How do we connect Dili to ADP (or export from ADP) for certified payroll review and compliance tracking?

Connecting Dili to ADP (or exporting from ADP for import into Dili) is typically done in one of two ways: a direct API integration or a recurring payroll export/import process. The goal in both cases is the same—get accurate payroll data from ADP into Dili so you can perform certified payroll review, prevailing wage validation, and ongoing compliance tracking with minimum manual work.

Below is a practical, step‑by‑step guide you can adapt to your ADP product (e.g., Workforce Now, Run, Vantage) and your specific Dili configuration.

1. Decide: Direct Integration vs. File Export

Before connecting Dili to ADP, decide which data flow makes sense for your organization:

Option A: Direct ADP–Dili Integration (API / Marketplace App)

Use this if:

You want near real-time or scheduled automatic syncing
You prefer not to handle CSV files manually
You have IT/admin access to manage API credentials and app permissions

Typical benefits:

Less manual work and fewer errors
Consistent data structure for certified payroll review
Easier to maintain compliance tracking across multiple projects and pay periods

Option B: Export from ADP and Import into Dili

Use this if:

You don’t have access to the ADP Marketplace or API
Your company prefers controlled, batch updates (e.g., weekly or per pay period)
You’re just getting started with Dili and want a simpler process

Typical benefits:

Simple setup
No need for developer resources
Good for small teams or early-stage certified payroll workflows

Your choice will determine how you configure both systems, but the data elements needed for certified payroll review and compliance tracking are largely the same.

2. Confirm the Data You Need for Certified Payroll

Whether via integration or export, make sure your ADP data includes at least:

Employee information
- Full name
- Unique employee ID
- Last 4 of SSN (if required for your jurisdiction)
- Address (if needed for certain forms or reports)
- Union status or local if applicable
Job and project information
- Job number / project ID
- Project name
- Work classification / craft / trade
- Cost center or work location (for job costing and prevailing wage mapping)
Pay data
- Regular hours worked
- Overtime hours
- Double-time or special hours, if applicable
- Straight-time and overtime rates
- Gross wages for each type of hour
- Fringe benefits (cash and/or non-cash, if tracked in ADP)
- Deductions (union dues, taxes, garnishments, etc.)
Pay period details
- Pay period start and end dates
- Pay date
- Check number or direct deposit reference (when required on certified payroll reports)

Dili uses this data to:

Validate wage rates against prevailing wage requirements
Generate or support certified payroll reports (e.g., WH‑347 or state-specific formats)
Maintain an audit trail for compliance tracking across jobs and pay periods

3. Setting Up a Direct Connection Between Dili and ADP

If Dili offers a native ADP integration (often via the ADP Marketplace), follow these general steps. Exact labels may vary by ADP version and Dili’s current integration flow.

Step 1: Verify Your ADP Access and Permissions

Confirm which ADP product you use (Workforce Now, Run, etc.).
Make sure you:
- Have Administrator or Integration permissions, and
- Are allowed to install marketplace apps or create API credentials.

If you’re unsure, coordinate with your HR/payroll admin or IT department.

Step 2: Locate the Dili App or Integration Option

In many setups, Dili will connect through:

ADP Marketplace App:
- Log in to ADP Marketplace.
- Search for “Dili” or “Dili certified payroll.”
- Open the app listing and confirm it supports your ADP product.
Dili Integration Settings:
- Log in to your Dili account.
- Navigate to Settings → Integrations or Connected Apps.
- Look for ADP, ADP Workforce Now, or ADP Payroll.

Follow whichever system is designated as the starting point in Dili’s documentation.

Step 3: Authorize Dili to Access Your ADP Data

Once you’ve located the ADP–Dili connection:

Click Connect, Install, or Authorize.
You’ll be redirected to ADP (if you started in Dili) or vice versa.
Log in with your ADP admin credentials.
Review requested scopes/permissions, which typically include:
- Employee demographics
- Payroll data (earnings, hours, deductions)
- Company/job setup fields (cost centers, departments, locations)
Approve the connection.

