Who can use this feature?

Account administrators, Employee data full permissions

Available on:

All Culture Amp subscriptions.

You can sync employee data directly from Dayforce into Culture Amp using a secure, one-way connection. This ensures your employee list and demographics are always up-to-date.

Data Flow: Employee Data flows from Dayforce into Culture Amp (one-way sync) as a full import. Changes made in Culture Amp will not sync back to your HRIS.

Initial Setup Timeframe: The Dayforce integration setup is fairly streamlined and can typically be completed within 1-2 days without the need for technical assistance.

Choosing Your Integration Method

We offer two primary ways to connect your employee data. The table below briefly outlines both and should help with the decision on which is the best approach for your organization:

Method	Type of Import	Best For	Key Difference
Full Native Integration	Full Employee Import	Organizations seeking real-time, daily automation of all employee data that the integration supports.	Data transfer is handled automatically via a secure native integration. If an employee has an End Date in the HRIS, they will automatically be marked as a former user on that date. If an existing Culture Amp user is removed entirely from the HRIS report (with no End Date provided), they’ll be marked as a former user upon sync, and their End Date will be set to the day before the import.
SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol)	Partial Employee Import	Organizations requiring manual control over file creation or highly unique filtering requirements.	You generate a data file and securely transfer it to Culture Amp at scheduled intervals. Unlike the native integration, users missing from an SFTP file are ignored rather than deactivated, unless an explicit End Date is included in the file.

Integration Checklist

Use this checklist to navigate the Dayforce integration setup. Each step links to a more detailed section below.

Access Requirements — Prerequisites and system logic.
Step 1: Create Custom Report — Setting up the custom report in Dayforce.
Step 2. Connect Integration — Entering credentials into Culture Amp.
Step 3. Run First Sync — Reviewing and importing employee records.
Troubleshooting/FAQs — Solving errors, workarounds, and useful tips

Before You Start: Access Requirements

To set up the connection, ensure you have the correct administrative access on both platforms. You must also register for a Dayforce Developer account to access their technical documentation, as the official Dayforce Support Article contains essential configuration details.

Platform	Role / Component	Required Access	Rationale
Culture Amp	Admin Role	Account Administrator or Employee Data Administrator	Required to access integration settings and validate credentials.
Dayforce	Web Services	Role / User Permissions	Enables Culture Amp to securely "handshake" with Dayforce to pull data.
Dayforce	Report Access	Report Properties	The user must have permission to access the specific report identified by the Report Integration Name.
Dayforce	View Access	Security Groups	The role must have permission to "Get" (read) data for all domains included in the report
Dayforce	Allow List (IPs)	System Settings	Ensures Culture Amp's static IP addresses are not blocked by Dayforce’s firewall.

Important Considerations & Data Limitations

RESTful Services: The integration uses RESTful post and patch operations to access data. You can ignore any configurations specifically for SOAP services.
No Field Mapping UI: There is no way to map demographics from Dayforce to a different title in Culture Amp. Fields are imported exactly as they are named in your Dayforce report.
Developer Account: You must register for a Dayforce developer account to access technical documentation if advanced troubleshooting is required.
Whitespace & Formatting: Ensure your report column headers match Culture Amp expectations exactly to trigger automatic logic (e.g., Start Date for tenure reporting).

Step 1. Create a Custom Report in Dayforce

Create a Custom report in Dayforce containing all employees and demographics you wish to sync. To ensure Culture Amp can access the data, verify these specific settings in the Report Designer:

Report Type: Must be an Ad Hoc report.
Format: Must be Tabular (Flat File) with no grouping or totals.
Web Service: Check "Is Web Service" in the Report Properties > General tab.
Ownership: The report must be shared with the Integration User and have "Read" access to all included demographics.

Core Demographics: Field & Data Requirements

Ensure your Dayforce Report uses the exact column headers below to map to our core Culture Amp fields correctly. Refer to the Employee Data Template for full formatting and requirements.

Dayforce Field Label	Culture Amp Field Name (Destination)	Notes
Name	Name	Enter the users full name. Use the format: `First Last`.
Preferred Name	Preferred Name	Used for survey and cycle communications.
Employee ID	Employee ID	Secondary Unique identifier; ID must be different for each employee.
Email	Email	Primary Unique identifier; email must be different for each employee. Used for all communications.
Date of Birth	Date of Birth	Enables Age banding.
Start Date	Start Date	Used for "New Hire" surveys and unlocks tenure banding.
End Date	End Date	Used for deactivations and the "Exit Survey".

