How to Sync Recurring Payments and Allowances from BambooHR to Deel Payroll – Deel

This guide explains how to set up and use the BambooHR recurring payments and bonus type sync features in Deel Deel Payroll. This integration eliminates the need for manual entry of recurring payroll items in Deel.

With this plugin you can:

Chose the custom table in BambooHR that holds your recurring payment data (e.g., housing allowances, medical benefits) and sync them directly to employee contracts in Deel.
Map the recurring pay items via Reason field: Organize the recurring items by type using BambooHR's Reason dropdown field and map them to corresponding Deel recurring payment types.
Auto-sync recurring allowances: Enable automatic syncing of recurring allowances for Deel Payroll employees, eliminating the need for manual data entry and keeping contracts up to date.

In this article

Before you begin
How to sync recurring pay components
Sync recurring allowances
Troubleshooting

Before you begin

Make sure you have:

Deel Payroll and BambooHR integration connected: Your BambooHR account must be integrated with Deel for Global Payroll worker data sync. See How to Integrate BambooHR for Deel Payroll for setup instructions.
Org Admin or Integrations Admin role in Deel: You need admin-level permissions to configure and manage the BambooHR integration and recurring payment sync.
BambooHR Admin role: Access to BambooHR's Settings area to create and configure custom tables.

How to sync recurring pay components

Step 1: Create a Custom Table in BambooHR

In BambooHR, your custom tables for recurring payments must include four required fields for recurring payment sync to work:

Start Date - when the recurring payment begins
End Date - when the recurring payment ends
Amount - the payment amount (currency handled per entity)
Type - the category of recurring payment (e.g., Housing Allowance, Medical Allowance)

To create a custom table:

Go to Settings in BambooHR.
Click Custom Fields & Tables.
Click + Add and select Custom Table.

4. Enter a name for your table (e.g., "Recurring Payments Catalog").

5. Add the four required columns:

Start Date (type: Date)
End Date (type: Date)
Amount (type: Currency or Number)
Type (type: List: Single Answer. Provide options like "Housing Allowance", "Medical Allowance", "Bonus", etc.)

6. Click Save. The table is now available for employees to use.

You can create multiple custom tables for recurring payments.

Deel will allow you to map and sync any or all of them in the next steps.

Step 2: Map Tables and Fields in Deel

To configure recurring payment sync in Deel:

Go to Apps in your Deel dashboard.
Find and click BambooHR.
Navigate to the Plugins tab and click Manage for the Recurring Payments plugin.
Click Select tables & field mapping to proceed to the setup wizard.
In the first step of the wizard:
1. You will see a list of all custom tables created in your BambooHR account.
2. Check the box next to each table you want to sync. Deel will show a "Likely match" indicator for tables with the required fields (Start Date, End Date, Amount, Type).
3. Click Continue.
In the second step:
1. For each selected table, you will see two columns:
  - Deel fields: Amount, Start date, End date, Type (required fields in Deel)
  - BambooHR columns: Dropdowns showing the custom field names from your table
2. Match each Deel field to the corresponding BambooHR column. For example:
  - Deel "Amount" ↔ BambooHR "customAmount"
  - Deel "Start date" ↔ BambooHR "customStartDate"
  - Deel "End date" ↔ BambooHR "customEndDate"Deel "Type" ↔ BambooHR "customType"
3. Click Save once all mappings are complete.

Step 3: Match Payment Types Across Systems

After field mapping is complete, you will be taken to a screen where you match BambooHR recurring payment types to Deel Payroll recurring payment types. This step appears once for each entity in your organization.

For each entity (country/payroll group), click Configure.
You will see two columns:
- Deel payment types: Available recurring payment types in Deel (e.g., "RSU net compensation", "Meal Allowance", "Medicash Benefit in Kind")
- BambooHR payment types: Dropdowns showing the Type values you created in your custom table
For each Deel payment type, select the matching BambooHR type from the dropdown. For example:
- Deel "Medicash Benefit in Kind" ← BambooHR "Medical Allowance"
- Deel "Meal Allowance" ← BambooHR "Meal Allowance"
Click Save when complete.
The status will change to Syncing or Configured, depending on your setup.

Step 4: Add Recurring Payments to Employees in BambooHR

Once mapping is complete, you can add recurring payment entries to employee profiles in BambooHR.

Go to People in BambooHR and open an employee's profile.
Scroll to your custom recurring payments table (e.g., "Recurring Payments Catalog") and click Add Entry.
Fill in the form:
- Start Date: When the recurring payment starts (e.g., 09/01/2026)
- End Date: When the recurring payment ends (e.g., 12/31/2026)
- Amount: Payment amount with currency (e.g., £100.00)
- Type: Select from the dropdown options you created (e.g., "Medical Allowance", "Housing Allowance")
Click Save.

The entry is now queued for sync to Deel.

Step 5: Verify Sync in Deel

After you save a recurring payment entry in BambooHR, the sync typically completes within 1 minute. To verify:

In Deel, go to the employee's contract page.
Scroll to Recurring payroll items section.
You should see the recurring payment listed under the Active tab with:
- Payment type (e.g., "Medicash Benefit in Kind")
- Amount (e.g., "£100.00")
- Date range ("Starts on [date], Ends on [date]")
- Frequency ("Repeats every cycle")
- "Source: integration" badge (indicating it came from BambooHR)

The recurring payment is now active and will be included in the employee's payroll calculations automatically.

Sync recurring allowances

Recurring allowances are a specific type of recurring payment component designed for allowances that repeat every payroll cycle for Deel Payroll employees. Unlike one-time payments, recurring allowances are automatically included in each payroll run and do not require manual re-entry.

How recurring allowances differ

One-time allowances: Must be submitted manually each time they are needed; appear as standalone line items in a single payroll cycle.
Recurring allowances: Auto-sync from BambooHR and repeat every payroll cycle within the date range you specify; appear as contract-level items.

Setup for recurring allowances

Recurring allowances sync automatically once you have:

Created a custom recurring payments table in BambooHR with the four required fields (Start Date, End Date, Amount, Type)
Completed the table and field mapping in Deel (Steps 1–3 above)
Added recurring payment entries to employee profiles in BambooHR

No additional configuration is needed. The recurring allowances will sync automatically based on your mapping.

Troubleshooting

Recurring payment not appearing in Deel after adding it in BambooHR

Possible causes:

The sync may still be in progress (wait up to 1 minute and refresh)
The payment type mapping may not be configured for your entity
The field mapping may be incorrect or incomplete

To resolve:

Go to BambooHR in Deel > Plugins > Deel Payroll – Recurring Payments > Payroll Logs.
Check the Payroll Logs tab for sync status and error messages.
If you see an error, verify that:
- All four required fields are mapped correctly
- Payment type matching is configured for the employee's entity
- The BambooHR Reason or Type value matches an option in your mapping
Once corrected, manually trigger a sync using the Sync BambooHR button.

Error during field mapping

Possible cause: You may have selected a table that does not have all four required fields (Start Date, End Date, Amount, Type).

To resolve: Go back to your custom table in BambooHR and verify that all four fields exist and are named correctly. If fields are missing, add them to the table and return to Deel to re-select the table.

Dates not syncing correctly