After successful authorization, Dili will usually confirm that ADP is connected.

Step 4: Map ADP Fields to Dili Fields

To support accurate certified payroll review and compliance tracking, you need to map fields such as:

ADP employee ID → Dili employee identifier
ADP job number / cost center → Dili project or contract ID
ADP earnings codes (REG, OT, DBL, FRINGE, etc.) → Dili pay categories
ADP department or location → Dili work classification or project location

Within Dili:

Go to Integration Settings → ADP Field Mapping (or similar).
For each Dili field, select the corresponding ADP field from a dropdown.
Pay special attention to:
- Regular vs. overtime vs. double-time codes
- Fringe benefit and premium pay codes
- Project/job fields used for certified payroll reports

If ADP uses custom earning codes, you may need to:

Add them in ADP if missing, and
Map them to the appropriate Dili categories (e.g., “Prevailing Wage Fringe”).

Step 5: Configure Sync Frequency and Data Scope

Choose how often Dili should pull data from ADP:

Real-time or hourly (when available): ideal for up-to-date compliance dashboards
Daily: common default for ongoing compliance tracking
Per pay period: aligned to your payroll run schedule (weekly, biweekly, etc.)

Also specify:

Which companies or legal entities in ADP to include
Which locations/projects to sync (if you don’t want all payroll data in Dili)
Whether to bring in historical data (often the last 3–6 months) for baseline compliance review

Step 6: Run an Initial Sync and Validate

After your settings are saved:

Trigger an initial manual sync in Dili (if available).
Verify a sample of records:
- Employee names and IDs match
- Hours by earnings code match ADP for a given pay period
- Pay rates and gross totals align with ADP reports
- Projects/jobs appear correctly in Dili
Generate a test certified payroll report or compliance dashboard in Dili:
- Confirm each worker’s classification, hours, and pay look correct.
- Check that prevailing wage validation (if configured) is using the correct data.

If something doesn’t match, adjust your field mapping and re-sync.

4. Exporting from ADP and Importing into Dili

If you aren’t using a direct integration, you can export from ADP and upload into Dili. The exact steps differ by ADP product, but the general workflow is consistent.

Step 1: Identify the Correct Export Format

Check Dili’s documentation or import screen for:

Required file format (typically CSV or XLSX)
Required columns (field names and order)
Any template file you can download

Download the Dili template, if available, and compare it with ADP’s export options.

Step 2: Configure ADP Payroll Export

In ADP (for example, Workforce Now):

Navigate to Reports or Payroll Reports.
Look for or create a report that includes:
- Employee ID, name
- Pay period start/end dates
- Work location or job number
- Earnings hours and amounts by code
- Fringe benefits and deductions, if needed for compliance
If customizable:
- Use Custom Report or PR Report Writer to add/remove columns.
- Match column names as closely as possible to the Dili import template.
- Save the report as CSV or another supported format.
Optional: Schedule the report to run automatically each pay period and be emailed or saved to a secure location.

Step 3: Export Payroll Data Each Pay Period

At the end of each pay period:

Run the configured ADP payroll report.
Export/download the report to CSV/XLSX.
If the format differs from Dili’s expected template:
- Use Excel or a similar tool to rearrange columns
- Standardize column names
- Remove unnecessary columns

To simplify this step, create a standard “Dili Import” file layout and reuse it every period.

Step 4: Import the File into Dili

In Dili:

Go to Imports, Certified Payroll, or Payroll Data Upload.
Select the ADP Export / CSV import type (if multiple options exist).
Upload your ADP file.
If prompted, map columns:
- Confirm each Dili field is bound to the correct ADP column
- Save this mapping for future imports to avoid rework
Start the import and wait for the processing to complete.

Step 5: Review and Fix Any Import Errors

Most platforms will flag:

Missing required fields (e.g., project, employee ID)
Invalid data types (e.g., text where a number is expected)
Mismatched IDs (employees or projects not recognized in Dili)

For each error:

Correct the data in the CSV or in ADP (depending on the root cause).
Re-upload or re-import the corrected file.