Custom Demographics

Include any additional demographics (e.g., Department, Division) to filter your data. To unlock full platform functionality, we also recommend including the following:

Field Name	Notes
Language	Sets the employee’s preferred platform language Use the appropriate two-letter System Code (e.g., `en`, `es`).
Manager Email (Work Email of referenced Manager)	Hierarchy: Automatically builds your org structure using the Work Email of each employee's manager. If you have an existing hierarchy, this header must match your validated title verbatim (found via the Account Demographics page).

Excluding Employees via Dayforce Report Filters (Optional)

Manage specific groups (e.g., contractors or seasonal staff) directly within your Dayforce Report for the most efficient setup.

How it works: Use the Filters tab in the Dayforce Report Designer to define specific inclusion or exclusion criteria (e.g., "Employment Status" is equal to "Active" or "Employee Type" is not equal to "Contractor").
Impact: Employees filtered out are not sent to Culture Amp. If an existing user is removed from the Dayforce report via these filters, they will be marked as Inactive (Former User) in Culture Amp upon the next sync.

Step 2. Connect & Authenticate Your Dayforce Account

Now that your report is configured, follow these steps to establish the technical connection.

Sign in to Culture Amp with an account that has Account Administrator or Employee data administrator access.
Navigate to your Settings > Account > Integrations page.
Select the Dayforce tile from the list of integrations.
Enter your Company Namespace, Username, Password, and ReportId
Click Validate Credentials
Enable Daily Syncs (Optional): If enabled, your data will automatically sync every day between midnight and 4:00 am (International Date Line West). If disabled, you must trigger syncs manually.
Select Notification Email: Choose the Email Address to receive prompts regarding blocked syncs and other integration communications (this must belong to an Account Administrator or Employee data administrator).
Click Save Integration > Finish

Once validated, a secure connection is established between Dayforce and Culture Amp. If validation fails, double-check your credentials and ensure Culture Amp's IP addresses are added to your Allow List in Dayforce.

🔑 Locating Your Credentials

Company Namespace: This is the same value you enter in the "Company" field on your Dayforce login screen.
ReportId: This is the Report Integration Name found in Dayforce on the Report Properties screen under the General tab.
Username and Password: Use the credentials for the dedicated integration System User role created specifically for Culture Amp.

Step 3. Sync Your User Data

You can now begin syncing your employee data. Even if you have enabled daily syncs, we recommend running a manual sync initially to verify your mapping and data health.

Click Sync on the Data Integrations page
Review the Import History to ensure all users and demographics are accounted for.
Verify Hierarchy: Confirm that your manager data is flowing correctly. If you have an existing hierarchy, the Manager Email or ID field from Dayforce must populate the exact field identified by the hierarchy icon on the Account Demographics page Culture Amp.
Finalize: If the data looks correct, click Confirm. If errors appear, click Cancel to troubleshoot any flagged issues.

Add or Update Your Hierarchy (Optional)

The process for managing your hierarchy depends on whether you have previously validated a hierarchy demographic in Culture Amp.

1. Confirm Your Path

Existing Hierarchy: If you already have a validated hierarchy, ensure your Dayforce field name matches your current demographic title exactly (e.g., Manager Email). Check your Settings > Employee Data > Demographics page for the hierarchy symbol to verify your current title.
New Hierarchy: If this is your first time setting up a hierarchy, complete your first Dayforce sync first, then follow our Add Your Hierarchy guide to perform the one-time validation.

2. Technical Requirements

Identifier Type: Use Manager Email (recommended) or Manager ID. Hierarchy cannot be built using Manager Names.
Data Completeness: All managers must be included in the Dayforce report. If a manager is missing from the file, their direct reports cannot be placed in the hierarchy.
Top Leader: Leave the Manager Email/ID field blank for the CEO or top-level leader. This identifies the "top" of your organizational tree.
Verbatim Matching: Check your Account Demographics page for the hierarchy symbol (three connected nodes) to verify your current title. Your Dayforce Column Name must match this exactly (including casing).
Refer to the Add Your Hierarchy article for full guidance.

Troubleshooting/FAQs

General Data Integrity & Import Management

The first step when investigating any data issue is to check the Import Summary Screen for your most recent import.

Go to Settings > Employee Data > Import History.
Select your most recent import to view details.

This screen provides information on the state of your integration, any specific errors, or will prompt you to run a manual sync to identify problems.

