HRMS migration
Field-level mapping, validation, and rollback between ADP Workforce Now and Crelate. We move data and schema; workflows are rebuilt natively in Crelate.
ADP Workforce Now
Source
Crelate
Destination
Compatibility
10 of 12
objects map 1:1 between ADP Workforce Now and Crelate.
Complexity
CModerate
Timeline
4-6 weeks
Overview
ADP Workforce Now is a full HCM suite spanning payroll, HR, benefits, and time tracking. Crelate is a purpose-built Applicant Tracking System designed for recruiting and candidate relationship management. These platforms serve different primary functions, which means the migration scope is narrower than a typical HCM-to-HCM move: we migrate the recruiting and hiring data from ADP Workforce Now's ATS module into Crelate while payroll and core HR records remain in ADP. We extract Workers with recruiting-relevant attributes (contact info, employment status, job title, hire date) and map them to Crelate People. ADP Requisition and Applicant objects map to Crelate Jobs and candidate records respectively. Hiring activity history (interviews, notes, emails, scorecards) migrates to Crelate Activity records. ADP's API requires a signed developer agreement and applies undocumented per-client rate limits that we resolve during scoping. Talent Management module data, custom Worker fields, and garnishment records do not migrate via API and require manual reconciliation.
Every standard and custom field arrives verified.
AI proposes the map; you confirm before any record moves.
Parent–child, lookups, and ownership stay linked.
Calls, emails, meetings — with original timestamps.
Documents, uploads, and inline notes move with the record.
Why teams make this switch
Leaving
What's pushing teams away
Choosing
What's pulling them in
Object mapping
Each row shows how a ADP Workforce Now object lands in Crelate, including any object-level transformations, lookup resolution, or schema-design dependencies.
Typical mapping — final map is confirmed during the sample migration step.
ADP Workforce Now
Worker
Crelate
Person
1:1ADP Workers with recruiting-relevant attributes map to Crelate People. We extract legal name, preferred name, communication emails, work phone, home address, gender, and hire date. Employment status (active, terminated, on leave) migrates as a Crelate custom field. Workers without candidate records in ADP's recruiting module become inactive or excluded People in Crelate based on the customer's scoping decision. Associate OID from ADP becomes a Crelate custom field adp_associate_oid__c for cross-system reference. Note that ADP Worker Custom Fields are write-only via API and have no read endpoint; we document which custom fields are in use during scoping and request a reference file from the customer for values.
ADP Workforce Now
Job Requisition
Crelate
Job
1:1ADP Requisition records (exposed via the Job Application Portal API or related endpoints) map to Crelate Jobs. Job title, job description, location, department, employment type (full-time, part-time, contractor), and pay range migrate. Requisition status (draft, open, filled, cancelled) maps to Crelate Job status. We flag whether ADP Requisitions are managed in ADP's Hiring FastTrack module during scoping because that module uses a proprietary interface not accessible via the public API.
ADP Workforce Now
Applicant
Crelate
Person (recruiting profile)
1:1ADP Applicant records link to ADP Worker records when the applicant becomes an employee. We resolve this link to produce a unified Crelate Person record that contains both recruiting attributes (resume, source, application date, stage history) and employment attributes (hire date, job title, department) from ADP. Applicant stages in ADP (applied, phone screen, interview, offer, hired, rejected) map to Crelate stage values configured during migration.
ADP Workforce Now
Placement / Hire
Crelate
Placement
1:1ADP Hire records (the outcome of a completed Requisition) map to Crelate Placements, which represent filled jobs. The Placement links to the Crelate Person (candidate) and Crelate Job (requisition) records created during migration. Start date, end date, placement status, and placement type migrate. Historical Placements preserve the hiring record for reporting even if the employee is no longer active.
ADP Workforce Now
Hiring Activity (interviews, notes, scorecards)
Crelate
Activity
1:1ADP Hiring FastTrack activities and any engagement records tied to Requisitions or Applicants map to Crelate Activity records. Interview events, interviewer feedback, offer notes, and rejection reasons migrate as typed Activity records with timestamps, owner assignment, and free-text notes. Activity ordering is preserved by setting the activity date to the original ADP timestamp.
