FS-DOC-03Operations
Process Runbook / SOP
Contractor and Freelancer Management
[YourCompany.com] · HR Department · Prepared by FullSpec · [Today's Date]
This runbook is the day-to-day operating guide for the HR and Finance team members responsible for contractor and freelancer management. It describes what the automation handles end to end, where your team steps in, how to deal with exceptions, and how to keep the system running correctly over time. FullSpec builds, monitors, and maintains the automation layer. Your team owns the exception decisions and the contractor relationship.
01Process overview
The Contractor and Freelancer Management automation runs from the moment a new contractor engagement is confirmed through to payment being scheduled and the contractor notified. Two agents handle the work: the Contractor Onboarding Agent manages document collection, agreement signing, and payee setup; the Invoice Processing Agent receives invoices, checks them against agreed rates, routes approvals through Slack, and creates bills in Xero. Your team is only required to act when an invoice amount does not match the agreed rate or when a compliance document cannot be verified by the system. Everything else runs without anyone touching it.
Process name
Contractor and Freelancer Management
Trigger
A new contractor engagement form is submitted, a new contact tagged as contractor is created in HubSpot, or a contractor submits an invoice by email or submission form.
Final output
A fully onboarded contractor record in HubSpot with signed agreement in DocuSign, all compliance documents filed in Google Drive, and an approved bill in Xero with payment scheduled and confirmation sent to the contractor.
Agents running
Contractor Onboarding Agent; Invoice Processing Agent
Tools involved
HubSpot, DocuSign, Google Drive, Slack, Xero, Gusto
Weekly volume
Approximately 12 contractor engagements per month (roughly 3 per week); invoice volume varies by active contractor headcount
Human checkpoint
Invoice mismatch review: a team member reviews any invoice where the submitted amount does not match the agreed rate stored in HubSpot, and any compliance document the system cannot verify or read.
Process owner
[Your name] — HR Manager / Finance Administrator
Process Runbook / SOPPage 1 of 4
FS-DOC-03Operations
02Step-by-step: what happens and who acts
What you actually need to do: There is one human step in this process. When the Invoice Processing Agent detects that a submitted invoice amount does not match the agreed contractor rate in HubSpot, it pauses and posts an alert to the designated Slack channel. Your Finance Administrator reviews the invoice, decides to approve or reject it, and responds via the Slack action button. The agent then proceeds based on that decision. All other steps run automatically without any action from your team.
Step
What happens
Who acts
Type
1
A new contractor engagement is detected. This happens when a form is submitted or a HubSpot contact is created or tagged as a contractor. The automation captures the contractor's name, role, agreed rate, and start date from the record.
Automation
Automated
2
A contractor record is created in HubSpot as the single source of truth. All fields from the trigger data are populated automatically so nothing has to be entered manually.
Automation
Automated
3
The correct contractor agreement template is selected based on the contractor's role and rate, pre-filled, and sent to the contractor for signature via DocuSign without anyone in HR needing to touch it.
Automation
Automated
4
A structured onboarding email is sent to the contractor listing all required compliance documents such as W-9, NDA, and bank details, with an upload link that routes files directly to the correct Google Drive folder.
Automation
Automated
5
If required documents are not received within three business days, the automation sends a follow-up reminder to the contractor and posts an internal alert to the HR Slack channel. Reminders repeat on a set schedule until all items are received.
Automation
Automated
6
Once DocuSign confirms the agreement is fully signed and all compliance documents are filed in Google Drive, the automation creates the contractor as a payee in Gusto using the stored bank and rate details.
Automation
Automated
7
When a contractor submits an invoice, the Invoice Processing Agent receives it, checks the amount against the agreed rate and milestone stored in HubSpot, and routes it for approval in Slack if the amounts match.
Automation
Automated
8
If the invoice amount does not match the agreed rate, the automation holds the invoice and posts a mismatch alert to the Finance Administrator in Slack with the invoice details and the expected amount. The Finance Administrator reviews the invoice and responds via the Slack approve or reject button.
Finance Administrator
Human
9
For invoices that pass the rate check, the relevant manager receives an approval request in Slack showing the invoice amount, contractor name, and a one-click approve or query button. Their decision is logged automatically back to HubSpot.
Automation
Automated
10
Once approved, the automation creates the bill in Xero with the correct expense category and the invoice PDF attached, then schedules payment for the next payment run. A confirmation email is sent to the contractor automatically.
Automation
Automated
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FS-DOC-03Operations
03Handling exceptions
Situation
What the system does
What you do
A required compliance document is missing or unreadable after multiple reminders
The Contractor Onboarding Agent continues to send scheduled reminders to the contractor and posts an escalation alert to the HR Slack channel flagging the specific missing or unreadable item. The contractor is not added to Gusto and the DocuSign agreement is not progressed until the document is received and verified.
Review the Slack alert, contact the contractor directly to confirm the correct document format, and reupload or request a new submission. Once the file is in the correct Google Drive folder, the automation resumes automatically.
