SAP Knowledge Base Article

2080728 - Employee Central: What is HRIS Sync?

Component: LOD-SF-EC-HRS (OnDemand > SuccessFactors > Employee Central > HRIS Sync), Version: 37,
Released On: 30.08.2024

Symptom
What is HRIS Sync?
This KB article explains what the HRIS Sync is & how it works.
How does HRIS Sync work in different scenarios?
We have Employee Central and we use something called an HRIS Sync to ensure that data is synchronized between EC &
SAP SuccessFactors HXM Platform.
Image/data in this KBA is from SAP internal systems, sample data, or demo systems. Any resemblance to
real data is purely coincidental.

Environment
SAP SuccessFactors HXM Suite
SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central

Resolution

Index
What is HRIS Sync?
What is Effective Dating?
Effective Dating and HRIS Sync
How is the HRIS Sync triggered?
How do I create an HRIS Sync Scheduled Job?
What data is being synchronized?
What are the Downstream Impacts to the rest of the suite?
More Information

What is HRIS Sync?

Human Resource Information System (HRIS) Synchronization (or HRIS Sync for short) is the exchange of data between
Employee Central (EC) and the SAP SuccessFactors HXM Platform, to allow consumption of EC data by other SuccessFactors
modules. HRIS Sync is a background Scheduled Job that periodically looks for data that has been changed in EC and updates
the legacy user tables with data from EC. The job itself is typically configured to run on a schedule. For updating data using
UI, the synchronization process is triggered automatically by the time you save the changes to the current record (for your
reference on the effective dating logic, please review "Effective Dating and HRIS Sync" section below).
Please note that the below diagram is in no way the "end to end" process flow of all data in the system. The below image is
intended to assist in visualizing how data is synchronized from Employee Central to the SAP SuccessFactors HXM
Suite and the data being consumed by other HXM Suite modules (outside of Employee Central).
Data is synchronized from the current Employee Central data records to Employee Profile. The system will action this sync
depending on when the data is set to become effective or based on the HRIS Sync job type that is being run.

Sync Type Comments

Daily HRIS This job is scheduled to run once daily to pick up any future effective dated changes that become effectively active on
Sync the day the job runs on. For example, the job will run daily, if the days date is 04/04/2017, then the job will sync cha
nges for users who had future dated changes to their current Employee Central record, that become effective on 04/0
4/2017.

Full HRIS S This is a “one off” run of the HRIS Sync job, that will ensure all "currently effective as of Today()" Employee Central d
ync ata is sync’ed to the SAP SuccessFactors HXM Platform according to sync rules. This job is scheduled by SAP Cloud P
roduct Support only if there are multiple cases of data not being in sync between Employee Central and SAP Success
Factors HXM Platform. Please review the Knowledge Base Article “Employee Central - What is a Full HRIS Sync” for
more information. For more information please refer to KBA 2080065 - What is a Full HRIS Sync? - Employee Centr
al.

Post B2021 release User ID-Based HRIS Sync : KBA 3044382 - User Based HRIS Sync

Real-time s If data changes are made to an employee’s current records, that become effective on the same day; For example - if t
ync integrat he days date is 05/05/2017 and the Effective Date of the change in EC is on 05/05/2017, or, if the change is past date
ion by UI op d (for example if the days date is 05/05/2017 and the changes is Effective Dated on 01/05/2015 but the record is to b
eration (on- e the "current record" for the employee (meaning the 01/05/2015 record is still the Effective Dated record that is curr
the-fly) ent for todays date), the data will sync “on-the-fly” (real time) once the change is Saved (or Approved if a Workflow is
involved).

Please note that Real-time sync will work on both active and inactive employees when making changes in UI; as real-
time sync is seen as a manual corrective measure when updating inactive employees.

This method will only sync the data from the Element you are updating, and not all other Elements. I.e. If you update
Job Info data only, it will not sync Biographical Data etc. The only time all elements can save at the same time via Re
al-time sync is when you hire and employee to either a Past Date or "Today".

What is Effective Dating?

