Account Merges

What do I need to know before proceeding with or deciding against merging my accounts?

Purpose: We offer this service to help you combine two or more BambooHR accounts. Many of our customers have multiple divisions of their company or even multiple companies that they are tracking through separate BambooHR accounts. Occasionally, these customers will choose to merge their multiple accounts into one BambooHR account.

We want to help you weigh the advantages and challenges involved in merging your BambooHR accounts before making the decision.  Merging separate accounts usually only helps organizations in which one person is in charge of HR and people strategy for multiple locations. And even those benefits can be short-lived if locations expand and the organization hires more HR staff for local management.  We want to help you avoid time-consuming and costly mistakes and make sure you are fully informed of your options. In this guide we will cover advantages and disadvantages of combining accounts, as well as other considerations to consider, and an overview of the process. 

Note: Based on our experience, we have noticed that quite a few customers who combine their accounts often prefer to go back to having separate accounts later on.

Table of Contents

Advantages & challenges of merging multiple BambooHR accounts

The organizational chart and company directory will show all employee information for all combined accounts.
  • Ask Yourself: How often do your employees need to reference the company directory information for the other accounts you are considering combining?
  • Remember: You would need to have the leadership chains in each company or location report up to one employee (like a CEO of all locations/accounts) to see comprehensive contact data in one organizational tree. Access to the org chart and company directory is binary—it's either on or off. Employees in merged accounts can view all employees in the org chart and company directory, not just those in their specific location or previous account group.
Administrators of your account who need access to all information about all employees will only have one login.
  • Ask Yourself: Who are these administrators? Do these users have many instances where they need to manage cross-sectional data for all of the accounts? Or are they generally only accessing one account at a time?
  • Remember: Full Admin users have access to everything in the account. If you have users that you want to have Full Admin access but need their view to be restricted to a particular grouping, then merging the accounts will result in these Full Admin users having access to all combined employee data. You will need to use custom access levels to keep users from seeing all employees.

Want to learn more about the difference between full admin users and custom access users? Click here!

