Softmatch: merging users (manual ↔ HR and across organizations)

Overview

eADM identifies each user by a Source ID that comes from the HR system. When the same Source ID shows up again on import, eADM knows it is the same person — it updates the existing account (and recovers it if it was deleted). We call this hard matching. It is always on and needs no configuration.

Softmatch is a fallback for cases where the Source IDs do not line up but you still have the same person:

• A user was created by hand in eADM (a manual user) and later arrives from HR with a different Source ID.

• The same person works for more than one company (legal entity) imported together, or an HR record comes back with a new Source ID.

Instead of matching on Source ID, softmatch matches on one attribute value you choose (for example social security number). If exactly one clear match is found, eADM joins the records instead of creating a duplicate.

There are two independent softmatch settings:

Both are optional and set per organization. Leaving them at none disables softmatch.

Hard matching vs softmatch

Key point: hard matching wins. Softmatch only steps in when Source IDs do not already resolve the identity.

Where to configure

Softmatch is part of advanced tenant setup. How you change it depends on your access:

• Partners and select enterprise customers have the Organization administrator role, which enables self-service setup of their tenant. If you have this role, follow the steps below.

• All other customers: contact support to have softmatch activated or changed. Tell us which attribute you want to match on and whether it is for manual↔HR merging, merging across companies, or both.

Self-service (Organization administrator)

1. In the left menu, open System administration → Customer setup.

2. Select the organization you want to configure.

3. Open the Accounts tab.

4. Choose Edit.

5. Find these two fields:

   • Attribute for merging users across companies

   • Attribute for merging manual users with HR users

6. Pick an attribute from the dropdown, or none to turn it off.

7. Save.

Attributes you can choose

Only these attributes can be used for softmatch:

• Email

• EmployeeNumber

• Mail

• Mobile

• PrivatePhone

• Socialsecuritynumber

• SourceId

• UserId

• UserName

• WebUserId

Pick something that is unique per person and reliably filled in on both sides. Social security number is the usual choice where it is available.

Manual users merged with HR users

When to use it: an administrator creates a user by hand before HR delivers them (a new hire who needs access on day one, a substitute, a contractor). Later the HR import contains the same person. Without softmatch you end up with two accounts. With softmatch on, say, social security number, eADM joins the manual account onto the incoming HR user. The account keeps its history and becomes HR-managed from then on.

Direction matters: this merge is driven from the manual side. It runs when an active manual account meets a matching HR record during import. An HR-only user will not pull in a manual record on its own.

Users merged across companies

When to use it: some HR systems deliver a person who works for more than one company (legal entity) — for example someone employed part-time by two municipal entities. When those entities are imported together into the same eADM organization, this setting recognises the person as one user (matched on the chosen attribute, usually social security number) and keeps the positions from each company on that single account, instead of creating a separate duplicate per company.

It also re-links an existing HR user if the Source ID it arrives with changes but the chosen attribute still matches.

Supported import formats

Only some HR imports use this setting to prevent duplicate user objects. In these formats, a person who appears under more than one company (with a different employee number per company) is delivered as several records; with Attribute for merging users across companies set, those records are merged into one user. Without it, the import creates one user object per company.

Formats that use the setting this way:

• Visma Enterprise (HRM)

• Simployer

• Xledger

• Personec P

• Unit4 (Agresso)

• Mepco

For other import formats this setting does not change how many user objects are created — they either import from a single company, or already combine a person's employments on their own. If you are unsure whether it applies to your HR feed, contact support.

Manual merge: adding a manual position to an HR user

Softmatch does more than swap one account for another. A manually created user carries a Manual merge flag. When that flag is on and the manual→HR softmatch finds the matching HR user, eADM does not just drop the manual account — it merges the manual record's position data onto the HR-managed user.

In practice this lets you add a position to an HR person that HR itself does not deliver. eADM supports several positions on one user, so the manually created position is added alongside the HR positions rather than replacing them. The user ends up as one HR-managed account with an extra, manually added position.

How it comes about:

• When you create a user with the new-user wizard, eADM sets the Manual merge flag to yes automatically.

• The flag is also visible as a yes/no field on the user if you need to check or change it.

• On the next import, if the manual→HR softmatch attribute is set and the person matches an HR user, the manual position is merged onto that HR user.

Two things it depends on:

• The manual→HR softmatch attribute must be set (Manual merge does nothing on its own — it works through the same match described above).

• Calculate main position — a related organization setting (shown for some HR systems) decides whether eADM recalculates which position is the primary one after positions are merged. Turn it on if the added position should be considered when picking the main position.

Same caveat as everywhere else: the manual record has to be active at import time for the merge to happen. An expired or deleted manual position will not be merged onto the HR user.

Important caveats

1. Expired or deleted manual users are not reclaimed.
This is the one that surprises people. The manual→HR merge only considers active manual accounts — not expired, not deleted, and inside their start/stop dates.

So if a manual user expires or is deleted, and the same person later arrives from HR with the same attribute value, softmatch will not reconnect them to the old manual account. You get a new HR-managed account, and anything that lived only on the old manual account (manually assigned roles, overrides) is not carried over.

Practical advice: do the merge while the manual account is still active. If a manual user is about to expire and you expect HR to deliver the same person, let the import run before expiry. If the timing has already slipped, expect a new account and clean up by hand.

2. Manual→HR merge is one-directional.
It fires from the active manual account meeting an HR record — not the other way around.

3. The match must be unambiguous.
eADM only merges when it finds exactly one clear match on the chosen attribute. If the value is blank, or more than one record shares it, softmatch skips that user rather than guess. Keep the attribute unique and populated.

4. Only the listed attributes are selectable, and the setting is per organization.

5. Hard matching still runs first.
A returning Source ID recovers a deleted account on its own. Softmatch does not override that — it only handles records Source ID could not.

Practical examples

All examples use the fictional Fableton Municipality.

Example 1 — manual user meets HR (works as intended)
Fableton hires a teacher who needs access immediately. The administrator creates a manual account. A few days later the HR import delivers the same teacher with a social security number. With Attribute for merging manual users with HR users set to Socialsecuritynumber, eADM joins the manual account onto the HR user. Result: one account, now HR-managed, history intact.

Example 2 — manual user expired first (the caveat)
Fableton sets up a manual account for a term substitute, with an expiry date at the end of term. The account expires. Two months later HR delivers the same person with the same social security number. Softmatch does not reclaim the expired manual account — it only looks at active manual accounts. Result: a brand-new HR account is created, and the roles that were only on the old manual account are gone. If those roles matter, an administrator has to reassign them.

Example 3 — same person in two companies (legal entities)
A finance officer works part-time for two legal entities that Fableton imports together from Visma Enterprise, and HR gives a different employee number in each. With Attribute for merging users across companies set to Socialsecuritynumber, eADM recognises both as the same person and keeps both positions on one account, instead of creating two duplicates.

Example 4 — adding a manual position to an HR user (Manual merge)
A teacher at Fableton also takes on a small role in the library that the HR system does not deliver. An administrator creates that extra position manually on the person (Manual merge stays on by default). With Attribute for merging manual users with HR users set to Socialsecuritynumber, the next import matches the manual record to the teacher's HR account and adds the library position alongside the HR position. Result: one HR-managed account with two positions. If Calculate main position is on, eADM re-checks which of the two is primary.

Quick reference

Last updated: August 10, 2026