MSA Asia

MSA Asia is a regional market-entry, accounting and advisory group operating across Asia. It acts as the legal employer for client staff under its Employer of Record services in Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. Its wider services include corporate advisory, accounting and market-entry support for companies expanding in the region.

Listed in 1 country list Prominent in 1 market

By TheEORDirectory Editorial Team

Researched from company registers and providers' own published terms, and reviewed by a second editor before publication.

Last updated 5 November 2026

Fact	Value
Established	2011
Founders	Unknown
Region / headquarters	Asia
Website	msadvisory.com ↗
What it does	MSA Asia is a regional market-entry, accounting and advisory group operating across Asia. It acts as the legal employer for client staff under its Employer of Record services in Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. Its wider services include corporate advisory, accounting and market-entry support for companies expanding in the region.
Entry price	Quote-based (no public price)
G2 rating	4.9/5 (32 reviews) (read on g2.com, 4 Nov 2026)
Last verified	4 Nov 2026

How it operates by country

🇨🇳 China

MSA Asia (MS Advisory; Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore) is an Asia advisory firm with EOR through its own entities in six APAC markets plus accounting, tax and company formation. Mainland China and Hong Kong are MSA’s core markets, where it employs staff through its own entities and runs local payroll, tax and compliance.

China profile

MSA Asia (the trading name of MS Advisory) is a Shanghai-headquartered company incorporation, accounting, tax and business advisory firm that states it was established in 2011. Its head office is at Room A, 21st Floor, East Building, No. 668 East Beijing Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, with further offices listed in Beijing, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Singapore and five other Asian locations. The site footer states 56 local experts and more than 1,500 companies served (provider claims). The firm is a GGI Global Alliance member; Raoul Schweicher is managing partner and Dream Zhou and Brian Blömer are partners. Employer of Record sits alongside its core WFOE registration, accounting and payroll work, and on 4 June 2026 it announced EOR services in Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.

In mainland China MSA operates through its own entity, MSA Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., based at its Shanghai head office. The EOR page states that MSA becomes the legal employer of your team and the PEO page says employees sign contracts with its PEO entity; the labour dispatch page, by contrast, states that MSA partners with a licensed dispatching company (FESCO) for dispatch placements. No unified social credit code or labour dispatch licence number is published, so ask which company, MSA Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. or the FESCO partner, signs a given hire's contract and under which regime. Coverage is stated as all of China, including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu. The EOR page sets out three contract types, probation limits, Shanghai social insurance and housing fund rates, Z visa support, termination handling and an EOR-to-WFOE transition service.

The EOR page body and the pricing page quote USD 199 per employee per month, while the same EOR page's 2026 header states "from USD 800 per employee per month". Onboarding is given as 48 hours in the page header, "as little as 24 hours" in the benefits section, "days" on the pricing page and "typically within 1-2 weeks" on the dispatch page. No setup fee or deposit terms are published; the pricing FAQ states no minimum contract period. G2 shows 4.9/5 from 32 reviews, five of them on EOR and HR. The footer lists SOC 2 as a "target", not a held certification.

