We present an analysis of the quasistationary (QS) state of the contact process (CP) on annealed scale-free networks using a mapping of the CP dynamics in a one-step process and analyzing numerically and analytically the corresponding master equation. The relevant QS quantities determined via the master equation exhibit an excellent agreement with direct QS stochastic simulations of the CP. The high accuracy of the resulting data allows a probe of the strong corrections to scaling present in both the critical and supercritical regions, corrections that mask the correct finite-size scaling obtained analytically by applying an exact heterogeneous mean-field approach. Our results represent a promising starting point for a deeper understanding of the contact process and absorbing phase transitions on real (quenched) complex networks.