The Employee Navigator integration connects NextAgency to your Employee Navigator account, automatically syncing company, employee, benefit, and dependent data from Employee Navigator into NextAgency. This article walks through the full setup process and explains how to keep your data current after the initial sync.
What syncs from Employee Navigator into NextAgency:
- Companies → NextAgency Cases (group/employer records)
- Employees → NextAgency Employee records
- Benefit plans → NextAgency Benefits
- Dependents → NextAgency Dependent records
Note: This is a one-way sync from Employee Navigator into NextAgency. Changes made in NextAgency are not pushed back to Employee Navigator. This is a beta implementation, meaning it is continuing to be refined and improved. For example, we'll soon add the ability to add new cases into Employee Navigator from NextAgency.
The sync is manual and per-group — you choose which companies to bring into NextAgency, and re-syncs are triggered by you rather than running automatically in the background.
Requirements
- An active Employee Navigator account with API access enabled
- Admin Broker access in NextAgency
Step 1: Authorize NextAgency
- Log in to your Employee Navigator account.
- Click the Add Integration button.
- Search for NextAgency and authorize it.
Step 2: Connect Your Employee Navigator Account
- In NextAgency, go to Settings → Integrations.
- Select the Employee Navigator tab from the integrations sidebar.
- Click Add Employee Navigator Account.
- You will be redirected to Employee Navigator to authorize the connection. Log in with your Employee Navigator credentials and approve the access request.
- After approving, you are redirected back to NextAgency and your account appears in the Employee Navigator Accounts list.
Note: You can connect more than one Employee Navigator account if your agency manages multiple EN instances.
Step 3: Map Fields
Before syncing, you must confirm your field mappings coming from Employee Navigator to the corresponding fields in NextAgency. The mapping screen is divided into three sections — Case, Benefit, and Employee — each corresponding to a data type that can be synced and will usually be already mapped correctly.
Access field mapping by clicking Map Fields on your connected Employee Navigator account.
Case Fields
Maps Employee Navigator company data to NextAgency Case fields. The following field is required and must be mapped:
| Field | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Name (required) | Used to create the Case and to match against existing cases in NextAgency. If a case with the same name already exists, it will be updated rather than duplicated. |
Additional mappable case fields include company phone, address, SIC code, entity type, broker of record (agency owner), and sales status.
Benefit Fields
Maps Employee Navigator plan data to NextAgency Benefit fields. These fields should be mapped to ensure benefits are created and deduplicated correctly:
| Field | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Plan Name | Populates the benefit's plan name in NextAgency. Used to identify the benefit when displaying and reporting. |
| Carrier | Matched against your NextAgency carrier list by name. Correctly linking a carrier ensures commissions, reports, and carrier-level filtering work as expected. |
| Product Type | Matched against your agency's product types (e.g., Medical, Dental, Vision). Required for the benefit to appear under the correct product category and for commission splits that are filtered by product type. |
| Policy Number | Populates the policy number on the benefit record. Important for commission import matching — commissions are reconciled against benefits by policy number. |
You can also map Employee Navigator plan configuration data to custom benefit feature fields on your account.
Employee Fields
Maps Employee Navigator employee data to NextAgency Employee fields. The following fields are required:
| Field | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| First Name (required) | Used to create and identify the employee record. |
| Last Name (required) | Used to create and identify the employee record. |
Additional employee fields, such as date of birth, gender, hire date, and employment status, can also be mapped.
Saving Your Mapping
Click Save when your mappings are complete. The mapping is stored on the integration account and applied every time a sync runs. You can return to this screen to adjust mappings at any time — changes take effect on the next sync.
Step 4: Select Companies to Sync
After saving your field mapping, choose which Employee Navigator companies to bring into NextAgency.
- From the Employee Navigator Accounts list, click your connected account.
- Click Select Cases. A table lists all available companies with Company Name, State, Last Sync date/time, and Agency Name.
- Check the box next to each company you want to sync. Use the header checkbox to select all at once. The Selected counter updates as you go.
- Use the search bar to filter if you have many companies.
- Click Confirm and Sync. Only the selected companies will be synced.
Tip: You can return to this screen at any time to add or remove companies from your sync selection.
Step 5: Syncing and Re-Syncing
How the initial sync works
After saving your company selection, NextAgency begins syncing in the background. For each selected company, the sync runs in four stages:
- Case — Searches for an existing NextAgency case matching the company name (case-insensitive). Updates it if found; creates a new one if not.
- Employees — All employees for the company are pulled from Employee Navigator and created or updated in NextAgency as Employee records in the appropriate case. Each employee is matched by their unique Employee Navigator identifier.