Effective Dating means that information records capture time as part of the data that is stored in SuccessFactors Employee
Central, and the timeline of these data changes can be edited.
In the application, the HRIS fields “start-date” and “end-date” are used to capture the Effective Dating of most EC related
data. The “start-date” is usually uppermost on the UI. This is where the user has to enter the date from which the changes are
effective. Whether an HRIS element is Effective Dated or not is defined by the system.
The HRIS field “end-date” does not appear on the UI but is used for reporting purposes. For example, if you change an
Effective Dated field such as "Pay Grade" and set the date when the change should be effective to 01/01/2015, the system
records 12/31/2014 as the end date in the background. If you run a report on the pay grade in the time from 01/01/2014 until
12/31/2014, the pay grade value that was valid in that time frame will be shown.
The system does not change the stored data. Instead, it creates a new row of data to track the new values from the new
Effective Date of the change, and continues to store the values that were effective before the change.
Please refer to KBA 2511923 - Employee Central: What is Effective Dating? - for further information

Effective Dating and HRIS Sync

Effective Dating plays a major role in HRIS Sync logic. The HRIS Sync job will look for changes in the related EC Element,
and then when the Effective Date is reached (when that record becomes the "current" record) the HRIS Sync will synchronize
the data from that EC Element to the SAP SuccessFactors HXM Platform. So, depending on the Effective Date of the change,
and where you make the change from (Import, UI, API) will determine how and when the data is synchronized to the SAP
SuccessFactors HXM Platform.
However if the user is future hire or has furture hire record, effective data changes will be picked up in delta Hris sync job.
For example, the below table indicates the Job Information data structure for an employee. There are 3 Effective Dated
records for the employees Job Information, so how does the system know which record is current?
Example of logic: If todays date is "25/07/2017", which record is current and synchronized to the SAP SuccessFactors HXM
Platform?

Effecti Change When is this record synchronized to the SAP SuccessFactors HXM Platform
ve Date
 01/01/2 Employee's Ma As the Effective Date of this record is "01/01/2018" and todays date is "25/07/2017", this record is not c
018 nager is Change urrent, and the data held in this record is not synchronized until the Daily HRIS Sync job runs on "01/0
d 1/2018".

01/01/2 Employee's Ma As todays date is "25/07/2017", this record is the current record that is synchronized. Therefore the cur
010 nager is Change rent manager of the employee will be the one defined in this Job Information record
d

01/01/2 Employee (user) This is a historic record, and the contents are not synchronized to the SAP SuccessFactors HXM Platfor
000 is Hired m

How is the HRIS Sync triggered?

Depending on what method Employee Central data is being updated and what Effective Date the data has been given, will
depend on how/when the system will synchronize data. The below table explains the expected behaviour for each way EC data
is updated.

Comments Related/Helpful Article

s
Trigger Area

HRIS Sync Sch The Scheduled Job "HRIS Sync" (Daily or Full) runs on a schedule. It will synchron KBA 2512570 - HRIS Sync:
eduled Job ize Future Dated changes that become Effective on "todays" date. How to create an HRIS Syn
c job
Daily HRIS Sync - will synchronize the delta changes becoming effective on t
hat date KBA 2080065 - What is a F
Full HRIS Sync - will synchronize ALL data that is effective "as of today" ull HRIS Sync? - Employee
Central

Real-time sync When EC data is updated in the UI, if the record being updated is the "current" Effe KBA 2080114 - HRIS Sync:
integration by ctive record, then the sync will occur immediately and will not trigger/use the HRI How to force a sync of a sin
UI operation S Sync Schedule Job. This method will only sync the data from the Element you are gle Employee’s EC data - E
updating, and not all other Elements. mployee Central

EC Data Impo When EC data is imported (where sync mappings are hard-coded/defined), this wil KBA 2080813 - HRIS Sync:
rt l also trigger the HRIS Sync job (Scheduled Job) to run. The system will use the HR Import & API upsert consid
IS Sync job template of the "top of the list" HRIS Sync job in Provisioning > Manag erations - Employee Central
e Scheduled Jobs.

