HRMS migration

Migrate from Apex Human Capital Management to Crelate

Field-level mapping, validation, and rollback between Apex Human Capital Management and Crelate. We move data and schema; workflows are rebuilt natively in Crelate.

Apex Human Capital Management logo

Apex Human Capital Management

Source

Crelate

Destination

Crelate logo

Compatibility

71%

10 of 14

objects map 1:1 between Apex Human Capital Management and Crelate.

Complexity

BStandard

Timeline

2-4 weeks

Rollback included Accuracy guarantee Field-level validation

Overview

What this migration involves

Switching from Apex Human Capital Management to Crelate is primarily a recruiting-module extraction. Apex HCM ships an integrated ATS called Hire On The GO alongside its full HCM suite, while Crelate is a purpose-built recruiting CRM and ATS that combines candidate relationship management with the hiring pipeline. The migration concentrates on three record families: Candidate profiles and contact data, Job Order and posting history, and the Hiring Pipeline stage progression. We do not migrate Apex payroll registers, tax jurisdiction data, accrual balances, or benefit elections because Crelate does not store payroll or HRIS data; those record families require a separate HR system. We preserve Apex employee records as inactive Candidate records in Crelate for organizations using Crelate Hire for internal hiring, and we document the full list of Apex workflow configurations and automation rules that require manual rebuild in Crelate's workflow builder.

Field-level fidelity

Every standard and custom field arrives verified.

Schema-aware mapping

AI proposes the map; you confirm before any record moves.

Relationships preserved

Parent–child, lookups, and ownership stay linked.

Full activity history

Calls, emails, meetings — with original timestamps.

Attachments & notes

Documents, uploads, and inline notes move with the record.

Why teams make this switch

Two sides of the same decision

Leaving

Apex Human Capital Management logo

Apex Human Capital Management

What's pushing teams away

  • Timekeeping and accrual management are cited as persistent pain points—reviewers describe the built-in modules as clunky and requiring workaround configurations that add manual steps to each payroll cycle.
  • Integration limitations frustrate businesses with established toolchains—API connectivity to accounting software, benefits carriers, and third-party HR tools is described as underdeveloped compared to competitors.
  • Automation gaps mean repetitive HR tasks require manual intervention—reviewers note the platform does less out of the box than comparable products, increasing ongoing administrative burden.
  • Poor interface quality and less automated processes have led some reviewers to describe the platform as obstructive when trying to resolve payroll issues, with customer support responsiveness varying widely.
  • Limited customization options mean businesses with unique HR workflows or complex pay structures hit configuration ceilings, prompting migration to more flexible platforms.

Choosing

Crelate logo

Crelate

What's pulling them in

  • Affordable per-seat pricing with transparent tiers makes Crelate accessible for small-to-mid staffing firms evaluating ATS platforms for the first time.
  • Fast implementation reported by customers—some describe getting live in a matter of minutes with support team assistance.
  • Unified ATS + CRM in a single product eliminates the need to buy and synchronize separate recruiting and sales tools.
  • Flexible custom fields across Contacts, Companies, and Opportunities allow recruiting teams to capture firm-specific data without developer involvement.
  • Positive reviews highlight the product's intuitive interface and functional breadth for teams that need recruiting workflows without enterprise overhead.

Object mapping

How Apex Human Capital Management objects map to Crelate

Each row shows how a Apex Human Capital Management 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.

Apex Human Capital Management

Candidate (Hire On The GO)

maps to

Crelate

Candidate

1:1
Fully supported

Apex Hire On The GO candidate records map directly to Crelate Candidate records. We extract first name, last name, email, phone, address, source channel, and application date. The Apex candidate status (applied, screening, interview, offer, hired, rejected) maps to Crelate pipeline stage based on the customer's configured Hire On The GO stage values. Any Apex candidate rating or score migrates to Crelate's custom rating field on the Candidate record.

Apex Human Capital Management

Job Opening (Hire On The GO)

maps to

Crelate

Job

1:1
Fully supported

Apex Hire On The GO job postings map to Crelate Job records. We extract job title, department, location, employment type (full-time, part-time, contract), and posting date. The Apex job status (open, paused, closed, filled) maps to Crelate Job status. Job description text migrates as the Crelate Job description field; any structured fields in Apex (requirements, benefits) map to Crelate custom fields or job notes.

Apex Human Capital Management

Hiring Pipeline Stage

maps to

Crelate

Pipeline Stage

lossy
Fully supported

Apex Hire On The GO pipeline stages are client-configured and do not map 1:1 to Crelate's default stage set. During discovery we extract the customer's Apex stage configuration and design a Crelate pipeline with matching stage names, ordering, and probability values. Crelate supports unlimited custom stages per pipeline, so the Apex stage structure translates without loss. Stage mapping is reviewed by the customer's recruiting lead before migration.

