What is an FMS operator?

For the client, the service can begin with finding a professional and continue through onboarding, agreements and invoicing. For the freelancer, it offers an organised way to present business information, agree assignments and handle the administration. 

Consider an engineering assignment that runs for six months. Before work starts, the parties need to establish the scope, price and responsibilities. During the assignment, documents may expire and changes may require further agreement. The invoice should then reflect the services and approvals on record. 

The operator helps those steps work together. Its own service agreements should explain what it will do, what it charges and which responsibilities remain with the client and freelancer. 

The distinction is between supporting the assignment and undertaking to perform it. In this model, the client buys the engineering services directly from the freelancer. 

The SNA standard for freelance intermediary services distinguishes two arrangements. Under bemiddeling, the client and freelancer contract directly. Under tussenkomst—intermediary contracting—the business enters into separate agreements with each party for the assignment. 

The supply of personnel raises another question: are workers being made available, for payment, to work under another party’s supervision and control? This is terbeschikkingstelling, the activity addressed by the Wtta admission system. 

A business providing mediation without making workers available in this way does not need Wtta admission for that mediation activity. If it also supplies personnel, that additional activity requires a separate assessment. 

The familiar Dutch description detacheringsbureau cannot settle the answer either. What matters is how the particular arrangement works. The same principle applies to “FMS operator”: the name is useful only if the agreements and everyday conduct support it. 

The introduction is only part of what clients and freelancers need. They also want documents checked, agreements kept current and questions followed up before they delay an assignment. 

The SNA modules for mediation and intermediary contracting, introduced from January 2026, underline the importance of those business controls. They do not determine the legal classification of each working relationship. 

An FMS helps connect the information behind the service. Instead of leaving a proposal in one inbox and an amended agreement in another, the operator can maintain a coherent record of the engagement. 

That is what the term adds: it describes a mediation business whose service continues beyond making the introduction. 

An operator can send invoices in the freelancer’s name and on their behalf under a mandate. The mandate records which actions the operator is authorised to carry out for the freelancer. 

The freelancer should be able to check what is being sent to the client on their behalf. A clear process for reviewing and approving the invoice helps document that involvement. 

The invoice, agreement and payment arrangements should consistently identify who provided the services, who owes payment and what the operator is authorised to do. 

An invoicing mandate is therefore one part of the arrangement. It does not, by itself, establish the operator’s entire legal position or remove the freelancer’s responsibilities. 

Zooly provides the FMS and supporting services. The FMS operator uses that system to deliver its own services. 

An operator can offer its service under its own name. Zooly supports processes such as onboarding, dossier monitoring, moderation, agreements and invoicing. The client and freelancer remain the parties to the agreement for the assignment. 

The intended model supports their connection and administration without taking over direction of the work. Direct contracting alone, however, does not establish that every engagement is independent or settle every regulatory question. The actual service and working arrangements remain decisive.