Full Admin users will have access to employee information for all employees. 
  • Ask Yourself: Will this access present any compliance issues or require additional training? Is it appropriate for admins in one location to have universal access?
  • Remember: Custom Access Levels can be used to restrict access to employee subsets. You can review our Help Center guide on Custom Access Level limitations to review if this solution will meet your needs.
Before the merge can start, you will need to address employees with profiles on multiple accounts. Admins will need to coordinate with their teams to determine which profiles should be kept/combined. 
  • Ask Yourself: Why do these employees have two profiles? Do they need both? Does one have more/accurate data than the other?
You will need to remove duplicate employee numbers before the merge can begin. If both of your accounts have duplicate employee numbers, you will need to coordinate with your team on which employee numbers are changing.
  • Ask Yourself: Do we want employees to continue the numbering sequence of the master account, or are we replacing duplicate numbers with unique custom numbers?
  • Remember: When changing employee numbers, you must either update the data from the Personal tab or use the power edit tool for group changes. You cannot import employee number changes.
Reporting between locations or branches is combined. After a merge, you can access all locations' reporting from a single account. This can help when comparing strengths and areas of improvement between different locations. 
  • Ask Yourself: How does HR data affect the macro plans of our organization? Is there a central person who regularly analyzes patterns across branches, or are they generally presented by branch leadership?
  • Remember: Admins can always export reports from BambooHR and combine the reports externally. If combined reports are not often needed, leaving your accounts separated allows for more streamlined reporting.
You will not need to duplicate Settings across multiple accounts (onboarding, offboarding, e-signatures, company holidays, time off, custom translations, etc.)
  • Ask Yourself: Is the time saved in creating these settings multiple times worth the cost of the cons in the section below?
  • Remember
    • Many settings like onboarding/offboarding allow for filtering based on specific identifiers (Job Title, Location, Department, etc.). In combined accounts, you will need to manage filters to make sure that the correct settings are applying to the correct users. BambooHR is designed for each account to house one company. After merging accounts, many customers find reconfiguring their settings to allow for changes that best suit all involved companies under the merged account can be challenging. Depending on the organization of your company, having separate accounts can provide a greater level of flexibility as you grow.
    • Companies with unique setting needs often find multiple accounts are better for maintaining a higher level of control over each account.
You can send out company announcements, Employee Community posts, and benefit enrollments to the entire company. 
  • Ask Yourself: Do your branch administrators have trouble getting announcements disseminated or collecting e-signatures? What is the real productivity difference between a central announcement and an announcement sent out from the top level of every branch or location?
  • Remember: You can create non-employee profiles for administrators to allow them to log in to each account and send an announcement or e-signature without needing an employee profile.
You will receive one invoice for all employees rather than an invoice for each individual branch or location.
  • Ask Yourself: What impact does this have on our financial processing? Is it significant or negligible? Do all our accounts need the same features?
  • Remember: Only one invoice is issued per account. If your various branches require separate invoicing, combining accounts may not be the best fit.
You can manage API Integrations in one account. 
  • Ask Yourself: Who manages our API integrations? Is it one person in the central location, or does each branch have a contact person in charge of integration support and troubleshooting?
  • Remember: Full Admin-level API keys have access to ALL data in your account. In a combined account, Full Admin-level keys would have access to all your users' data.
"Reports To" pathways can be set up to encompass your entire organization. If an employee reports to someone in another account, that person will be able to approve time off requests or view that employee’s information without needing a profile on both accounts. This can help decrease your billable employee count in BambooHR. 
  • Ask Yourself: How many employees are in this situation? What is the total monthly cost of these employees?
  • Remember: You can create non-employee user profiles to allow Full Admins, managers, or custom access level users to have access to multiple accounts without requiring an employee profile on each account.
After the merge, all companies or branches will share the same logo, URL, and company name.
  • Ask Yourself: Do our locations have different names or branding? Will combining them confuse job applicants or employees?
Our Applicant Tracking System (ATS) cannot have jobs posted for a specific account and will show jobs for all locations/divisions included in the account after the merge. The logo and company name chosen for the combined merged account will be what candidates see when applying for jobs. This will affect job board postings as well. All job openings on your account will show from the same company when listed on a job board.
  • Ask Yourself: Will having postings for jobs at a different location clutter the candidate or recruiter's experience? Do I need to be able to post jobs from unique companies separately?
You can create custom fields for all employees. Customizations are always available for all employees in the system and are controlled by access level settings. If you have different custom fields for separate accounts, they will be moved in the merge. 
  • Ask Yourself: Will we need to reconcile custom fields, tables, forms, and access levels between locations or branches? How much time, collaboration, and planning will that require?
  • Remember: You can still hide fields/tables for various access levels. You may need to create unique employee, manager, and custom access levels per location.

Data sets

What data transfers between accounts?

Employee profile (active & inactive employees)

  • Personal tab
  • Job tab
  • Notes tab
  • Emergency tab
  • Assets tab
  • Dependents
  • Training Completion History
  • Time off data (current balances and approved future requests)
  • Benefits (current enrollments)
  • Custom tabs, fields, and tables

Data provided but not transferred between accounts

We provide data exports as part of the cancellation process of any accounts that you are merging. You can retrieve these .zip files at the end of the merge process before completing the cancellation of your account(s). Review our Cancellation Guide for information on how to gather this information.

  • Employee Documents: Includes all active and inactive employees' documents.
  • Company Files: Includes files saved to the Files tab.
  • ATS: Includes all candidate information (resumes, cover letters, attachments, etc.) currently housed in the Hiring feature and does not include deleted candidate information or email correspondence.
  • Performance Management: Includes data found in the Performance Management feature—goals, assessments, and peer feedback, as well as any attachments.

We can provide data exports earlier in the process if requested. Simply email your Professional Services Specialist to request these exports. Please note that we will need Account Owner confirmation in writing to export these before account cancellation.

We can only send data exports to Full Admin users. They will need to download exports and save them locally as the export links expire after 28 days, or on the cancellation date of the account, whichever comes first.

What data does not transfer between accounts?