Apex Human Capital Management

Application

maps to

Crelate

Candidate Job Activity

1:1
Fully supported

Apex Hire On The GO applications (the association between a Candidate and a Job Opening) map to Crelate Candidate Job Activity records, which represent the candidate's journey through the hiring pipeline for a specific job. We preserve the application date, current stage, and any stage-change timestamps as Crelate Activity entries with type = Stage Change.

Apex Human Capital Management

Resume and Documents

maps to

Crelate

Attachment (Talent Card)

1:1
Fully supported

Apex stores resumes, cover letters, and supporting documents as binary blobs or linked URLs attached to candidate records. We extract the files, associate them with the correct Crelate Candidate record, and preserve the original filename and file type. Crelate displays these in the Candidate's Talent Card under the Documents section. Binary files use Crelate's document attachment endpoint with proper MIME type handling.

Apex Human Capital Management

Interview

maps to

Crelate

Activity (interview type)

1:1
Fully supported

Apex Hire On The GO interview records map to Crelate Activity records with Activity Type = Interview. We preserve interview date, interviewer name (mapped to Crelate User or contact), interview type (phone screen, on-site, panel), and any notes or feedback scores stored in Apex. Interview-to-candidate association uses the Crelate Candidate Job Activity lookup.

Apex Human Capital Management

Offer Letter

maps to

Crelate

Document or Activity Note

1:1
Fully supported

Apex offer letter documents stored as attachments on candidate records migrate as Crelate document attachments on the Candidate record. If Apex stores structured offer fields (salary, start date, offer status), we create a Crelate Activity Note with the offer details for audit trail purposes. The offer letter PDF migrates as a binary attachment.

Apex Human Capital Management

Employee (core record)

maps to

Crelate

Candidate (inactive/reference)

1:many
Fully supported

For organizations using Apex HCM for both recruiting and ongoing HR, existing employee records may need to be available in Crelate for internal mobility and future hiring. We create inactive Candidate records in Crelate for each Apex employee, preserving name, email, department, and job title. The records are flagged inactive so they do not appear in active recruiting pipelines but remain searchable for internal talent programs. This is optional scope confirmed during discovery.

Apex Human Capital Management

Employee Self-Service Portal

maps to

Crelate

Not applicable

lossy
Fully supported

Apex employee self-service portal settings, role assignments, and delegated proxy configurations do not have a Crelate equivalent. Crelate does not expose an employee-facing portal; it is a recruiter and hiring-manager tool. We document these Apex configurations in the automation inventory for the customer's IT team to evaluate against Crelate's permission model (Crelate Roles: Admin, Recruiting Manager, Recruiter, Sourcer, Hiring Manager, Observer).

Apex Human Capital Management

Onboarding Configuration

maps to

Crelate

Crelate Hire Workflows

lossy
Fully supported

Apex onboarding document checklists, new-hire task lists, and I-9 workflow configurations are documented for rebuild in Crelate Hire. Crelate Hire automates hiring workflows, credential tracking, compliance tasks, and candidate onboarding but uses its own workflow builder. We deliver a written map of every Apex onboarding step and its recommended Crelate Hire equivalent, with task assignments, due dates, and document collection requirements.

Apex Human Capital Management

Benefits Elections

maps to

Crelate

Not applicable

1:1
Mapping required

Apex benefits elections, health plan selections, and retirement plan assignments do not migrate to Crelate. Crelate is an ATS and recruiting CRM; it does not store benefits data. We flag every benefits-related object in the Apex export and direct the customer to their HRIS or benefits administration platform for this data. If the organization is also moving payroll to a separate platform, benefits elections are in scope for that parallel migration.

Apex Human Capital Management

Payroll Register

maps to

Crelate

Not applicable

1:1
Fully supported

Apex payroll registers, earnings, deductions, and tax withholdings do not migrate to Crelate. Crelate's data model does not include payroll, compensation, or tax withholding fields. Organizations requiring payroll functionality after switching to Crelate for recruiting must implement a separate payroll platform. We do not migrate payroll data as part of an Apex-to-Crelate scope; that work is separate.

Apex Human Capital Management

PTO Accrual and Balance

maps to

Crelate

Not applicable

1:1
Fully supported

Apex PTO accrual balances, carryover rules, and earning-rate logic do not migrate to Crelate. Crelate does not track time-off balances. We extract a snapshot of current PTO balances from Apex as a reference document for the customer's HR team to configure in their HRIS or standalone time-off platform if one is selected alongside Crelate.