Common Dayforce Integration Errors

Error/Issue	Potential Cause	Resolution
Validation Failed	Incorrect Company Namespace or ReportId.	Ensure the Namespace matches your Dayforce login screen "Company" field and the ReportId matches the Report Integration Name in Dayforce.
Authentication Error (401)	Integration user credentials are incorrect or expired.	Verify the username and password for the dedicated Dayforce integration user. Ensure the account is not locked in Dayforce.
Connection Timeout	Culture Amp IP addresses are blocked by your firewall.	Verify that Culture Amp’s IP addresses have been added to the Allow List within your Dayforce security settings.
Missing Demographic Fields	Column headers in the Dayforce report do not match required naming.	Dayforce does not support field remapping. Ensure columns like Date of Birth or Manager Email are named exactly as required by Culture Amp.
Blank Demographic Values	Missing "Get" (Read) permissions for specific data domains.	Ensure the integrated user role in Dayforce has "View" access to the specific domains (e.g., Personal or Contact Data) included in the report.
Hierarchy failing to build	Multiple employees (or none) have a blank Manager Email/Manager ID field or at least one employee holds a Manager Email/ID value that does not belong to another user on the account.	Ensure only the top leader (CEO) has a blank manager identifier. Check for circular references where two users manage each other. Make sure all managers are added to the account with the correct email and ID.

Switching From CSV or Other Imports

If you are moving from CSV uploads or a different integration, keep the following in mind:

Demographic Consistency: When mapping fields, you must map the data to the exact same demographic field you used historically (e.g., mapping to "TEAM" is different from mapping to "TEAM NAME"). Using an incorrect or slightly different title risks discontinuity in your trended survey results.
Recommended Action: To avoid confusion, we recommend navigating to Settings > Employee Data > Demographics and deleting the old, unused demographics after your first successful sync. (This won't impact any previous survey results.)

Handling Inactive Employees

Dayforce utilizes Culture Amp's Full Import logic, which means the data file sent from Dayforce is treated as the single source of truth for your active employee list.

The default behavior for users left off your HRIS sync file is to set their end date to the day before the sync date, categorizing them as former employees.

Scenario	System Behavior
Past End Date	The employee is automatically marked as a Former Employee and made inactive in Culture Amp instantly.
Future End Date	The employee remains active until the specified date is reached, at which point they are transitioned to Former Employee status, at the end of that day (11.59 PM in the timezone set for the account)
Employee Missing from Sync	Any employee active in Culture Amp but not present in the Dayforce sync file will be made inactive as a former user instantly, with an end date assigned as the day before the sync.
Updates to Inactive Users	Demographic updates (such as a changed end date) can still be applied to inactive records during a sync.

Handling Duplicate Employees

Culture Amp uses two fields as unique identifiers for user profiles: Email and Employee ID.

As long as at least one of these remains consistent between Dayforce and Culture Amp, the sync will successfully update the existing profile rather than creating a new one.
Duplicate Risk: If you change both the Email and the Employee ID simultaneously in Dayforce, the sync will not find a match and will create a duplicate profile.

If you see a duplicate profile error flag during your import, take the following steps:

Scenario	Action to Take
A. Before Changes Are Applied	During the first sync review screen, stop the sync. Update the employee emails in Culture Amp to match those in Dayforce. Go to the Culture Amp Users page, Click on the name of the employee you want to update. Update their email. Click Save and Exit to update. Repeat for all duplicated employees. Then, retry the integration sync.
B. After Changes Are Applied	To clean up the duplicated profiles: Go to the Culture Amp Users page, Locate the newest duplicate profile for that user. Click on the name to open up their profile. Remove existing Email/Employee ID and assign a fake Email or Employee ID to the user and save. Deactivate this updated profile. Update the original user profile to match emails in Dayforce. This keeps the history on the existing employee record.
Further Guidance	Check out our dedicated support guide for further information on duplicate employee clean-up.

Sync Blocked to Protect Employee Privacy

Your automated daily sync might be blocked if Culture Amp detects a high-risk change for an employee. You will receive an email notification if this occurs.

When It Happens: The sync is blocked if a combination of an employee's Name, Date of Birth, or Email is changed simultaneously.
Purpose: This prevents one employee from accidentally getting access to another employee's private information (like performance reviews).
Fix: If you've intentionally changed the employee's details, you can run a manual sync to push the change through. Go to Settings > Employee Data > Users, click Import data, and select Sync. Culture Amp will guide you through the rest.