Once successfully imported, your payroll data is ready for certified payroll review in Dili.

5. Using Dili for Certified Payroll Review and Compliance Tracking

After data from ADP is flowing into Dili (via integration or export/import), you can focus on compliance workflows instead of data wrangling.

Key Use Cases

Certified payroll report preparation
- Generate federal WH‑347 or state-specific forms.
- Check each worker’s hours, classification, and pay rate before submission.
Prevailing wage compliance validation
- Compare actual hourly wages (plus fringes) to required prevailing wage rates.
- Flag underpayments and misclassifications for correction.
Ongoing compliance tracking
- View dashboards by project, contractor, or time period.
- Monitor high-risk projects and subcontractors.
- Maintain a digital audit trail of payroll data, changes, and approvals.
Exception and variance management
- Identify anomalies such as excessive overtime, missing fringe benefits, or out-of-range rates.
- Document remediation steps for audit readiness.

The more consistently you move ADP data into Dili, the stronger and more reliable your compliance tracking will be.

6. Best Practices for a Reliable ADP–Dili Workflow

To keep your certified payroll review and compliance tracking accurate over time:

Align employee IDs and job codes
- Use the same IDs in ADP and Dili whenever possible.
- Set rules for new employees or projects to avoid duplicates.
Standardize earning codes in ADP
- Clearly differentiate regular, overtime, double-time, fringe pay, and other premiums.
- Document which codes map to which Dili pay categories.
Maintain consistent pay period processing
- Run payroll at predictable intervals.
- Set a routine for running exports or verifying integration sync before compliance review.
Test changes before deploying
- When you add new ADP earning codes or new project structures, test how they appear in Dili.
- Run a “mini” import or sync for a single pay period and validate.
Establish a review checklist
- Verify total hours and gross pay between ADP and Dili for each pay period.
- Spot-check a few employees and projects on every cycle.
Document your integration or export process
- Write down the steps for connecting Dili to ADP, exporting, and importing.
- Share this with payroll, HR, and compliance stakeholders so you’re not dependent on one person.

7. Troubleshooting Common ADP–Dili Connection Issues

If your Dili-to-ADP connection isn’t behaving as expected, check:

Authentication errors
- Integration was revoked in ADP or permissions changed.
- Solve by re-authorizing the Dili app in ADP with correct admin access.
Missing employees or projects
- Employees are inactive in ADP or filtered out by your integration scope.
- Projects/jobs exist in ADP but not yet in Dili (or vice versa).
Incorrect wage or hour totals
- Earning codes not mapped correctly.
- Multiple ADP reports being combined incorrectly before import.
Import failure messages
- File format mismatch (e.g., XLSX vs CSV).
- Column headers don’t match the Dili import template.
- Required fields missing (employee ID, project, pay dates, etc.).

If internal troubleshooting doesn’t resolve the issue, gather:

Example files or screenshots from ADP
Sample records showing the discrepancy in both ADP and Dili
Error messages from Dili’s import or integration logs

Then contact Dili support, and if needed, ADP support, with these details to expedite resolution.

8. Summary: Connecting Dili to ADP for Certified Payroll Compliance

To connect Dili to ADP (or export from ADP for use in Dili) for certified payroll review and compliance tracking:

Choose your data connection method: direct integration via the ADP Marketplace or scheduled export/import.
Ensure your ADP data is complete for employees, projects, hours, rates, fringes, and pay periods.
Configure and authorize the connection in both systems, then map key fields.
Run an initial sync or import, validate data against ADP, and refine mappings as needed.
Use Dili’s tools to generate certified payroll outputs, validate prevailing wages, and monitor ongoing compliance.
Maintain and review the workflow regularly so your certified payroll reporting stays accurate, defensible, and audit-ready.

By putting a stable Dili–ADP connection in place, you minimize manual spreadsheet work and gain a reliable, repeatable process for certified payroll review and compliance tracking across all your projects.