Apex Human Capital Management

ACA Compliance Records

maps to

Crelate

Not applicable

1:1
Fully supported

Apex 1095-C records and coverage measurement data do not migrate to Crelate. ACA reporting is an HR and payroll function outside Crelate's scope. We flag ACA-related records in the Apex export and note that these require a separate HRIS platform if the customer is moving away from Apex HCM entirely for payroll and compliance.

Gotchas + challenges

What specifically takes care here

Platform-specific issues from each side, plus the pair-specific challenges that don't show up on either platform's page on its own.

Apex Human Capital Management logo

Apex Human Capital Management gotchas

High

Accrual policy configurations are client-specific and not always exported

Medium

IRIS acquisition may affect API endpoint availability and roadmap

Medium

Tax jurisdiction data requires manual state-by-state mapping

Low

Implementation timelines vary significantly by employer complexity

Crelate logo

Crelate gotchas

High

120 req/min API rate limit throttles bulk migrations

High

20 custom field per-entity cap forces data model decisions

Medium

15,000-record export ceiling on single operations

Medium

Sequences and automation workflows do not migrate

Low

API key is a querystring parameter, not a header

Pair-specific challenges

  • Apex HCM is a full HCM suite; Crelate is an ATS only

    Organizations migrating from Apex HCM to Crelate are extracting only the recruiting and hiring module. Payroll registers, tax jurisdiction data, PTO accrual balances, benefit elections, and ACA compliance records have no destination in Crelate's data model. We flag every non-ATS Apex object in the export and deliver a written recommendation for a separate HRIS or payroll platform migration if the customer is leaving Apex HCM entirely. Skipping this step leaves the customer without payroll or HR data after cutover.

  • Apex Hire On The GO pipeline stages require manual remapping

    Apex HCM clients configure Hire On The GO pipeline stages independently, so the stage names and probabilities vary by employer. Crelate pipelines are also fully customizable, but the two systems' stage sets do not map automatically. We extract the customer's Apex stage configuration during discovery, design a matching Crelate pipeline, and present the stage mapping for customer approval before migration begins. Stage mapping errors cause candidate records to land in the wrong pipeline position, requiring post-migration correction.

  • Apex accrual policy configurations are not exported

    Apex stores carryover rules, accrual caps, and earning-rate logic in client-configured tables that are not included in a standard data export. Current PTO balance snapshot values migrate as a reference document, but the policy rules require manual reconfiguration in whatever time-off platform the customer selects. We document every accrual policy found in the export and note which cannot be automatically migrated so the HR team rebuilds those rules before going live on a new HRIS.

  • Employee records require a decision for internal hiring

    Apex employee records do not map cleanly to any Crelate object because Crelate stores Candidates and Contacts, not employees. If the customer plans to use Crelate Hire for internal mobility and future internal hiring, we create inactive Candidate records as a reference archive. If internal hiring is not in scope, employee records are flagged as out-of-migration scope. We confirm this decision during discovery because the data handling approach differs significantly.

  • IRIS acquisition may affect Apex API endpoint availability

    Since IRIS Software Group acquired Apex HCM, some legacy API endpoints and integration points may be deprecated or replaced as the product roadmap converges with IRIS's broader portfolio. We check endpoint availability during the discovery phase and fall back to flat-file exports if the API route is no longer available. Organizations on older Apex configurations may have export formats that require additional parsing work.

Migration approach

Six steps for a successful Apex Human Capital Management to Crelate data migration

  1. Discovery and ATS scope definition

    We audit the Apex HCM configuration to identify which Hire On The GO modules are in active use: candidate records, job openings, pipeline stages, application history, interview records, offer letters, and document attachments. We confirm whether existing Apex employee records should be archived as inactive Crelate Candidates for internal hiring purposes. We review the Apex stage configuration, pipeline count, and any custom fields in use on candidate and job order objects. This phase produces a written migration scope document covering record counts, object dependencies, and an honest list of what Apex data has no Crelate destination.

  2. Crelate pipeline and workflow design

    We work with the customer's recruiting lead to design Crelate pipelines matching the Apex Hire On The GO stage structure. This includes stage names, ordering, probability values (for pipeline analytics), and any Record Types needed if the organization runs different hiring processes for different job families. We also design the Crelate Workflow triggers that will replace Apex onboarding and HR workflow configurations, with the understanding that full workflow rebuild is a manual post-migration task documented in our automation inventory.

  3. Data extraction and document handling

    We extract candidate records, job order history, application associations, interview records, and offer letter documents from Apex via API or structured export. Document attachments are handled as binary files with filename preservation. We parse the flat export structure to reconstruct the candidate-to-job associations and interview-to-candidate relationships that Apex stores across separate objects. Any Apex accrual snapshot, benefits reference, or payroll data encountered is flagged and excluded from the Crelate migration with a written note for the customer's HR team.

