HRMS migration
Field-level mapping, validation, and rollback between Sage HRMS and Crelate. We move data and schema; workflows are rebuilt natively in Crelate.
Sage HRMS
Source
Crelate
Destination
Compatibility
10 of 12
objects map 1:1 between Sage HRMS and Crelate.
Complexity
BStandard
Timeline
1-3 weeks
Overview
Moving from Sage HRMS to Crelate is a partial data migration because the two platforms serve fundamentally different functions. Sage HRMS is a full human resources management system covering payroll processing, benefits administration, tax compliance, time-off accruals, and employee self-service for ongoing workforces. Crelate is a recruiting ATS and talent CRM built for staffing firms and in-house recruiting teams managing candidates, job requisitions, placements, and client relationships. The migration scope is therefore limited to the ATS submodule within Sage HRMS (job requisitions, candidate profiles, application history) plus any employee records the customer wishes to import as Crelate Contacts for talent pool or alumni tracking. We do not migrate payroll history, benefit enrollments, tax codes, pay groups, time-off balances, performance reviews, or ESS configurations because Crelate has no objects to receive them. We extract via Sage HRMS's built-in CSV and ODBC export dialogs, transform the data to match Crelate's import template format, and load through Crelate's bulk import API with custom field creation handled in advance. We deliver a written inventory of all non-transferable Sage HRMS objects with recommendations for which HRMS platform to adopt for ongoing payroll and benefits management.
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 Sage HRMS 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.
Sage HRMS
Employee
Crelate
Person (Contact)
1:1Sage HRMS Employee records map to Crelate Person records. We extract biographical data (name, email, phone, address, hire date, termination date, job title, department, and employee status) via CSV export and transform it to Crelate's Person import template. Active employees become Crelate Persons tagged as potential candidates; terminated employees migrate as talent pool or alumni records. Custom employee fields migrate to Crelate custom fields which we pre-create via the Crelate Settings API before import. Note that Sage HRMS compensation, benefits, and tax withholding data have no Crelate destination object and are not migrated.
Sage HRMS
Applicant Tracking: Candidate Profile
Crelate
Person (Candidate)
1:1If the Sage HRMS ATS module is active, candidate profiles (name, contact information, application status, source, and resume reference) migrate to Crelate Person records tagged as candidates. We map Sage HRMS application status values to Crelate pipeline stage values during transformation. Resume files export as document attachments keyed by candidate ID and are delivered alongside the data migration for manual re-upload to Crelate's document attachment UI. Any custom candidate fields in Sage HRMS pre-create as Crelate custom fields before import.
Sage HRMS
Applicant Tracking: Job Requisition
Crelate
Opportunity (Job Order)
1:1Sage HRMS job requisitions map to Crelate Opportunity records representing open job orders. We extract job title, department, position type (full-time, part-time, contract), location, and status. Crelate Opportunity custom fields capture additional requisition attributes. The Opportunity in Crelate serves as the parent record for candidate submissions, replacing the linking structure in Sage HRMS ATS.
Sage HRMS
Applicant Tracking: Application / Submission
Crelate
Submission
1:1Sage HRMS application records (candidate linked to job requisition with submission date and status) map to Crelate submission records tied to the Opportunity (job order) and Person (candidate). We preserve the application status, submission date, and any recruiter assignment from Sage HRMS during transformation.
Sage HRMS
Position
Crelate
Tag or Custom Field
lossySage HRMS Positions define job titles, grade levels, and pay ranges. Crelate has no native position or job-grade object. We map positions to Crelate Tags on Person records and to a custom multi-select picklist field on Opportunity for job classification. The customer selects the preferred strategy during scoping.
Sage HRMS
Department
Crelate
Tag or Custom Field
lossySage HRMS Departments are organizational units used in payroll allocation and reporting. Crelate tracks departments as Tags on Person records and as Opportunity classification fields. We extract the full department tree and apply it as Tags during migration.
Sage HRMS
Employee Documents (I-9, W-4, offer letters)
Crelate
Document bundle (no native object)
1:1Sage HRMS stores employee documents as file attachments. We export these as a file bundle keyed by employee ID and deliver them alongside the migration data package for the customer's admin to re-upload manually to the corresponding Crelate Person record. Crelate's document attachment UI does not support programmatic bulk upload in the standard migration scope.
Sage HRMS
Pay Groups
Crelate
(No destination)
1:1Sage HRMS Pay Groups define pay frequency, deduction priorities, and tax jurisdiction. Crelate has no payroll module and no pay-group object. We export the Pay Group table as a reference document delivered to the customer's admin as part of the non-transferable inventory.
Sage HRMS
Payroll History
Crelate
(No destination)
1:1Sage HRMS payroll history (earnings, deductions, tax withholdings across fiscal-year tables) has no Crelate equivalent. We do not migrate payroll history. We export a summary reference file keyed by employee ID for the customer's admin to retain for compliance and audit purposes.
Sage HRMS
Benefit Plans and Enrollments
Crelate
(No destination)
1:1Benefit plan definitions, carrier assignments, and active enrollments have no Crelate object. We export benefit data as a reference document delivered alongside the migration for the customer's admin to retain or import into a dedicated benefits administration platform.