ADP Workforce Now
Worker Communication / Contact
Crelate
Contact (on Person)
1:1ADP Work Contact details (work email, work phone, work address) and Personal Contact details (personal email, mobile phone, home address) migrate as typed Contact records on the Crelate Person. Email type, phone type, and address type are set per ADP's communication channel classification. These contacts support Crelate's email and SMS candidate outreach features.
ADP Workforce Now
Location
Crelate
Tag (location)
lossyADP Locations (business sites, offices, or facilities) used in Requisitions and Placements map to Crelate Tags with the category 'Location'. These tags enable filtering and reporting by worksite in Crelate's recruiting dashboards. Location validation tables from ADP are mapped during the configuration phase.
ADP Workforce Now
Department
Crelate
Tag (department)
lossyADP Departments (organizational units tied to Workers and Requisitions) map to Crelate Tags with the category 'Department'. These tags enable cross-functional reporting in Crelate and support the department-specific hiring pipeline views that ADP manages as separate organizational units.
ADP Workforce Now
Event Notifications / Webhooks
Crelate
Activity (status change)
1:1ADP event notification webhooks for worker lifecycle events (hire, termination, status change) can be captured during the delta sync window. These events migrate as Activity records in Crelate to document the candidate's progression through the recruiting and onboarding process. Note that some ADP event types require specific permission scopes not available without the signed developer agreement.
ADP Workforce Now
Talent Management
Crelate
(none)
1:1ADP Workforce Now's Talent Management module (performance reviews, goal setting, compensation planning, learning, certifications, awards, memberships, licenses) is not accessible via the public Workforce Now API. It uses a separate proprietary interface. We flag all Talent Management objects during scoping and do not migrate them. The customer's admin recreates these records manually in Crelate or a dedicated talent management tool if required.
ADP Workforce Now
Payroll Deduction Instructions
Crelate
(none)
1:1ADP Deduction Instruction records (voluntary deductions, benefits enrolments) and payroll run history do not map to Crelate, which has no payroll or benefits administration features. These records remain in ADP. We flag active garnishment orders and company loan repayment schedules during scoping; these are ADP API unsupported features and require a manual reconciliation checklist for the HR administrator to recreate in the payroll system.
ADP Workforce Now
Time Off / Leave Records
Crelate
(none)
1:1ADP Time Off Requests, accrual balances, and leave history do not migrate to Crelate. Crelate has no time and attendance or leave management features. We include time-off eligibility dates as custom fields on the Crelate Person record during migration, but leave management remains in ADP Workforce Now.
| ADP Workforce Now | Crelate | Compatibility | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worker | Person1:1 | Fully supported | |
| Job Requisition | Job1:1 | Fully supported | |
| Applicant | Person (recruiting profile)1:1 | Fully supported | |
| Placement / Hire | Placement1:1 | Fully supported | |
| Hiring Activity (interviews, notes, scorecards) | Activity1:1 | Fully supported | |
| Worker Communication / Contact | Contact (on Person)1:1 | Fully supported | |
| Location | Tag (location)lossy | Fully supported | |
| Department | Tag (department)lossy | Fully supported | |
| Event Notifications / Webhooks | Activity (status change)1:1 | Fully supported | |
| Talent Management | (none)1:1 | Not supported | |
| Payroll Deduction Instructions | (none)1:1 | Mapping required | |
| Time Off / Leave Records | (none)1:1 | Fully supported |
Gotchas + challenges
Platform-specific issues from each side, plus the pair-specific challenges that don't show up on either platform's page on its own.
ADP Workforce Now gotchas
ADP API access requires a signed developer agreement
API rate limits are per-client and not publicly documented
Worker Custom Fields are write-only via the ADP API
Reports-based ADP integrations have known sync reliability issues
Involuntary Withholding Orders and Company Loans are not supported in the API
Crelate gotchas
120 req/min API rate limit throttles bulk migrations
20 custom field per-entity cap forces data model decisions
15,000-record export ceiling on single operations
Sequences and automation workflows do not migrate
API key is a querystring parameter, not a header
Pair-specific challenges
Migration approach
Discovery and ADP API access confirmation
We audit the ADP Workforce Now instance across recruiting objects (Workers with candidate records, Requisitions, Applicants, Placements, hiring activities), Talent Management usage, custom field inventory, and org structure (Locations, Departments). We confirm whether a signed ADP developer agreement is already in place. If not, we escalate to your ADP representative as the critical-path prerequisite. We also identify any active garnishment orders, company loans, or Talent Management records that cannot migrate via API and require manual reconciliation. The discovery output is a written scope document specifying which objects migrate and which are flagged for manual handling.
