Integrated payroll doesn’t have to feel complicated. When done right, it becomes one of the most valuable tools brokers can offer their clients. HR teams are stretched thin: juggling recruiting, compliance, payroll, training, and benefits all at once. They’re looking for convenience, accuracy, Single Sign-On, and time back in their day. Integrated payroll delivers exactly that, and brokers who offer these integrations create a domino effect, often driving higher benefits adoption and stronger client engagement.
Here’s how to confidently lay out a simple approach for HR to connect Employee Navigator and their Payroll system, just as 35,000+ companies are doing today:
Set the stage early
Success starts with clear expectations. Help your client understand why integrations matter: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. A little time spent up front connecting Employee Navigator with their payroll can save hundreds of hours of manual work and prevent costly deduction or contribution errors throughout the year and during Open Enrollment.
When HR understands the long-term payoff, they’re far more engaged in the setup process that typically takes an hour or less of reconciliation between the two systems.
Encourage clients to designate one owner, ideally a manager or director-level with access to all employee and payroll data. Our metrics show that companies with a single point of contact complete integrations three times faster than those involving multiple people.
Do a light pre-clean
Before requesting the integration, help clients tidy up the basics:
- Ensure recent payroll census data has been imported
- Confirm any missing or incomplete employee fields are resolved
- Double-check benefit plans, rates, and contribution structures
This simple preparation prevents delays and keeps the setup focused on meaningful reconciliation, not cleanup work that could have been done ahead of time.
Keep the setup simple for HR
Remind HR that the steps to connect Employee Navigator and Payroll are straightforward:
- Connect employees
- Map deduction and employer contribution codes
- Reconcile differences to ensure both systems are perfectly in sync
Most of our integrations go live quickly. The majority of companies complete their setup within 12 days or less. Some finish in as little as 30 minutes and go live the same day, while others take a few days to review audits before starting reconciliation.
We know HR is busy balancing their day-to-day responsibilities, so the key is helping them prioritize fixing demographic discrepancies first, since it’s the most time-sensitive step.
Strategically reframe what this means to HR
You’re not just helping them “turn something on.” You’re helping them modernize how they manage their workforce so they can refocus their time on what cannot be automated, like recruiting and retaining top talent.
That means:
- No more dual entry of new hires, terms or other demographic changes (or sending updated census information to you)
- No need to worry about all the deduction or employer contribution changes throughout the year. It’s all automated:
- New hires & terms
- Qualifying Life Events
- Open Enrollment
- One centralized payroll login with SSO into Employee Navigator
- A hub (Employee Navigator) to plug-and-play with 175+ payroll partners if they ever switch payroll providers.
Support them after go-live
Once live, HR can finally shift attention to non-data entry tasks, but they shouldn’t “set it and forget it.” Encourage them to do the following so they stay confident and in control.
- Review their Integration Health dashboard: a clear view of who is perfectly in sync, and who may need attention.
- Check their pre-process register in payroll before running it. This integration is not a reason for HR to ignore one of their best traits: careful, meticulous attention to detail.
The bottom line for brokers: Integrated payroll isn’t just a tech feature
It’s a retention strategy, a revenue driver, and a major value-add for every client. Brokers who champion SSO and these tools win more business, keep the BOR, and help HR teams reclaim enormous amounts of time.
Integrating Employee Navigator and payroll doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming. It simply requires a bit of preparation to help HR focus on the reconciliation steps. As always, reach out to Payroll@employeenavigator.com. We’ve got your back.