A duplicate contractor record is detected in HubSpot
The automation identifies a duplicate based on email address and pauses the onboarding flow. It posts a duplicate warning to the HR Slack channel with links to both records and does not proceed until the conflict is resolved.
Open HubSpot, review both records, merge or delete the duplicate, and confirm the correct record is marked active. The automation will resume from the correct record once the duplicate is cleared.
An invoice amount does not match the agreed contractor rate in HubSpot
The Invoice Processing Agent holds the invoice and sends a mismatch alert to the Finance Administrator in Slack showing the submitted amount, the expected amount based on the HubSpot record, and the contractor name. The invoice is not approved or entered into Xero until a decision is made.
Review the invoice in Slack. If the amount is correct because the rate changed or a milestone was added, update the rate in HubSpot and approve via the Slack button. If the amount is incorrect, reject via the Slack button and the contractor receives an automated notification to resubmit.
A manager does not respond to a Slack invoice approval request within two business days
The automation sends a reminder to the same manager and copies in the process owner on the escalation message. If no response is received after a further business day, the automation flags the invoice as stalled and notifies the Finance Administrator.
Contact the manager directly to request a decision, or reassign the approval to an alternate approver in Slack. Once approval is given via the Slack button, the payment flow resumes immediately.
A contractor does not sign the DocuSign agreement within five business days
The automation sends two chaser emails to the contractor at set intervals and posts an internal alert to the HR Slack channel. The Gusto payee setup step does not proceed until the agreement is fully signed by both parties.
Check the Slack alert and contact the contractor directly if chasing via email has not worked. If the agreement needs to be resent with corrections, void the current envelope in DocuSign and the automation will issue a fresh one on your instruction.
A connected tool such as Xero or DocuSign is temporarily unavailable
The automation detects the failed connection and retries at intervals of 15 minutes for up to two hours. If the tool is still unreachable after two hours, the automation pauses the affected step and sends an alert to the process owner and to support@gofullspec.com.
Check the relevant tool's status page. If the outage is brief, no action is needed and the automation will resume once the tool is back. If the outage is extended, contact FullSpec support at support@gofullspec.com so the team can monitor the queue and manually trigger any time-sensitive steps if needed.
04Who to contact and when
Fill in the rows below once your team is confirmed. Add this document to your internal HR operations folder so every team member knows who to call and when. The FullSpec rows are fixed and do not need to be updated.
Role
Name
How to reach them
Process owner (HR Manager)
[Your name]
[Rep email]
Finance Administrator
[Your name]
[Rep email]
Operations Lead
[Your name]
[Rep email]
HubSpot Admin
[Your name]
[Rep email]
DocuSign Admin
[Your name]
[Rep email]
FullSpec builder
FullSpec team
support@gofullspec.com — for build changes, logic updates, or new agent requirements
FullSpec support
FullSpec support
support@gofullspec.com — for errors, alerts, tool outages, or anything the automation flags that your team cannot resolve
Process Runbook / SOPPage 3 of 4
FS-DOC-03Operations
05Ongoing maintenance
Any time a contractor rate changes
Update the contractor's rate field in HubSpot immediately. The invoice matching logic reads directly from HubSpot, so an outdated rate will trigger a mismatch alert on every invoice until the record is corrected.
Finance Administrator
Any time a DocuSign template needs to change
Log into DocuSign with admin credentials and update the relevant template. Notify the FullSpec team at support@gofullspec.com if the role mapping or field names change, as these may need to be updated in the automation logic.
HR Manager, with FullSpec team notified
Monthly spot-check (first week of each month)
Open HubSpot and filter contractor records created in the past month. Confirm that all expected compliance documents are filed in Google Drive, that DocuSign agreements show as completed, and that all contractors are listed in Gusto. Flag any gaps to the FullSpec team.
HR Manager
Monthly error-log review (first week of each month)
Review any error alerts or stalled-step notifications sent to Slack or to your email in the previous month. Check whether any patterns are emerging, such as repeated mismatches from the same contractor or recurring tool connection failures. Share the log with the FullSpec team if you see recurring issues.
Finance Administrator, with FullSpec team for repeat issues
Any time a team member joins or leaves
Update the contact table in this document and update the Slack channel membership for invoice approvals and HR alerts. If the departing person was an approval delegate in HubSpot or Xero, reassign those permissions before their access is removed.
Process owner
Quarterly volume review (every three months)
Check whether your monthly contractor volume has changed significantly. If you are regularly onboarding more than 20 contractors per month or your invoice volume has more than doubled, contact the FullSpec team to review whether the automation capacity and any tool plan limits need to be adjusted.
Operations Lead, with FullSpec team
The most common maintenance issue for this process is a contractor rate not being updated in HubSpot when a renewal or rate change is agreed verbally or by email. Because the invoice matching logic reads the HubSpot record in real time, even a small discrepancy between the stored rate and the submitted invoice will trigger a mismatch alert and pause the payment. Make it a standard practice to update HubSpot the same day any rate change is agreed, before the next invoice arrives.
Process Runbook / SOPPage 4 of 4