Data Additional notes
ACA Status Options We can not transfer ACA information or tracking.
ATS - The Hiring Tab This includes all data on the Hiring tab, but we will provide a data export of this information when your account cancellation has started.
Benefits We can only move current benefit enrollment information for active employees. We will not merge historical information or information about inactive employees.
Company Files We will not move files saved on your Files Tab. We will provide a Zip file for you to download. An admin from your team will need to upload these to the new account.
Employee Community If you are using our Employee Community feature, we will not transfer any employee community posts, comments, etc., between accounts.
Employee Documents We cannot move documents under the Employee Documents Tab. We will provide an export of all the Documents in a Zip file. An admin from your team will need to upload these to the new account.
Employee Photos An admin or employee will need to re-upload their employee photo in the newly merged account.
Employee Satisfaction (eNPS) & Employee Wellbeing Since this data is anonymous, we cannot move it. However, you can download the Employee Satisfaction and Employee Wellbeing Reports with the overviews and survey responses.
Notes Tab We can move notes over to the new account, but they will not include the date, time, or name of the original submitter. They will appear as added by the Full Admin user assisting in the merge.
Onboarding/Offboarding We cannot recreate the Onboarding and Offboarding history for your employees without generating false tasks and reminder emails. We do not move Onboarding/Offboarding settings, tasks, and employee history.
Performance Management If you are using our Performance Management feature, you will need to download information from the standard Performance Reports. We will also provide a data export. You can manually add Goals to the new account, but we cannot move Assessment and Feedback.
Reports We will not merge Custom Reports. An admin user will need to recreate them in the new account.
Settings A Full Admin user will need to recreate Access Levels, Approvals, Apps/Integrations, Benefits, Benefits Administration Email Alerts, Employee Community, Employee Satisfaction, Employee Wellbeing, Hiring, Holidays, Logo and Color, Offboarding, Onboarding, Pay Schedules/Payroll, Locations, Performance, Time Off, Time Tracking, Total Rewards, and Training settings.
Time Off We only include active employees in the basic merge. We will carry over the employee's current balance as of the date of the merge. We set accrual start dates at the next accrual (based on policy configuration) or January 1st of the current year. We will only move Time Off requests from the merge start date onwards.
Time Tracking If you are using our Time Tracking feature, you will need to download all the standard Time Tracking and Project Tracking Reports. We cannot move Time Tracking information.
Total Rewards We will transfer compensation and employee information (employee profile data), but you will need to reconfigure Total Rewards and enroll employees in the new account. You will need to download employees' Total Rewards statements for a historical record.

Optional add-ons

These additional add-ons are not included in the base merge fees. A $200 per hour service fee applies to these extra options.

  • Time Off Policy Creation: The project manager you are working with can recreate time off policies in your new account.
  • Additional Time Off History: Included in your merge are the active employees' current time off balances and approved requests from the merge start date onwards. We can move additional time off history.
  • Add Training: The project manager can add any Training that you have set up under Settings > Training.
  • Benefits: The project manager you are working with can recreate benefit policies in your new account.
  • Full Admin user BambooHR Training: Calls with the project manager are not included in the base merge fee. Please let us know if you are interested in additional feature-specific training on your account as part of the merge process.

Timing and planning

Account merges typically take between 2-5 weeks to complete, starting from the merge start date. The duration of the merge can vary based on the complexity of the accounts and the volume of data being transferred.

Accounts with Payroll require additional time to complete the merge. Please allow an additional 3-5 weeks to complete the Payroll merge in addition to the HRIS merge.

We try to start our merges on Mondays. Before processing your account merge, the assigned project manager will confirm your start date and the time frame the account merge will encompass. They will also email you any data-related questions or clarifications that are needed to begin. Your assigned project manager will be your point of contact once the merge process has started.

After the merge has been completed, you will want to review any accounts that were moved and verify data accuracy.

You will need to submit a cancellation request for any accounts that you no longer need. As part of that cancellation process, you will receive data exports for your ATS, employee documents, company files, and Performance Management and Payroll if you are using those. You also can request these sooner, and we can release those on any date after your merge begins.

We only send data exports to Full Admin users. They will need to download exports and save them locally as the export links expire after 28 days.