OData API or When data is changes via OData or SOAP API - the result is the same as if the data KBA 2080813 - HRIS Sync:
SOAP API (sa was imported (see the row in the table "EC Data Import) Import & API upsert consid
me as EC data erations - Employee Central
import)

How do I create a HRIS Sync Scheduled Job?

The HRIS Sync Job itself is managed in Provisioning > Manage Scheduled Jobs. There are 2 ways to configure the job - either
"Daily Sync" or "Full Sync" modes (as explained above). Please refer to KBA 2512570 - HRIS Sync: How to create a HRIS
Sync job - for more information

What data is being synchronized?

Employee Central uses a combination of both "Hard-Coded" (defined in the system/cannot be disabled) and "Custom" Sync
Mappings, to map data from Employee Central to the SAP SuccessFactors HXM Suite (to Basic User Data). To understand
how your instance is configured, we recommend to follow this process -:
1. Hard-Coded Sync Mappings: First review KBA 2172427 - HRIS Sync - Data Synchronization From EC to EP -
Hard Coded Sync Mappings" - as this covers everything that will be synchronized by default
2. Custom Sync Mappings: Next you need to review the Custom Sync Mappings you have configured to understand
what additional data (per element) is configured to synchronize, as well as what hard-coded mappings have been
overridden. To do this, either download the Succession Data Model XML file from Provisioning or if you do not have
 Provisioning access, please refer to KBA 2510447 - HRIS Sync: How to easily view all HRIS Sync mappings
without access to Provisioning or XML
3. What value will be synchronized?: Depending on the Source and Destination field configuration will determine
what format the value is synchronized in. Please refer to KBA 2510653 - HRIS Sync: What Value is sent depending
on Source / Destination Field Configuration
4. What order is data synchronized in?: Data is synchronized in predefined (not configurable) order. Depending on
the order, if you have mapped multiple elements to 1 field, then the last element that gets synchronized wins! Refer to
KBA 2510653 - HRIS Sync: What Value is sent depending on Source / Destination Field Configuration - for
more information
5. What locale is data synchronized in?: The data is synchronized in the default language of the instance only, see
KBA 2543741 - HRIS Sync is not syncing data to EP in the locale/language the change was made in

What are the Downstream Impacts to the rest of the suite?

Most SAP SuccessFactors modules do not have a direct integration with Employee Central. As Employee Central (when
enabled) becomes the "source of truth" in the system, any changes made in Employee Central will be synchronized to EP for
consumption by other modules. Please note that it is not possible to sync data from EP to EC.
For a list of known impacts, please see KBA 2507190 - HRIS Sync: Downstream Impacts

System-Triggered Job Request for HRIS Sync

The "System-Triggered Job Request for HRIS Sync" is cloned from the most recent updated Delta HRIS Sync Job in
customer instance. For the first time when such a job is created, the code logic will scan all the Submitted Recurring
Delta Sync Jobs and picks the one with the latest LAST_MODIFIED_DATE as the source job to clone;
Once the System-Triggered Job Request for HRIS Sync is created, this job will be triggered by coming Employee Central
data Import or API operations, and it will follow the 10 mins waiting time rule;
Whenever there is an EC import job / API operation needs data sync to EP, it will trigger a job based on the settings of
"System-Triggered Job Request for HRIS Sync" from what we can check from “Manage Scheduled Jobs” page;
Additional details can be found on Triggering HRIS Sync | employee-central-data-import-or-api-operations.

