour urgent-response commitment
- Multi-country Global Pay map including the UK, Ireland, India and the Philippines for agencies placing across borders
- Contractor-friendly terms: no start-up or exit costs, fee taken from pre-tax pay
- The New Zealand website is the Australian website: Australian phone numbers, superannuation, FBT, 482 visas and Fair Work, with no New Zealand employment content at all
- No pricing for EOR, Global Pay or contractor payroll on either site
- No New Zealand staff, phone number or Google listing; two different Wellington addresses for the same suite
- Holidays Act, KiwiSaver, ACC and payday filing are never mentioned
- New Zealand company is owned by the founder personally, not by the SDP group, with no ultimate holding company declared
- Dates disagree across its own pages: founded 2004 or 1996, New Zealand office 2009 versus incorporation 2012, India office 2015 or 2018
What SDP Solutions says it handles for a New Zealand worker
| Obligation | Status | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Employment agreement | Partial | Workers become employees of SDP "for tax purposes" under its contractor model; "appropriate employment contracts" promised, no New Zealand template described |
| Holidays Act 2003 | Unverified | Not mentioned on any page |
| KiwiSaver | Unverified | Not mentioned; superannuation is discussed instead |
| ACC levies | Unverified | Not mentioned |
| Payday filing to IRD | Unverified | Not mentioned; no Inland Revenue reference |
| Accredited Employer Work Visa | Not offered | Not offered; visa sponsorship is for Australian 482 visas only |
| Contractor payroll & funding | Core service | Core business: timesheets, invoicing, payroll funding, insurance, Contractor Hub portal |
What you actually pay for one NZ$90,000 hire
SDP publishes no fees. Its contractor pages say the management fee is "among the lowest in the industry" and is deducted from pre-tax pay; the only number on the site is a 2.5% of gross billing assumption buried in the code of its Australian salary-packaging calculator, which also uses a superannuation rate that is years out of date. The example below shows statutory costs only.
| Line item (monthly) | NZ$ |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | 7,500 |
| KiwiSaver employer contribution (3.5%) | 263 |
| ACC work levy (approx., office class) | 55 |
| SDP management fee | Quote only |
| Statutory employer cost before the fee | 7,818 |
- Payroll processing with a chosen pay cycle and pay-advance option
- Contractor portal for timesheets and payslips
- Dedicated account manager; no start-up or exit costs for contractors
- Fee level and currency for New Zealand
- New Zealand visa sponsorship
- Any New Zealand-specific compliance process
Illustrative. Get the fee, the contracting entity, the payroll location and the New Zealand compliance process in writing before signing.
If SDP Solutions is not the fit
RemotePeople
Lowest published rate, a New Zealand limited company it owns and documented New Zealand compliance.
Read our RemotePeople reviewCXC Global
The other contractor-management firm with New Zealand companies on the register, and a New Zealand EOR guide that names the obligations.
Read our CXC reviewANZPEO (formerly NZ PEO)
Australian-run but with New Zealand content, named staff and INZ accreditation.
Read our ANZPEO reviewCommon questions about SDP Solutions in New Zealand
Does SDP Solutions have a New Zealand company?
Does SDP handle New Zealand payroll compliance?
What does SDP charge?
Is SDP an Employer of Record or a contractor payroll company?
Not sure SDP Solutions is the one?
Answer five questions about headcount, timeline and budget, and we'll shortlist the three NZ EORs that fit.
How this review was made
Scored on the same eight criteria as every provider on NZEORHub. Entity status, ownership and directors were read from the New Zealand Companies Register and the Australian Business Register on 24 October 2026; service descriptions from sdpsolutions.co.nz and sdpsolutions.com.au; ratings from Google. SDP Solutions did not pay for this review and did not see it before publication.
Sources: New Zealand Companies Register (company 3708525) · NZBN register · Australian Business Register (ABN 70 108 572 032 and 72 159 442 930) · Immigration New Zealand accredited employer list · sdpsolutions.co.nz and sdpsolutions.com.au (solutions, Global Pay, offices, history, knowledge base) · Google reviews (Sydney listing) · LinkedIn company page, read 24 October 2026.