China facts

Chinese employing entity	Own Chinese entity: MSA Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., at the Shanghai head office. The EOR page states that MSA becomes the legal employer of your team and the PEO page states that employees sign employment contracts with its PEO entity; the labour dispatch page states that MSA partners with a licensed dispatching company (FESCO) for dispatch placements. Confirm in writing which of the two signs a given hire's contract.
Business registration	Entity name MSA Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.. Unified social credit code (统一社会信用代码) not published on the EOR, PEO, dispatch, pricing, about, terms, privacy or legal disclaimer pages; the terms of service state that disputes go to the courts of Shanghai.
Registered office	Head office stated as Room A, 21st Floor, East Building, No. 668 East Beijing Road (上海科技京城), Huangpu District, Shanghai 200001 (provider site and EU SME Centre listing). Further mainland offices listed in Beijing (China Central Place, Tower 3, Level 24, 77 Jianguo Road, Chaoyang) and Shenzhen (Longshen Times Building, Room 1208). Whether this is the registered address of the employing entity is not published.
Founded	Group states 2011 (site footer and June 2026 press release). The about page title says "since 2012" and the people page metadata says "since 2007". No incorporation date for a Chinese entity is published.
Company status	Active (operating entity for MSA's Shanghai head office); registration details not published.
Legal representative / management	Legal representative not published. The people page names Raoul P.E. Schweicher as managing partner, Dream Zhou and Brian Blömer as partners and Harm Hoonstra as director. The June 2026 press release names Raoul Schweicher as managing partner.
Dispatch licence	Not published in MSA's own name. The labour dispatch page states that dispatch hires are placed through a licensed dispatching company (FESCO) under a labour dispatch programme (劳务派遣); direct EOR hires are employed by MSA Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.. No licence number is published for MSA or the partner, and the 10 per cent dispatch headcount cap and the temporary, auxiliary or substitute position rules under the 2014 Interim Provisions on Labour Dispatch are not addressed on the pages reviewed.
Contract types	The EOR page lists fixed-term, non-fixed-term (open-ended) and project-based contracts, and states that a written contract is mandatory for every full-time employee. Probation is stated as a maximum of one month for contracts of three months to one year, two months for one to three years and six months for fixed-term contracts over three years. Termination requires justifiable reasons with 30 days' notice, or three days during probation.
Payroll and statutory	The EOR page publishes a Shanghai guideline table: pension 16 percent employer and 8 percent employee, unemployment 0.5 percent each, housing fund 7 percent each, work injury 0.16 to 1.52 percent employer only, medical 10 percent employer and 2 percent employee with maternity merged into medical, and notes that rates vary by city. The FESCO guide shows the seven IIT brackets from 3 to 45 percent with quick deductions and the RMB 5,000 monthly standard deduction. Payroll outsourcing is priced from USD 19 per employee per month with monthly IIT, social security and housing fund filings and annual base adjustments. The cumulative withholding method is not described by name.
Compliance services stated	Drafting of compliant employment contracts, enrolment in social insurance and housing fund, IIT withholding and payment, employment liability "as specified in our service agreement", termination and severance management, recruitment and onboarding, and registration and deregistration of employees in any province. The China PEO page notes the Supreme People's Court interpretation effective 1 September 2025 that voids agreements to skip social insurance and favours reinstatement for wrongful termination, and the 1 July 2026 interim provisions on employees working past retirement age. Work permit services cover the Foreigner's Work Permit Notification Letter and Z visa application.
Optional benefits	The pricing page refers to "locally tailored benefits to attract top talent" without listing them. The EOR page lists statutory unemployment, medical, work injury and maternity insurance. Supplementary commercial health insurance and other allowances are not specifically published.
Other services in China	WFOE, joint venture, representative office and branch registration (entity setup from USD 2,999, licence stated within two weeks); accounting from USD 199 per month; payroll outsourcing from USD 19 per employee per month; recruitment; work visas; tax advisory, transfer pricing and CFO services; corporate restructuring, profit repatriation and liquidation; chop custody; EOR-to-legal-entity transition. MSA states it does not provide legal services itself and refers legal work to licensed partners.
Stated onboarding time	Inconsistent: "48 hours" in the EOR page header and meta description, "as little as 24 hours" in the benefits section, "a fully compliant workforce in weeks, not months" in the introduction, "onboarding in days, not months" on the pricing page and "typically within 1-2 weeks" on the labour dispatch page (all provider claims). A G2 reviewer reproduced on MSA's site reports a five-person PEO team "operational within 2 weeks".
Entry price	USD 199 per employee per month, stated on the EOR page body and on the pricing page as flat-rate monthly pricing with no hidden fees; the same EOR page's 2026 header states "from USD 800 per employee per month". Both figures are recorded as published. No setup fee, exit fee or deposit is published. The pricing FAQ states no minimum contract period, cancel any time, and invoicing in USD, EUR, HKD or RMB.
Security certifications (group)	None held as published. The site footer lists "SSL Encrypted", "GGI Alliance Member", "Data Protected", "GDPR Compliant" and "SOC 2 Target", indicating SOC 2 is an objective rather than a certification. The privacy notice, last updated 23 September 2021, refers to PIPL and GDPR.
Provider China page	msadvisory.com/service/hr-payroll/employer-of-record ↗