Configuration Best Practices

Please view:
2172427 - HRIS Sync - Data Synchronization from EC to EP - Hard Coded Sync Mappings
2336779 - Invalid HRIS Sync Mapping Configuration " HRIS Sync Job Failure"
Guide: Hard-Coded for Syncing
Fields Hard-Coded for Syncing
Use the table here to determine which fields are hard-coded to be synced by the system.
HRIS fields with visibility="none"aren’t synced. The rule applies to both hard-coded (exceptions are noted where
relevant) and configurable sync mapping.
Caution
Do NOT configure username as a standard-element-ref.
Do NOT map the national ID or minority fields to custom fields.
Do NOT map the standard elements userId, managerId, jobCode, and hireDate. Doing so causes issues
in the system.
View 2336779 - Invalid HRIS Sync Mapping Configuration " HRIS Sync Job Failure"
Best Practices to schedule Sync jobs. refer to Guide: Managing Scheduled Jobs
View: 3210602 - Hourly Daily Hris Sync causing Importing employee data such us causing Job Information failure
Full Sync
Full Sync job is meant for initial customer go-live or for any massive data change or for any major data
discrepancies. It is not advisable to schedule a Full Sync job daily or weekly or monthly or quarterly, etc. If
there are data discrepancies, please raise tickets for support and support can advise if Full Sync needs to be run. In
any and all cases, Full Sync should never be scheduled.
What's New Viewer: User Based HRIS Sync can be run once daily - User ID-Based HRIS Sync / 3044382 - User
Based HRIS Sync
Delta Recurring Job
Delta Recurring Job is each job that has the parameter "Last successfull HRIS sync job run date";
As we know, the system will kick delta Sync job for every change made via UI, API, Import. Hence we
recommend not to schedule delta Sync job on an hourly basis.
Some customers still prefer to schedule an hourly delta sync job depending on their business cases. Product
Support/EC Engineering Team See Here
Post B2305 Release Guide: Managing Scheduled Jobs
Customer can run HRIS Sync - Full Sync, Daily Sync & Person-Based Sync Via Scheduled Job Manager in Admin Center.
View Post B2305 Release KBA:2231503 - Synchronize Business Configuration Job Configuration via Scheduled Job Manager

Employee Central Sync HRIS Data To sync data from Employee Central to the user data tables

The maximum times that the job can run per day in the Admin Center.

3 times for a One-Time job

3 times for a Recurring job

For more information, see HRIS Sync Jobs.

GAP:
KBA 2964383 - MDF Field label name Change Doesn't Sync to Employee Profile Header after HRIS Sync (real time or
Incremental Sync job)
Note:
If a target field is configured as userinfo-element-ref, the synced values will be saved into a table: EXT_PROFILE_INF.
Unlike the other mapped fields which are configured to Users_SYSINFO Table for which the sync process will compare the
last modified date between EC and EP to determine whether or not an entity has been changed, HRIS Sync job doesn't do the
comparison and would delete and insert the records during Sync process for EXT_PROFILE_INF. This was implemented as
original design. However, this implementation won't affect the data consistency between EC and EP.

More Information
Further detailed information about the HRIS Sync can be found in Guide: Employee Central Master Guide &
Chapter: Human Resource Information System (HRIS) Synchronization implementation handbook.
Audit report:
2766367 - Important Notes About Change Audit - Employee Profile
2766402 - Change Audit Report is Blank - Employee Profile
2744431 - How to create a Change Audit Report and what reports are available? - FAQ
2618848 - Enabling Change Audit Feature
Change Audit Admin Guide Chapter: Feature Settings Audit Report or Creating a Change Audit Report
Helpful Links:
Blog Post: Enhancement to HRIS Sync in 1H 2021
Internal KBA on Configuring HRIS Sync Job for Customers: KBA 3044367
KBA (External for Customers): KBA 3044382
Handbook - Implementing Employee Central Core: Configuring an HRIS Sync Job
What's New Viewer - User ID-Based HRIS Sync
Guide: Hard-Coded for Syncing

See Also
Employee Central: HRIS Sync - Troubleshooting Guide
Employee Central: What is a Full HRIS Sync?
Employee Central: What is Effective Dating?
Guide: Hard-Coded for Syncing
3044382 - User Based HRIS Sync
3210602 - Hourly Daily Hris Sync causing Importing employee data such us causing Job Information failure
2172427 - HRIS Sync - Data Synchronization from EC to EP - Hard Coded Sync Mappings
2336779 - Invalid HRIS Sync Mapping Configuration " HRIS Sync Job Failure"
2231503 - Synchronize Business Configuration Job Configuration via Scheduled Job Manager