Crelate sandbox setup and ADP-to-Crelate object mapping
We create a Crelate staging environment, configure the object schema (People custom fields, Job stages, Placement types, Activity types), and map ADP objects to their Crelate equivalents. This includes configuring ADP Locations and Departments as Crelate Tags, mapping ADP Applicant stages to Crelate stage values, and designing the Person record structure to hold both recruiting and employment attributes. We validate the mapping by pulling a sample of 25-50 ADP records (Workers, Requisitions, Applicants) and confirming they land correctly in Crelate before committing to a full migration run.
ADP API authentication and export script development
With the developer agreement confirmed, we authenticate against the ADP Web API Gateway using your client credentials. We build the export pipeline with conservative batching to account for undocumented ADP per-client rate limits. We use ADP's SFTP-based Automatic Export Service (AES) for the primary data pull where available, as it provides consistent daily file delivery without the sync error patterns of the reports-based method. For any records not available via SFTP, we fall back to the REST API with exponential backoff on 429 responses. Custom field values are sourced from the customer-provided reference file or last known export if the ADP API read is unavailable.
Sandbox migration and record reconciliation
We run a full migration into the Crelate staging environment: Jobs (ADP Requisitions), People (ADP Workers and Applicants), Placements (ADP Hire records), Activities (hiring events), and Tags (Locations, Departments). We reconcile record counts at each object level, spot-check field-level mappings against the ADP source, and confirm that Person records correctly link to Job and Placement records. The customer's HR or recruiting lead reviews the staging output and signs off before production migration begins. Any mapping corrections are made in the staging environment, not in production.
Production migration in dependency order
We run production migration in dependency order: first Crelate Jobs (ADP Requisitions), then People (ADP Workers and Applicants with ADP IDs preserved), then Placements (ADP Hire records linked to the correct Person and Job), then Activities (hiring events, interview feedback, notes), then Tags (Locations and Departments). Each phase emits a row-count reconciliation report before the next phase begins. We monitor for 429 rate-limit responses and back off dynamically. The SFTP export or delta sync captures any records modified during the migration window for a final incremental run before cutover.
Cutover, validation, and handoff
We schedule a cutover date, run a final delta migration of any records created or updated since the last sync, and disable write access in the ADP recruiting module to lock the migration. We deliver a written handoff document listing all ADP Talent Management objects, garnishment orders, and company loans that require manual entry, along with a Crelate Workflow rebuild inventory for the customer's admin to recreate hiring workflows in Crelate. We offer a one-week hypercare window to resolve any post-migration reconciliation issues. Ongoing Crelate admin configuration, recruiter training, and ADP contract renegotiation fall outside the migration scope.
Platform deep dives
ADP Workforce Now
Source
Strengths
Weaknesses
Crelate
Destination
Strengths
Weaknesses
Complexity grading
Moderate HRMS migration. 1 of 7 objects need a mapping; the rest are 1:1.
Overall complexity
Moderate migration
Derived from compatibility, mapping clarity, API constraints, and data volume across ADP Workforce Now and Crelate.
Object compatibility
1 of 7 objects need a mapping; the rest are 1:1.
Field mapping clarity
Field mapping is derived from defaults — final spec confirmed during the sample migration.
Timeline complexity
7-object category — typical timelines run 2–7 days end-to-end.
API constraints
ADP Workforce Now: Per-client rate limits and concurrency limits — specific thresholds not publicly documented.
Data volume sensitivity
ADP Workforce Now doesn't expose a bulk API — REST + parallelization used for high-volume runs.
Estimator
Rule-based pricing — no per-record fees, no manual quotes. Migrations over 2M records are scoped individually.
Step 1
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