Services in China

Employer of Record	Employs mainland China staff through MSA's own entity, MSA Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., as legal employer, drafting Chinese labour contracts, registering social insurance and housing fund and running monthly payroll and IIT withholding, while the client directs day-to-day work. For labour dispatch placements the dispatch page indicates a licensed FESCO partner, so confirm the contracting chain for each hire in the service agreement.
PEO and labour dispatch	Described as a co-employment model in which the employee signs with "our PEO entity" while the client directs day-to-day work. The dispatch programme covers local and foreign talent across China including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu, with a single consolidated invoice covering salary, social security, housing fund and insurance, and onboarding stated at one to two weeks.
Payroll outsourcing	For clients with their own Chinese entity, gross-to-net calculation, IIT, social insurance and housing fund filings, payslips, cost-centre reports, statutory payments and reimbursements from USD 19 per employee per month, with annual contribution base adjustments applied and online or offline registration and deregistration of staff in any province.
Work permits and Z visas	A global mobility team prepares and submits the Foreigner's Work Permit Notification Letter and the Z visa application for foreign hires, and the FESCO guide notes tighter 2026 salary-threshold and documentation checks in Beijing and Shanghai. Whether EOR employees can be sponsored under the employing entity's own quota is not published.
Termination and offboarding	Review of the contract for valid termination grounds, severance calculation, drafting of the termination notice or settlement agreement, negotiation support, filing and payment of final severance and deregistration with the social insurance, housing fund and tax authorities. The EOR page states a 30-day notice standard and three days during probation.
EOR-to-WFOE transition and entity services	MSA states it supports the move from EOR to a client-owned WFOE or joint venture while maintaining continuity for employees, and offers the entity registration itself from USD 2,999 with the business licence stated within two weeks, followed by bank account opening, tax, social security and housing fund registrations, accounting and chop custody. Royal Brinkman is cited as a client that moved from EOR to a full subsidiary.

Strengths and watch-outs in China

✓ Employs through its own Chinese entity, MSA Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., a Shanghai-based firm with a published street address, named partners and fifteen years of China incorporation, accounting and payroll practice behind the EOR, so the people who run your hire's payroll are the people who would set up your WFOE later.
✓ The EOR page publishes a Shanghai social insurance and housing fund table with employer and employee percentages, probation limits by contract length, the three contract types and notice periods, and the FESCO guide publishes the IIT brackets and RMB 5,000 standard deduction, which is more statutory detail than most global platforms give for China.
✓ Published China-specific pricing exists in two places, USD 199 per employee per month on the pricing page and EOR page body, with flat-rate monthly billing, no minimum term and invoicing in USD, EUR, HKD or RMB, and the pricing FAQ states that every cost is itemised in the proposal before signing.
✓ Coverage is stated as every province and major city in China, including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu, with registration and deregistration of staff handled online or offline in any province, and a G2 reviewer reproduced on MSA's site notes support in smaller Chinese cities.
✓ Work permit and Z visa handling for foreign hires is part of the EOR offer, covering the Foreigner's Work Permit Notification Letter and visa application, and the 2026 FESCO guide shows awareness of tighter salary-threshold and documentation checks in Beijing and Shanghai.
✓ G2 rating of 4.9/5 from 32 reviews, with the firm's own widget categorising five as EOR and HR, including a reviewer who entered Hong Kong and China via EOR before a subsidiary set-up and one who reports a five-person PEO team compliant and operational within two weeks.
✗ The dispatch page states that dispatch hires are placed through a licensed FESCO partner while the EOR page says MSA is the legal employer, and no unified social credit code or dispatch licence number is published, so confirm in writing whether MSA Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. or the FESCO partner signs a given hire's contract and under which regime.
✗ Pricing and onboarding claims are internally inconsistent: USD 199 per employee per month on two pages against "from USD 800 per employee per month" in the EOR page's own 2026 header, and onboarding stated as 48 hours, 24 hours, "days" and one to two weeks on different pages, with no setup fee, deposit or exit terms published.
✗ EOR is a side line for an incorporation and accounting firm: only 32 G2 reviews with five on EOR and HR, no security certification held (SOC 2 is listed as a target), a privacy notice dated September 2021, and MSA states it does not itself provide legal services, which matters in labour disputes.

Reviews

G2 overall: 4.9/5 from 32 reviews (figure supplied to the directory; the G2 product page could not be read by the directory on 20 October 2026). MSA's own review widget on the EOR page reproduces 32 G2 reviews and categorises them as Incorporation (11), Tax and Accounting (10), Advisory (6) and EOR and HR (5); all displayed ratings are 4.5 or 5 and no review dates are shown.
EOR and HR reviews as reproduced on MSA's site: Rick H., 5/5, "Can Highly Recommend MSA!"; Sinan S., 5/5, entered Hong Kong and China via EOR while the subsidiary was set up; Dennis K., 5/5, switched EOR provider to MSA; Chris Y., 5/5, payroll consolidation across Asian entities; a verified user, 5/5, whose five engineers were "fully compliant and operational within 2 weeks" via PEO. Dates are not shown on the provider's page.
No Capterra or Trustpilot listing and no Reddit threads discussing MSA Asia's China EOR were found in searches on 20 October 2026; third-party write-ups found (remotepad.net, impakter.com, jivochat.com, onrec.com) are review-style articles rather than user reviews.

The G2 figure was supplied to the directory and the G2 page itself could not be read; individual reviews are quoted as reproduced on MSA Asia's own website and are not independently verified.