- Benefits — All benefit plans are pulled and created or updated in NextAgency as Benefit records in the appropriate case. Each plan is matched by its unique Employee Navigator plan identifier.
- Dependents — Dependents linked to each employee are created or updated accordingly.
The Last Sync column on the Select Cases screen updates when each company finishes. The sync runs entirely in the background.
Re-syncing
NextAgency has no automatic background syncing for this integration. If you need to trigger a re-sync to pull in updated data, open the connected account and select the Re-Sync option from the account actions. Please note that only selected companies will be included in the sync.
How existing records are handled on re-sync
- Cases, employees, and benefits are matched by their Employee Navigator identifier before updating — re-syncing will not create duplicates.
- Empty fields in NextAgency are filled in from Employee Navigator; fields that already have a value in NextAgency are not overwritten if Employee Navigator sends a blank.
- Records are not deleted from NextAgency when removed from Employee Navigator — removals must be handled manually in the specific case record.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Employee Navigator sync automatically once it is connected?
No. The Employee Navigator integration is manual and per-group. After you connect your account, nothing pulls into NextAgency until you select companies on the Select Cases screen and click Confirm and Sync. Re-syncs are also triggered manually from the connected account. There is no overnight or background job.
Will Employee Navigator create duplicates if my groups and employees are already in NextAgency?
NextAgency matches the incoming Employee Navigator company to an existing case by name (case-insensitive). If the names match, the existing case, employees, and benefits are updated rather than duplicated. If a name has drifted between the two systems, a new record can be created. When you are syncing a company for the first time, it is worth a quick name check before clicking Confirm and Sync.
Can I run Employee Navigator and Ease at the same time?
Technically yes, but we do not recommend it. The Ease integration is a blanket sync — it does not let you pick specific groups to leave alone — so if the same group is active on both Ease and Employee Navigator, the two will overwrite each other. The cleanest setup is to complete your move from Ease to Employee Navigator on the benefits-admin side first, disconnect Ease from NextAgency, and then connect Employee Navigator.
If I disconnect Ease, will I lose anything in NextAgency?
No. Disconnecting Ease does not delete cases, employees, case notes, benefits, or any history. The records stay; the sync simply stops.
Can I see an employee’s full history after I switch from Ease to Employee Navigator?
Yes. Because the Employee Navigator sync matches on name, the employee in NextAgency stays the same underlying record — same case associations, notes, tasks, and policy history. The Ease-era and Employee Navigator-era data sit on a single record, so the full timeline is preserved in one place.
Do I need to migrate every group at once?
No. Because Employee Navigator is per-group, you can bring companies into NextAgency one at a time (or in batches) as each group finishes its move on the Employee Navigator side. Many agencies start with one or two smaller groups as a pilot, confirm the sync looks clean, and work through the rest from there.
How long does my Employee Navigator connection stay active?
For security, the Employee Navigator connection is active for about one hour at a time. If you are syncing a large number of companies, you may need to reconnect from Settings → Integrations and continue.
Troubleshooting
The "Add Employee Navigator Account" button is not visible
The Employee Navigator integration must be enabled on your NextAgency subscription. Contact support if you do not see the option.
Authorization failed or the redirect did not return to NextAgency
Ensure you are logged in to Employee Navigator with an account that has API access. If the issue persists, try the flow again from a fresh browser session.
No companies appear on the Select Cases screen
This can occur if the authorization did not complete successfully, or if the connected EN account has no companies. Try disconnecting and reconnecting the account.
Benefits are syncing without a carrier or product type
Return to Map Fields and confirm that Carrier and Product Type are mapped. The carrier match is case-insensitive but must be an exact name match against your NextAgency carrier list. Product type must match an existing product type on your account.
A company synced, but employees or benefits are missing
The sync runs in stages — employees and benefits are processed after the case completes. Wait a few minutes and check the Last Sync timestamp. If data is still missing, trigger a manual re-sync.
I see duplicate cases or employees after syncing
Cases are matched by name (case-insensitive). Duplicates usually happen because the group name in Employee Navigator does not match the group name already in NextAgency (often from a prior Ease sync or manual entry). Rename the company in Employee Navigator or in NextAgency so the two match, then re-sync. For duplicate employees, check that first and last names match between the two systems.
The connection timed out mid-sync
For security, the Employee Navigator session is active for about an hour. If you are syncing many companies, you may need to reconnect and resume. Reconnect from Settings → Integrations → Employee Navigator, then trigger the sync again — already-synced companies will pick up where they left off rather than duplicate.
A group I expected to see is missing from the Select Cases list
The Select Cases screen only shows companies your Employee Navigator account has API access to. If a group is missing, confirm in Employee Navigator that the company is fully provisioned and that the account you authorized has access to it.
If you have any questions, please contact our support team.