Sage HRMS
Time Off Balances
Crelate
(No destination)
1:1Accrual rules and current time-off balances are Sage HRMS payroll data with no Crelate equivalent. We export balance summaries as of the migration date as a reference document; the destination HRMS handles accrual reset post-migration.
Sage HRMS
Tax Codes and Tax Agency Setup
Crelate
(No destination)
1:1Federal, state, and local tax codes, rates, and agency filing configurations are Sage HRMS payroll-compliance data. We export the tax agency table as a reference document. The customer's next HRMS or payroll platform re-enters tax configurations as part of its own setup.
| Sage HRMS | Crelate | Compatibility | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee | Person (Contact)1:1 | Fully supported | |
| Applicant Tracking: Candidate Profile | Person (Candidate)1:1 | Fully supported | |
| Applicant Tracking: Job Requisition | Opportunity (Job Order)1:1 | Fully supported | |
| Applicant Tracking: Application / Submission | Submission1:1 | Fully supported | |
| Position | Tag or Custom Fieldlossy | Fully supported | |
| Department | Tag or Custom Fieldlossy | Fully supported | |
| Employee Documents (I-9, W-4, offer letters) | Document bundle (no native object)1:1 | Fully supported | |
| Pay Groups | (No destination)1:1 | Fully supported | |
| Payroll History | (No destination)1:1 | Mapping required | |
| Benefit Plans and Enrollments | (No destination)1:1 | Fully supported | |
| Time Off Balances | (No destination)1:1 | Mapping required | |
| Tax Codes and Tax Agency Setup | (No destination)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.
Sage HRMS gotchas
Database restore between versions drops permissions
No documented public API for bulk data ingestion
ESS custom field columns break on version upgrade
Export requires pre-configured file paths and file types
Pricing is not publicly disclosed by Sage
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 Sage HRMS module audit
We audit the customer's Sage HRMS instance across all active modules including HR, payroll, benefits, ATS, ESS, and performance. We determine whether the ATS module is enabled and what candidate and requisition data exists. We inventory all custom employee fields, ESS column dependencies, and any custom database objects. We also extract a full list of Pay Groups, Tax Codes, Benefit Plans, and Tax Agencies for the non-transferable inventory document. The discovery output is a written migration scope defining exactly which Sage HRMS objects map to Crelate records and which objects are excluded with rationale.
Crelate environment setup and custom field pre-creation
We provision the Crelate custom fields needed for migration before any data import. This includes custom fields on Person (candidate and contact) and Opportunity (job order) that correspond to Sage HRMS custom employee fields and ATS attributes. We use Crelate's Settings API to create text, number, date, picklist, and multi-select fields with the appropriate logical API names. We also configure tags for department and position mapping during this phase so the import template is ready before extraction.
File-based extraction from Sage HRMS
We configure export paths and empty target files in Sage HRMS during the build phase. On extraction day, we run the built-in export dialog across all scoped objects: Employees (CSV), ATS candidates (CSV), ATS requisitions (CSV), ATS applications (CSV), and the department and position reference tables. We export employee documents as a file bundle keyed by employee ID. Each export produces a timestamped file set that we ingest into the transformation environment. We validate record counts from each Sage HRMS export against the discovery inventory to confirm nothing was skipped.
Data transformation to Crelate import template format
We transform the Sage HRMS export files to match Crelate's Person and Opportunity import template formats. This includes splitting the Sage HRMS ATS model (candidates linked to requisitions) into Crelate's Person-Opportunity-Submission structure, mapping application status values to Crelate pipeline stages, mapping department and position data to Crelate tags, and applying any data-type conversions (date formats, phone number formatting, email validation). Custom field values from Sage HRMS map to the pre-created Crelate custom fields. We run a dry-run transformation in the staging environment and produce a reconciliation report showing record counts per object before moving to import.
Staging import and spot-check validation
We import the transformed data into a Crelate staging environment using Crelate's bulk import tool. We validate record counts (Persons imported, Opportunities imported, Submissions imported), spot-check 25-50 records against the Sage HRMS source for field-level accuracy, and confirm that tags and custom fields populated correctly. The customer's recruiting lead reviews the staging environment and signs off the mapping before production migration begins. Any mapping corrections are applied to the transformation scripts and re-run against staging.
Production migration and document handoff
We run the production migration on a scheduled cutover day with Sage HRMS writes frozen for the migration window. We import Person records first (candidates and contacts), then Opportunities (job orders), then Submissions (application links). We deliver the employee document file bundle keyed by employee ID with a mapping guide for manual re-upload. We deliver the written non-transferable inventory document listing all excluded Sage HRMS objects (payroll history, benefits, tax codes, time-off balances, performance reviews, ESS configurations) with field counts and recommendations for a replacement HRMS platform. We provide a one-week hypercare window for reconciliation issues and flag any records that could not be imported due to Crelate validation errors for the customer's admin to resolve.
Platform deep dives
Sage HRMS
Source
Strengths
Weaknesses
Crelate
Destination
Strengths
Weaknesses
Complexity grading
Standard HRMS migration. 1 of 7 objects need a mapping; the rest are 1:1.
Overall complexity
Standard migration
Derived from compatibility, mapping clarity, API constraints, and data volume across Sage HRMS 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
Sage HRMS: Not publicly documented.
Data volume sensitivity
Sage HRMS 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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