Provider or self-managed?

	Self-managed company	Provider / consultancy
Who runs payroll	The company itself	You, for several client companies
Billing	Per company, on the self-managed ladder	Pooled: one bill for you across all clients, on the provider ladder
Where you work	In your own company	In each client's context, via the Client companies console
Statutory registrations	Yours	Each client's own (PF/ESIC registration, PT state, levies)
Billing page	Your account	Always your firm's account, whichever client you are operating

How the system decides

Provider status is recognised in three ways, and any one suffices:

1. You declared provider at registration (or were promoted later) — you see provider pricing from day one.
2. You operate at least one client company (an active relationship).
3. A company is operated by a provider — its bills go to that provider.

The relational checks are what make billing hard to game: pooling only ever happens through real relationships.

Choosing

• Run payroll for others, even one company → provider.
• Run only your own → self-managed.
• Not sure → self-managed; a platform administrator can promote you later without re-registration.