Keywords
sf, success factors, EC, Daily Sync, explained, full sync, User Based HRIS Sync, full hris sync, daily, Real-time sync integration
by UI operation, Scheduled Job Manager

Attributes
Key Value

Other Components OnDemand > SuccessFactors > Integrations > Employee Central SFAPI & OData Entities (LOD-SF-INT-EC)
 Products
Products

SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central all versions

SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite all versions

This document refers to

SAP Component Title
Note/KBA

3044382 LOD-SF-EC- User Based HRIS Sync

HRS

2543741 LOD-SF-EC-HIR HRIS Sync Language / Locale and Date Format

2349390 LOD-SF-EC- Once Daily Recurring HRIS Sync Running Multiple Times
HRS

2080730 LOD-SF-EC- Employee Central: HRIS Sync - Troubleshooting Guide

HRS

2080650 LOD-SF-EC- How to enable Manager Transfer for Performance Management forms - Employee Central
HRS

2080171 LOD-SF-EC-REP Employee Pay Group Sums do not retrieve any data when selected in Ad Hoc Reports - Employee
Central

2080162 LOD-SF-EC-REP Employee Central - Ad-Hoc Report Types & Permissions Explained

2079888

2079887 LOD-SF-EC- available workflows - Employee Central

WFL

Guide: Managing Scheduled Jobs

Guide: EC Master Configuring an HRIS Sync Job

This document is referenced by

SAP Component Title
Note/KBA

2419447 Unable to Purge users using Inactive Date Period (Purge Rule)

2512570 LOD-SF-EC- Creating an HRIS Sync Job in SAP SuccessFactors Via Scheduled Job Manager or Provisioning
HRS

2068500 LOD-SF-MTR- Participants - Automatically Remove the Inactive Employee Documents in the 360 Evaluation Stage
PAR - 360 Multi Rater

3308618 LOD-SF-EC- HRIS Sync Tips and Troubleshooting - Employee Central

HRS

2363922 LOD-SF-EC- How To Create a New Employee Profile field Userinfo Element field and Sync during Employee
BCI Central field To EP Hris sync

2791383 LOD-SF-EC- HRIS Sync Mappings - Employee Profile destination fields should not be editable via UI for EC users
HRS

2835790 LOD-SF-EC- How To Use The Same Username For Rehire With New Employment?
HIR

2510530 LOD-SF-EC- Employee Central - Job Info HRIS Sync

HRS

2507071 LOD-SF-EC- Employee Central - Email Info HRIS Sync

HRS

3033802 LOD-SF-EC- Employee Profile fields display incorrect data in People Profile after New Hire/Rehire
HRS

3044382 LOD-SF-EC- User Based HRIS Sync

HRS
2360653 LOD-SF-EC- Employee Central - Addresses HRIS Sync
HRS

2263251 LOD-SF-EC- How to Run a One Time Full HRIS Sync - PARTNER
HRS

2174247 LOD-SF-PM- Forms Do Not Transfer When Manager is Manually Changed via Employee Profile Manager or
ADM Matrix Manager Field - Performance Management

3016154 LOD-SF-EC- HRIS Full Sync failed error: a null object loaded from local variable 'user'
HRS

2562190 LOD-SF-EC- New Hire Basic Information Does not Sync to Employee Profile When Creating a User Concurrent
HRS Employment via import or API

2998055 LOD-SF-EC- HRIS Sync Job Failure Caused By Memory Cache Issue
HRS

2964383 LOD-SF-EC- MDF Field label name Change Doesn't Sync to Employee Profile Header after HRIS Sync
HRS (Delta/Daily or Incremental Sync job)

2336779 LOD-SF-EC- Invalid HRIS Sync Mapping Configuration "HRIS Sync Job Failure"
HRS

2757004 LOD-SF-EC- Application Error With Fingerprint=1e0da38c1ec73ced37d1661e01d642a1bf6a52eb When Adding or

DPD Changing Dependent Information

2308595 LOD-SF-EC- HRIS Sync: Timezone Offset for Processing HRIS Sync
HRS