Automate Account Creation from HRIS Employee Data

Implementation: Sync Employee Data and Create Expense Accounts

Step 1: Configure Employee Data Sync from HRIS

Start by syncing the essential employee information needed for expense account creation. Knit's sync API provides 16 employee data models—you only need to request the specific models relevant to expense management setup.

API Endpoint: POST https://api.getknit.dev/v1.0/sync.start

Request Body:

{
  "dataType": "employee",
  "models": [
    "employee_profile",
    "employee_orgStructure",
    "employee_location"
  ],
  "honorScheduler": true
}

Critical fields for expense account provisioning:

• workEmail: Primary identifier for expense account login
• employeeNumber: Reference ID for cross-system reconciliation
• firstName, lastName: User-facing account display names
• startDate: Trigger account creation before employee's first day
• employmentStatus: Filter for ACTIVE employees only
• department: Determine applicable expense policies
• designation (job title): Assign spending limits by seniority
• manager: Configure approval workflow routing
• workAddress.country: Apply location-specific expense rules

Step 2: Extract Employee Attributes and Map to Expense Policies

With employee data synced, extract the organizational attributes that determine expense policy assignments, spending limits, and approval workflows. Different employee attributes trigger different policy configurations.

Policy mapping strategies:

Employee Attribute	Policy Determination	Example Rules
Department	Baseline spending categories and limits	Sales: High travel/meals budgets. Engineering: Equipment purchases. Finance: Restricted merchant categories
Job Title (designation)	Spending authority and approval thresholds	Individual Contributors: $500 limit. Managers: $2,000 limit. VPs: $10,000 limit. Executives: No limit
Location (country)	Per diem rates, mileage reimbursement, tax rules	US: IRS mileage rate. UK: HMRC per diem. Germany: German travel expense regulations
Manager Relationship	Approval workflow routing	Expenses under $500: Direct manager. $500-$2000: Manager + Finance. Over $2000: Manager + VP
Employment Type	Policy eligibility and restrictions	FULL_TIME: Full expense privileges. CONTRACT: Limited to pre-approved expenses only

Step 3: Create Expense Accounts with Intelligent Policy Assignment

With employee attributes extracted and policy rules defined, create expense accounts in your platform with automatically configured settings based on organizational context. This eliminates manual policy assignment and ensures consistent rule application.

Expense account configuration workflow:

1. Account creation: Use workEmail as primary identifier, employeeNumber as reference ID
2. Policy assignment: Match department + job title + location to predefined policy templates
3. Approval chain setup: Configure manager-based approval workflows using manager.workEmail and manager.id
4. Spending limits: Set transaction limits based on job title parsing (Individual Contributor, Manager, Director, VP, C-level)
5. Notification preferences: Set primary notification destination to workEmail

Job title parsing for spending authority:

• Executive titles (CEO, CFO, CTO, "Chief"): Unlimited spending authority, minimal approval requirements
• VP/Director titles ("VP", "Vice President", "Director"): $10,000+ limits, department head approval only for exceptional amounts
• Manager titles ("Manager", "Lead", "Head of"): $2,000-5,000 limits, VP approval for overages
• Senior IC titles ("Senior", "Principal", "Staff"): $1,000-2,000 limits, manager approval required
• Standard IC titles: $500-1,000 limits, manager approval required for all expenses

Key Employee Data Models for Expense Account Provisioning

Data Model	Key Fields	Provisioning Use Case
employee_profile	id, employeeNumber, firstName, lastName, workEmail, startDate, employmentStatus, employmentType	Core account identity, creation triggers, employment verification
employee_orgStructure	designation (job title), department, manager (id, workEmail)	Policy assignment, spending limits, approval workflow configuration
employee_location	workAddress (street, city, state, country, zip), country (Alpha-2 code)	Location-based policy rules, per diem rates, tax regulations

Sync frequency considerations:

• Initial sync: Returns all ACTIVE employees for bulk account creation
• Delta syncs: Return only changed/new records for incremental updates
• Recommended frequency: 12-24 hour intervals for new hire detection, immediate webhook triggers for terminations
• Webhook events: Configure HRIS webhooks to trigger immediate account creation when new employees are added

Supported HRIS platforms:
30+ platforms including Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Personio, Rippling, Zoho People, UKG, Hibob, Namely, Paylocity, and more.

Wrapping Up: Streamline Expense Account Setup and Maintain Data Accuracy

Automated expense account provisioning transforms employee onboarding from a manual, error-prone process into a systematic, audit-ready workflow. By extracting comprehensive employee data directly from the HRIS source of truth—including organizational context, manager relationships, and location information—your expense management platform ensures every employee has properly configured access with appropriate policies from their first day.

Key capabilities unlocked:

• Unified HRIS integration: Single API integration supports 30+ HR platforms without custom connectors or platform-specific code
• Intelligent policy assignment: Automatically configure expense policies based on department, job title, location, and employment type without manual rule application
• Manager-based approval workflows: Extract organizational reporting structures from HRIS to automatically configure approval chains that reflect current manager relationships
• Location-specific compliance: Apply geography-appropriate expense rules, per diem rates, and tax regulations based on employee work location
• Continuous data synchronization: Delta syncs detect organizational changes (promotions, transfers, terminations) and automatically update expense account configurations
• Audit-ready documentation: Timestamped sync records demonstrate expense account provisioning decisions were based on verified HRIS data, satisfying SOC2 and compliance requirements