Which platform is the source of truth when you use both Personio and Remote?

If your company uses Personio for HR and Remote for employment, you may be working with two different Personio integrations at the same time. Each integration covers a different group of employees, sends data in a different direction, and has a different source of truth. Knowing which platform holds the authoritative record for each employee prevents duplicate profiles, failed syncs, and payroll errors. Contractors are not covered by either integration and should be managed through Remote's standard contractor processes.

This article covers:

• The two Personio integrations and what each one does
• Which platform is the source of truth for each employee type
• How data flows for EOR employees and for Payroll employees
• Whether you can use both integrations at the same time
• Where to go for support

The two Personio integrations

Remote and Personio are connected by two separate integrations. They are not two halves of one product, and they do not cover the same employees.

Which platform is the source of truth

The short answer is that the source of truth follows the employee, not the company. Remote is the source of truth for EOR employees. Personio is the source of truth for Payroll employees synced through the Personio for Payroll integration.

For EOR employees, if someone edits a synced field in Personio, the value is reset to the Remote value at the next sync. For Payroll employees, the opposite applies: once the Personio for Payroll integration is active, data you enter manually in Remote can be overwritten by the next sync from Personio.

How data flows for EOR employees

With Personio EOR, powered by Remote, you add and view EOR employees in Personio, but the employment itself lives in Remote.

• You add the EOR employee in Personio, and the employment record is created in Remote.
• An embedded magic link in your Personio dashboard gives you secure, passwordless access to Remote so you can complete tasks that only Remote can perform.
• The employee completes onboarding, receives payroll and benefits, and gets ongoing HR support in Remote.
• Contract data and salary changes are made in Remote. Personio shows a banner that directs you to Remote for these changes.
• EOR employees request time off in Remote. Supervisors and HR managers approve time off in Personio.
• EOR employees appear in the Personio People list and Org Chart with a profile, alongside your direct hires, and can be included in Personio reporting.
• Data flows from Remote to Personio only. Changes you make to a synced field in Personio do not reach Remote.

How data flows for Payroll employees

With Personio for Payroll, Personio pushes employee and time off data into Remote so that Remote can run payroll.

• You activate the integration from the Personio integration tile in your Remote dashboard and connect it using Personio API credentials.
• In Personio, you set the Sync to Remote as custom field to As global payroll employee for each employee you want to sync. This is the only supported value for this field.
• The employee's legal entity must already exist in Remote, either active or in the process of being set up, with payroll enabled. You cannot change the entity for an employee who already exists in Remote through the integration. Change it manually in Remote instead.
• If your company has more than one legal entity in the same country, use the Entity name from Remote custom field to specify which entity the employee belongs to. Otherwise, Remote infers the entity from the employee's country.
• Time off syncs one way from Personio to Remote. Time off created or approved in Remote does not sync back to Personio.
• Remote accepts time off in whole-hour increments, up to eight hours per day. If Personio uses a different daily-hours setting, such as its nine-hour default, Remote rounds the request during the sync.
• The supervisor field syncs for employees who already exist in Remote. A supervisor who is not in Remote cannot act as an approver in Remote.
• Remote syncs automatically once per hour. You can also run a manual sync from the integration overview page in Remote.
• Time off syncs only from January 1 of the current calendar year onward, only for approved requests, and only for employees who are fully onboarded in Remote.
• If an employee requests time off in Remote, Remote shows a notification directing them to submit the request in Personio instead. Adding time off directly in Remote should be reserved for correcting past entries.
• Remote and Personio records are matched on work and personal email addresses, and the match must be exact. Email changes in Personio always sync to Remote.

Can you use both integrations at the same time?

Yes. If your company has both EOR employees and Payroll employees with Remote, both integrations can be active in the same account, because the data flows are opposite and each integration covers a different population.

The rule to follow is that each employee must be covered by one integration only. Never mark an EOR employee to sync as a Payroll employee. When the same person is set up under both products, Remote creates a second, duplicate profile, syncs stop progressing, and payroll data can be attributed to the wrong entity. Correcting this requires manual cleanup by Remote.

Before you turn on Personio for Payroll, review the Sync to Remote as field for every EOR employee in Personio. The field must be empty for EOR employees.

Where to go for support

Personio and Remote share support responsibilities. Use the platform where the issue appears, and the employee type, to decide who to contact.

If you are not sure which integration an issue relates to, start with the employee. Check whether the affected person is an EOR employee or a Payroll employee, then follow the row above that matches. When you contact support, include the affected employee, an example of the incorrect or missing value, the time the change was made, and confirmation of which integrations are active. This lets both teams trace the sync quickly.

See also

• Personio EOR, Powered by Remote
• Global Payroll Employee Sync for Personio
• Global Payroll Employee Time Off Sync with Personio
• Personio Integration section of the Remote Help Center
• Overview of Personio Employer of Record, on the Personio Help Center
• Frequently asked questions about Personio EOR, on the Personio Help Center