What BenefitFlow Syncs
BenefitFlow syncs five object types into your CRM, each with defined relationships:
The broker hierarchy is the most important association to understand. Broker contacts are always tied to a specific office location — not the brokerage firm as a whole — because that is how broker mapping data works in practice. A producer at Mercer’s Dallas office is associated with “Mercer - Dallas, TX,” not with “Mercer” globally.
Employer associations are simpler. Each employer syncs as a standalone Account, and employer contacts are associated to their company’s Account record by website domain. There is no parent-child hierarchy for employers.
If you want each employer linked to its primary broker office, you can set that up
yourself using BenefitFlow IDs. See Linking Employers to Their Primary Broker
Office.
How Parent-Child Associations Work
BenefitFlow models brokerages as a two-level hierarchy:- Parent account — The broker firm itself (e.g., “Lockton Companies”)
- Child accounts — Individual office locations under that firm (e.g., “Lockton Companies - Kansas City, MO”)
Two-Phase Sync
To build this hierarchy reliably, BenefitFlow syncs in two phases:- Parent accounts first — All broker firm records are created (or matched to existing records) before anything else happens.
- Child accounts second — Once parent account IDs are confirmed, office locations are created with the parent-child association already in place.
Association Handling by CRM
Each CRM platform handles parent-child account relationships differently. Here is what you will see in practice:
In all three CRMs, associations use native platform features. There are no custom objects, junction records, or workarounds involved. Your existing reports, views, and automation that rely on account hierarchies will work with BenefitFlow-synced data out of the box.
Automatic Sync Behavior
BenefitFlow uses a diff-based sync engine. On each sync, it:- Compares current BenefitFlow data against the records already in your CRM
- Inserts net-new records that don’t exist yet
- Updates records where data has changed (new fields, corrected values, updated broker mapping)
- Skips records that are already current — no unnecessary writes to your CRM
- Flags stale records that no longer match as deprecated
Associations between synced objects are created and maintained automatically. You do not need to manually link records or re-establish relationships after syncs.
Structuring Your CRM to Receive BenefitFlow Data
Before your first sync, a few CRM design decisions will make your life easier.Work with the hierarchy, not against it
BenefitFlow creates parent-child account structures for brokers. Make sure your CRM views, list views, and reports can surface hierarchical accounts. In Salesforce, confirm that your Account Hierarchy related list is visible. In HubSpot, check that your default company views don’t filter out associated child companies.Consider account record types (Salesforce)
If you use Salesforce record types, set up distinct types for “Broker” (parent accounts) and “Broker Office” (child accounts). This lets you customize page layouts, fields, and validation rules for each level of the hierarchy and keeps your reporting clean.Build views around office-level contacts
Broker contacts are associated with the office location (child account), not the parent firm. When building contact reports or list views, filter by the child account level to see the full picture. Rolling up contacts to the parent broker level requires a hierarchical report or custom rollup, depending on your CRM.Map fields to your existing workflows
Use BenefitFlow’s field mapping to populate the custom fields your team already relies on for lead routing, territory assignment, or reporting. Aligning mapped fields with your existing processes reduces the gap between sync and action.Prepare for deduplication
BenefitFlow matches accounts on Website (combined with City and State for office locations) and contacts on Email. Office location accounts will not be matched if they are missing either City or State — both are required. State can be matched by either state code (e.g., “TX”) or full name (e.g., “Texas”). Before syncing, audit your existing CRM records to make sure these fields are populated. Records missing a website or email address cannot be matched and may result in duplicates.FAQs
Do I need to create parent broker accounts before syncing?
Do I need to create parent broker accounts before syncing?
No. BenefitFlow creates parent broker accounts automatically during the first phase of every sync. If a parent account already exists in your CRM (matched by website), BenefitFlow links to it rather than creating a duplicate.
What happens if a broker office location already exists in my CRM?
What happens if a broker office location already exists in my CRM?
BenefitFlow matches office locations using a combination of Website, City, and State. If a match is found, the existing record is updated with the latest data rather than duplicated. The parent-child association is preserved.
Are associations visible in my CRM's native UI?
Are associations visible in my CRM's native UI?
Yes. All three supported CRMs display the parent-child relationship in their standard account hierarchy views. Salesforce shows it in Account Hierarchy, HubSpot in the Associations panel, and Dynamics in the Parent Account field and hierarchy view.
Can I customize which associations BenefitFlow creates?
Can I customize which associations BenefitFlow creates?
The parent-child hierarchy (broker to office location) and contact-to-account associations are created automatically and cannot be disabled — they are core to how BenefitFlow structures broker data. Field-level data can be customized through the field mapping table in your integration settings.
What happens during re-syncs?
What happens during re-syncs?
BenefitFlow compares its current data against your CRM records and only pushes changes. Records that haven’t changed are skipped entirely. Existing associations are preserved — re-syncs never break or recreate relationships that are already in place.