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How do I create BambooHR metrics?

Updated

Visualize, discover, and act on your human resources data by creating BambooHR data feed metrics.

This article includes:

Connecting PowerMetrics to your BambooHR data

The first time you connect Klipfolio to your BambooHR data, you'll be asked to enter your BambooHR API Key. Note: The BambooHR account you use to bring data into PowerMetrics must be one that allows API access.

When creating the query to retrieve data from your BambooHR account, you'll need to enter your company name and, depending on the data you want to retrieve, a BambooHR employee ID and/or report ID. See below for instructions on finding all of this information.

Finding your BambooHR API key, company name, employee ID and report ID

To find your BambooHR API key:

  1. Log in to your BambooHR account.
  2. Click on your profile picture in the upper right corner of any page.
  3. Select API Keys.
  4. Either use a current API key or click Add a new API Key.
  5. Save your API key and use it to authenticate with BambooHR in PowerMetrics.

To find your BambooHR company name:

  • Copy the company name only from the URL of your BambooHR account. For example, copy only acme from https://acme.bamboohr.com

To find a BambooHR employee ID:

  1. In BambooHR, click on an employee's name or search for a specific employee.
  2. On their profile page, in the URL at the top of the page, copy the number after id=. For example, in this URL, the employee ID is 22: https://acme.bamboohr.com/employees/employee.php?id=22&page=1234

To find a BambooHR report ID:

  1. In BambooHR, navigate to Reports.
  2. Either select a report or make a report.
  3. The report ID is at the very end of the URL after id=

Creating BambooHR data feed metrics

When you create BambooHR data feed metrics, you:

Connecting to your BambooHR account and adding a data feed

The first time you connect PowerMetrics to your BambooHR data, you enter your BambooHR API key. When you create metrics next time, you can use the same connected account or add new account settings (using a different API key) to point to different data.

Every metric needs a data feed. As you create metrics, you’ll either create a new data feed or select one from your list of existing data feeds. Learn more about data feeds.

To create a new data feed for your metric:

  1. In the left navigation sidebar click the + button beside Metrics and select See all services.
  2. On the Where is your data? page, under Data Feed Services, select BambooHR.
  3. Click +New data feed > Select BambooHR data.
  4. Select a pre-built data source from the left section of the Choose a pre-built or custom connection page or click +Create a custom BambooHR data source.
  5. If this is your first time connecting to BambooHR:
    • On the Configure data service page, at API Key, enter your BambooHR API Key. At Password, leave the text box blank. Click Continue.
  6. If you've connected to BambooHR before:
    • On the Configure data service page, select an existing account from the drop-down list and click Continue.
  7. If you chose a pre-built data source for your data feed:
    • Adjust the Query URL information, as noted on the Configure data service page, to replace any generic placeholder data with your own. For example, if you see <employeeID>, replace that (including angle brackets) with a BambooHR employee ID.
  8. If you chose a custom-built data source for your data feed:
  9. Click Get data.
  10. Ensure this is the data you’re looking for. Then, click Continue. Next step - refine the data in the data feed editor.

To use an existing data feed for your metric:

  1. In the left navigation sidebar, click Data Feeds.
  2. In your list of Data Feeds, select the one you want to use for your metric.
  3. Click the Metrics tab in the right-side pane.
  4. Click +Add metric and proceed to Configuring your metric.

Refining data in the data feed editor

You’ve arrived in the data feed editor where you can choose to either accept the automatic settings or make changes.

If you’re happy with the automatic settings:

If you want to make changes:

  • BambooHR returns data in a JSON format. The method for refining and editing JSON source data is slightly different than when dealing with source data that’s already in a tabular format. Learn how to refine and edit JSON source data feeds.
  • Some common adjustments include changing the data format or names for columns, updating the data feed name, and combining columns using formulas - there are many customization options available.
  • If you want to adjust the original query, click the tile under Data service.
  • When you’re finished editing the data feed, click Save data feed and proceed to Configuring your metric.

Note: After you’re finished creating a metric with this data feed, you can return to it and use it to make more data feed metrics. In the left navigation sidebar, click Data Feeds. Select the desired data feed from the list and click +Add metric.

Configuring your metric

When you configure a data feed metric, you select the measure and dimensions from the data feed to include in the metric and choose settings that determine how the data will be visualized. Go here for detailed instructions on configuring your metric.

Next steps – Interacting with your data

Now that you're connected and have some metrics, it's time to start learning from your data and tracking your progress.

Here are a few suggestions for interacting with your data:

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