Payroll integration
HiBob to Sage Payroll integration: UK starters, changes and leavers from HiBob as a Sage 50 import file
An integration between HiBob and Sage Payroll prepares new UK employees, changes and leavers from HiBob as an import file for Sage 50 Payroll every period, plus a second file with variable payments. Sage 50 Payroll has no API, so payroll starts the import; nobody retypes HiBob data anymore.
What the integration does
Organisations with HR in HiBob and a UK entity that stays on Sage 50 Payroll send payroll a list of starters, pay changes and bonuses every month without an integration. Payroll enters everything again, and a change HiBob backdates easily falls between two runs.
- HR records a starter, change or leaver in HiBob for the UK entity.
- KoppelHet receives the webhook, fetches the table entry with its effective date and converts it to the Employee Details template.
- Before the cut-off KoppelHet produces the file with the period's variable payments.
- Payroll takes a backup and loads both files into Sage 50 Payroll.
- Rejected lines go back to KoppelHet and appear on the difference list for HR.
What to watch for with HiBob and Sage Payroll
- We found no integration with Sage 50 Payroll in the HiBob Marketplace. HiBob sells its own payroll product for the United Kingdom; this integration is for organisations that keep UK payroll in Sage 50.
- Salary, work and employment sit in HiBob in historical tables with an effective date per entry. KoppelHet delivers a pay rise HR backdates with that date, so payroll sees in Sage that back pay is needed.
- Bonus and commission sit in HiBob in the variable pay table, separate from base salary. In Sage they go through a different template from the employee record, only on payments already assigned to the employee; KoppelHet puts a new payment type on the list for manual entry.
- The RTI Payroll ID cannot be changed in Sage after the import. KoppelHet never fills it with the HiBob ID; Sage creates it, and the HiBob ID goes in the Employee Reference.
- HiBob does not return fields the service user has no rights on, without an error. An empty NI number for a UK starter is therefore a permissions check first; KoppelHet does not put such a starter in the file but on the difference list.
- HiBob holds employees from every country. KoppelHet selects on the UK entity in the work table, so colleagues from other locations never end up in a Sage file.
- Sage 50 Payroll only loads files when a user starts the import, and Sage recommends a backup first. KoppelHet therefore delivers files that are ready, with the date in the name, so payroll sees which file belongs to which run.
How we build and run it
- The integration runs on the KoppelHet platform, hosted in a data centre in the EU.
- Every sync and every error is visible in the functional log; on an error your administrator is notified.
- A change that cannot go through is not half-applied but queued for another attempt.
- KoppelHet is ISO 27001 certified. Data travels encrypted and stays on the platform no longer than needed.
- After go-live we manage the integration and adjust it when your process changes.
- The integration fits next to your existing integration layer. Only the fields in the design are transferred; the platform keeps no register of its own.
Implementation and price
This is not an app you switch on. We build the integration for your organisation on our platform, with building blocks we reuse on every project. So it is custom work that does not start from scratch.
A consultant prepares the intake and analyses both systems. We then record the mapping and exceptions field by field, test in the test or acceptance environment and go live at a moment you choose. Costs are a one-off amount for the setup and a monthly amount for platform, monitoring and support.
Frequently asked questions
Can KoppelHet load the files into Sage itself?
Only with the SDK from the paid Sage Developers Programme. Without that SDK payroll starts the import.
Do payslips go back to HiBob?
Not in the first version. That can follow later as an extension, if Sage makes the payslips available as files.
Technical details for IT
For those who want to know how it works under the hood: APIs, fields and sources used.
- HiBob through signed webhooks (employee events and table entry events for work, employment, salary, variable and lifecycle, with effectiveDate) and the People API with a service user with rights per category, including history for salary and variable.
- Sage 50 Payroll through File > Data Import with the CSV templates Employee Details and Employee Payments (Hours and Rates), or Advanced Data Import with a custom field mapping. Fully automatic loading requires the SDK from the paid Sage Developers Programme.
Which fields are transferred
The key fields. The full mapping is agreed per customer.
| Field in HiBob | Field in Sage Payroll | Notes |
|---|---|---|
HiBob employee id | Employee Reference | Fixed key, not the RTI Payroll ID |
root.firstName, root.surname | Forename, Surname | |
National Insurance-nummer (payrollveld) | NI Number | |
work.startDate | Start Date | |
Salary-tabel (base, ingangsdatum) | Regular pay in Employee Details | |
Variable-tabel (bonus, commissie) | Employee Payments (Hours and Rates) | On a payment already assigned to the employee |
Lifecycle-regel Terminated | Leaving Date |
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