Set Up the BambooHR Integration

Overview

Tropic’s integration with BambooHR syncs employee and department-level data, ensuring user profiles and reporting structures stay up to date automatically. This is a one-way integration, meaning updates in BambooHR will sync to Tropic, but not the other way around.

To set up the integration, follow these steps:

1. Create a Custom Access Level in BambooHR.
2. Create a Non-Employee User in BambooHR.
3. Connect BambooHR to Tropic to start syncing data.

Prerequisites

Before setting up the integration, ensure you have:

• Admin access to BambooHR to create access levels and a non-employee user.
• Integration Manager assigned (if applicable) to oversee the connection.
• Permissions enabled in BambooHR (see the table in Step 1 for details)

For additional context and to familiarize yourself with the broader integration features within Tropic, refer to the Integration Overview.

Steps to Connect

Step 1: Create a Custom Access Level in BambooHR

To ensure secure data access, you must create a Custom Access Level that grants only the necessary permissions for the integration.

In BambooHR

• Go to Settings in BambooHR.
• Click Access Levels → Level → Custom Access Level.
• Name the access level (e.g., Tropic Integration).
• Click Next Step and ensure the access level applies to All Employees.
• In the Personal tab, enable View Only for the following sub-categories:
  • Basic Info: Employee Number, Status, First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, Preferred Name
  • Contact: Work Email
• In the Job tab, enable View Only for:
  • General: Hire Date, Team, Contract End Date
  • Employment Status: Date, Employment Status
  • Job Information: Job Title, Department, Job Information Date, Reporting to
• In the See About Themselves tab, select Full Access.
• Click Finish to complete setup.

Minimum Required Permissions

Step 2: Create a Non-Employee User in BambooHR

To securely connect BambooHR to Tropic, you need to create a Non-Employee User in BambooHR and assign them the Custom Access Level from Step 1.

In BambooHR

• In Settings → Access Levels → Tropic Integration → Settings/Gear Icon.
• Click Add a Non-Employee BambooHR User.
• Enter a First Name, Last Name, and Email.
• Assign the Tropic Integration access level.
• Click Save.
• The email provided will receive an invitation—complete the setup by following the instructions in the email.

📌 Important:Record the username and password for this user, as they will be needed in Step 3.

Step 3: Connect BambooHR to Tropic

In Tropic

• Click on the Integrations menu
• Search for BambooHR and click View Details.
• Click Connect and enter:
  • Your BambooHR subdomain.
  • The Non-Employee User’s email and password.
• Click Login and authorize the connection.
• The sync will begin, and you will receive a confirmation when complete.

Post-Setup Steps

Update User Roles

By default, all new users that are imported from BambooHR will be assigned the Portal User role. If the user will need access to the Tropic Platform, their role will need to be updated to one of the four platform roles: Owner, Platform Member, Department Admin, and Department Member. See User roles and permissions.

The steps below shows how to update the role of a user:

• In Tropic click Settings --> Users 
• Click on the user's name you want to update and under Permissions Roles section click on the dropdown to update the role. 
• Click Save Changes

Send User Invitations

Imported users will remain in an "Awaiting Invitation" status until invited.

To invite users individually:

• Go to Settings → Users → Awaiting Invitation.
• Click the ellipsis [...] next to a user.
• Select Send Invite.

To bulk invite users:

• Go to Settings → Users → Awaiting Invitation.
• Click Bulk Send Invitations.

Note: Once an invitation is sent, the user will receive all Tropic platform notifications.

De-Duplicate Departments

When Tropic connects with BambooHR it will create a corresponding department in Tropic for every department in BambooHR. If you have already created a department in Tropic and the name matches exactly with the department in BambooHR, then the existing department will be linked to the department in BambooHR. If the name is not an exact match, a duplicate department will be created.

To de-duplicate departments:

• Navigate to Settings → Departments in Tropic.
• Search for any duplicate departments.
• Archive duplicates by selecting the ellipsis [...] → Archive.

FAQs

Connection and Sync

Q: Will adding a non-employee BambooHR user have any cost to us or use up a user license with BambooHR?

A: There should be no additional cost or usage of license count from adding a non-employee user.

Q: Can I connect BambooHR and another HRIS system to Tropic simultaneously? 

A: Currently, only 1 HRIS system can be connected to Tropic at any given time.

Q: Will any changes I make in Tropic update in BambooHR?

A: No, this integration is a one-way integration and only pulls in data from BambooHR. No data is published back to BambooHR. 

Q: What are the minimum possible permissions for this integration?

A: The permissions listed in the connection instructions are the minimum possible permissions for this integration.

Q: How do i disconnect the integration?

A: In the Integration page search for BambooHR and click Disconnect.

Users

Q: Why can’t I edit any fields for a user besides their Role? 

A: When users are imported from BambooHR, all fields that are imported are locked to ensure there is no divergence from BambooHR. This maintains one source of truth. The Role field is unique to Tropic and so can be edited at any time. 

Q: Will this integration support individual users who may have more than one email address in BambooHR?

A: No. In cases where a single user has more than one email, the BambooHR admin will need to create a separate, unique email address for the end user and then attempt to resync.

Q: If an individual has different email addresses in BambooHR & Tropic, will Tropic handle the reconciliation or de-duplication between those email addresses?

A: No, Tropic uses the email address as the unique identifier to map users. 

Q: What happens if a user’s email already exists in Tropic and the HRIS is synced? Does it override their details i.e. department or does it create a duplicate? 

A: If a user exists, and is in the same organization, Tropic will update all of the data except Role. We cannot create duplicated users because we use email as a unique identifier. 

Q: When the user is deactivated in the HRIS, they'll also be deactivated in Tropic. How will this impact employee pages & utilization data? Will you still see the user's employee page? Will there be any indication they’re deactivated? Will the user still appear in usage data?

A: Users will show as deactivated in Tropic (see below). The employee page will rely on the user’s presence in the SSO integration feeding into that feature (usually Okta). The utilization is tied to their actual utilization so will halt when they stop using tools but will not be automatically removed from the record when they are deactivated in BambooHR.

Q: Will all users who don’t currently have a role in Tropic be assigned portal users by default? 

A: Yes, all net new users from the HRIS system will be assigned a Tropic user account created with a Portal user as their default role. 

Departments

Q: What field is used to determine a user's department when syncing data from BambooHR into Tropic?

A: The value in the field 'User Department' associated with each employee in BambooHR will be applied as the user's Department in Tropic.

Q: If a department already exists and the same one exists in BambooHR, will it be overridden in Tropic or will a new department with the same name be created?

A: If you have already created a department in Tropic and the name matches exactly with the department in BambooHR, then the existing department will be linked to the department in BambooHR and no new record will be created.

Q: If a department is deleted in BambooHR, what happens in Tropic?

A: The department will be archived in Tropic.

Additional Resources

To learn more about Tropic please visit our Help Center.