Merge pre-check

  1. Duplicate employee numbers: Ensure there are no duplicates in employee numbers between accounts. You will need to update repeated employee numbers so there are no duplicates.
  2. Employees with existing profiles on multiple accounts: If you have employees with profiles on multiple accounts, you need to identify which account serves as the primary source of record for each employee. Once identified, decide whether to transfer data from the secondary account to the primary account or to keep the profile in the primary account unchanged.
    • Field data is always replaced when new data is added to an account. Merged field data will overwrite existing information.
    • Tabular data is where an additional line of data will be added to the table. Existing information is not overwritten.
  3. Manage Time Off: Create time off categories and time off policies in the new account to match what is currently in the accounts that are moving. You must complete this step if you want the current balances and future requests to be merged. (BambooHR can recreate these for you, but additional fees will apply.)
  4. Create Benefit Plans: In the master account, you need to recreate any benefit plans from moving accounts in Settings. (BambooHR can recreate these for you, but additional fees will apply.)
  5. Create Training: In the new account, you will need to remake any training you configured in Settings. (BambooHR can recreate these for you, but additional fees will apply.)
  6. Remove access for employees: We recommend that employees be removed from their access levels for the duration of the merge. This is to prevent changes being made to the account not moving over in the merge. 

If you choose not to remove employees from their access levels before the process starts, the project manager will require you to confirm the following statement; I understand that if we do not turn off employee access, I am aware of the possibility that data could be lost if updates are made after you pull the data.

Merge post-check

  1. Enable access for employees in the new account
  2. Upload documents
  3. Upload files
  4. Upload employee photos
  5. Recreate onboarding and offboarding settings
  6. Cancel unneeded accounts

Process of merging accounts

  1. Confirmation is given by the Account Owner of each involved account.
  2. We require written confirmation from the Account Owner of each account involved in the merger. If your Account Owner is no longer available, please reach out to our Support Heroes as soon as possible to start the process to get that updated. We cannot proceed with a merge until that is resolved.
  3. Establish a primary contact at your company for our project manager to communicate with during the process. Ideally, this person should have access to all involved accounts with at least Full Admin access.
  4. Once we receive payment for the service, we can schedule the merge.
  5. The project manager will send out a kickoff email a few days before the merge start date. They will review your account for potential issues before the process starts. Please be aware that a Full Admin user may need to make account changes before the merge can begin.
    • It is strongly recommended that access be removed from any accounts that have data moving for users other than Full Admins working on the merge. Removing self-service, manager, and custom level access prevents data loss. 
  6. Employee data is moved into the new account in batches. As our project manager processes your accounts, they will update you with progress and notify you of any issues that arise. Delays in responses to the project manager's emails can result in delays, please make sure your primary contact is available for the duration of the merge.
  7. Once you have all data merged, you will receive a closing email summarizing the merge and resolving any outstanding issues.
  8. At this point, you are free to begin the cancellation of any accounts that are no longer needed. Do not forget to download your exports before completing the cancellation.

Please be aware that account cancellations are not submitted on your behalf as part of the merge process. You must submit a cancellation request for any accounts that are no longer needed. Accounts that remain uncanceled after a merger will continue to bill until you submit your cancellation request.

Please note that changes made to the account after the merge starts may not be transferred to the new account. 

Accounts with BambooHR® Payroll

If you are utilizing BambooHR Payroll, we will need to work with our Payroll team to ensure that your payroll data is merged correctly. Depending on your pay schedules, this can add additional time to the normal 3-5 week merge completion process. If you would like to move payroll data, please allow for extra time to complete the merge. 

Please note that it is not possible to merge payroll IDs. We can either move payroll IDs from your old account to your new one or we can work with you to set up a new payroll for the combined group.

What transfers from BambooHR Payroll?

  • Company tax accounts
  • Company bank account
  • Company payroll reports
  • Employee paystubs/W2s

What does not transfer from BambooHR Payroll?

  • Direct deposit information
  • Employee withholding elections
  • Recurring additional wages
  • Garnishments/payee information
  • Non-benefit deductions

FAQ

  • Will employees get notifications that the merge is in process?
    • Email alerts such as the New Employee and Employee Termination alert will trigger based on your settings while employees are being added to the system as part of the merge. You may wish to temporarily remove email alerts or inform your recipients to temporarily ignore them for the duration. 
      • Employee access: During the merge process, any employees who are transferred will be assigned the access level of "No Access" in the new account. However, Full Admin users or Account Owners who have existing profiles on both accounts involved in the merge will not experience any changes to their access levels.
  • Will my accounts be canceled after the merge?
    • No, accounts remain open until you submit a cancellation request. This allows you time to cross check your accounts and make any final changes before losing access.  
  • How long can I keep my previous accounts?
    • We do not disable any accounts that are moved during a merge. You will retain access to these accounts until you initiate a cancellation. Please note that these accounts will continue to invoice as normal until they are canceled.