  4. Sandbox migration and candidate reconciliation

    We run a full migration into Crelate's test or staging environment using production-like data volume. The customer's recruiting operations lead reconciles record counts (candidates in, jobs in, applications in, attachments in), spot-checks 25-50 candidate records for data accuracy, and reviews the pipeline stage mapping. Any mapping corrections are made in this phase. The recruiting lead signs off on the stage mapping and field mapping before production migration begins.

  5. Production migration in dependency order

    We run production migration in record-dependency order: Jobs first (since they are referenced by applications), then Candidates (with document attachments uploaded via Crelate's attachment API), then Candidate Job Activity records linking candidates to jobs with stage history, then interview activities and offer letter documents. Each phase emits a row-count reconciliation report before the next phase begins. Any employee records designated for inactive Candidate archiving are loaded last.

  6. Cutover, validation, and automation rebuild handoff

    We freeze Apex reads during cutover, run a final delta migration of any records modified during the migration window, then enable Crelate as the recruiting system of record. We deliver the Apex workflow and automation inventory document to the customer's recruiting operations team for manual rebuild in Crelate's workflow builder and Crelate Hire. We support a one-week hypercare window for reconciliation issues. We do not rebuild Apex onboarding workflows as Crelate Hire automations inside the migration scope.

Platform deep dives

Context on both ends of the pair

Apex Human Capital Management logo

Apex Human Capital Management

Source

Strengths

  • All-in-one configurable HCM suite reduces tool sprawl for small and mid-sized businesses.
  • Licensed by 300+ payroll service firms, indicating proven technology for third-party white-label use.
  • User-friendly interface with 4.4/5 ease-of-use rating across verified reviews.
  • Includes payroll tax, ACA compliance, workforce management, and applicant tracking without add-on modules.
  • Backed by IRIS Software Group with expanded resources and product roadmap investment.

Weaknesses

  • Built-in timekeeping and accrual management modules cited as pain points in multiple reviews.
  • Integration capabilities underdeveloped compared to competing HCM platforms.
  • Limited automation means higher ongoing administrative burden for complex HR workflows.
  • Limited customization options constrain businesses with unique pay structures or compliance requirements.
  • Customer support responsiveness varies, with some reviewers reporting poor support experiences.
Crelate logo

Crelate

Destination

Strengths

  • Unified ATS and CRM in a single platform reduces data synchronization overhead for recruiting teams.
  • Fast setup with guided implementation reported as a significant time saver for small teams.
  • Transparent per-seat pricing without surprise fees at the base tier.
  • Flexible custom field configuration across core objects without developer dependency.
  • Export capability supports up to 15,000 records per operation for Contacts, Companies, and Opportunities.

Weaknesses

  • API rate limit of 120 requests per minute restricts bulk migration throughput.
  • Custom field cap of 20 per entity requires field consolidation for complex recruiting schemas.
  • All advanced features (Activities, Activity Forms, Core Record Field customization) are tier-gated add-ons.
  • Customer service responsiveness receives consistent negative feedback in reviews.
  • Resume parsing quality trails competitors and generates support requests.

Complexity grading

How hard is this migration?

Standard HRMS migration. 2 of 7 objects need a mapping; the rest are 1:1.

B

Overall complexity

Standard migration

Derived from compatibility, mapping clarity, API constraints, and data volume across Apex Human Capital Management and Crelate.

  • Object compatibility

    B

    2 of 7 objects need a mapping; the rest are 1:1.

  • Field mapping clarity

    C

    Field mapping is derived from defaults — final spec confirmed during the sample migration.

  • Timeline complexity

    B

    7-object category — typical timelines run 2–7 days end-to-end.

  • API constraints

    B

    Apex Human Capital Management: Not publicly documented.

  • Data volume sensitivity

    B

    Apex Human Capital Management doesn't expose a bulk API — REST + parallelization used for high-volume runs.

Estimator

Estimate your Apex Human Capital Management to Crelate migration cost

Rule-based pricing — no per-record fees, no manual quotes. Migrations over 2M records are scoped individually.

Step 1

What are you migrating?

Pick a category, then your source and destination platforms.

Category

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Apex Human Capital Management to Crelate data migrations

Answers to the questions buyers ask most during Apex Human Capital Management to Crelate migration scoping. Not seeing yours? Book a call.

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Most ATS-focused migrations land between two and four weeks for organizations with under 5,000 active candidates and 500 job orders. Migrations with large document attachment libraries, multiple inactive employee records to archive, or complex Apex Hire On The GO pipeline stage customizations requiring extended mapping review move to six to ten weeks. Apex payroll, benefits, and accrual data do not migrate to Crelate and require a separate HRIS platform; that work is outside this scope.

Adjacent paths

Related migrations to explore

Ready when you are

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