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Payroll Integrations: Best Practices

Best Practices and Strategy
Jun 20, 2019

Broker’s save an average of 21 hours in manual data entry per month on payroll-related tasks alone just by using our Integrated Payroll product. Employee Navigator’s payroll integration helps to streamline the process of keeping two systems, benefits administration and payroll, in sync while reducing instances of inconsistent employee data or incorrect employee deductions.

In a payroll integration, specific employee demographic and deduction data flows between Employee Navigator and your client’s payroll system in real time. When a change to an employee record occurs in one system, that system notifies the other of the change, and the data is sent securely to apply the change on the other side. This relay of information ensures that both systems are continuously kept updated, eliminating data integrity issues that are common when using multiple systems to manage payroll and benefits.

For tips on integrating, we sat down with our Partner Manager of Integrated Payroll, Ryan Everett. He outlined these best practices:

  • Once you understand the process, talk to your client. Ensure your client understands what the integration is capable of. The process should be a coordinated effort between both a single HR user and the broker. Unless the HR is able to make this integration a priority, now may not be the best time to integrate.
  • Find your local sales rep. “Pick three vendors you most frequently see clients using,” Ryan says, “find those local sales reps and talk to them about how the integration works on their end.” Developing a relationship with a sales rep who truly understands the functionality of an integration can go a long way.
  • When you and your client are ready to go, you can begin the pre-auditing process. Here, you’ll clean up the data in Employee Navigator and reduce the time needed to integrate. Ryan says this step will typically take 20 days the first time you go through it, and drop it down to 3 to 4 days or less once you’re familiar.
  • Now you’re ready to begin the integration process! The previously linked Training Academy will walk you through the process, including how to make the initial request to the payroll vendor to get started.