ID Generation & Sync to Third-Party Systems

Finalsite Enrollment can store and optionally generate IDs for the third-party systems you integrate with, using the student record as a source of truth for a shared ID that keeps records in sync across platforms.

💡Quick Answers

• How are IDs used during data imports? IDs in an import file are used to match and update existing records; records without a matching ID create new contacts in the system.
• How are IDs used in exports and integrations? The shared ID references the corresponding record in the destination system, triggering an update if a match exists or creating a new record if there is none.
• Can Finalsite Enrollment generate IDs for my school? Yes, contact Support to configure ID generation using rules such as incrementing numbers or a formula combining student data (e.g. last name + first name + date of birth).
• How does Finalsite Enrollment handle household IDs? Households linked to a contact can be assigned unique identifiers derived from the contact's ID - for example, a contact with ID 250 might have household ID 250H1.

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ID Usage

Imports
When importing data into Finalsite Enrollment, IDs are used to update existing records. Records imported without IDs create new records.

Exports & Integrations
When exporting data from Finalsite Enrollment, shared IDs are used to reference existing records in the target system. Each system handles updates and ID creation differently, however, most systems update if there is a shared reference ID and create a new record if there is none. 

Shared IDs - Between Multiple Systems

All records within Finalsite Enrollment can store or create multiple IDs. This is useful because not all systems can store multiple IDs or can store IDs in the same format.

Using Finalsite Enrollment to create a shared ID

There are many cases where using Finalsite Enrollment as your ID generation source of truth makes sense as data is passed downstream.

The Finalsite Enrollment ID generation tool can create IDs based on rules that range from incrementing numbers to a combination of data pulled from the student record, for example, LAST NAME + FIRST NAME + DATE OF BIRTH. We can also match unique requirements such as leading zeros.

Storing a shared ID from another system

During the initial implementation process, we will import your existing students including any shared IDs from your third party system to facilitate future data transfer.

Using another system, like an SIS, to create a new shared ID

Some systems do let you create an ID upon importing new records from another system. In this case, the 3rd party system will need to create the ID and that ID will have to be returned to Finalsite Enrollment.

For API level integrations (Blackbaud, Veracross), when a new record is passed to the SIS, it generates an ID and sends that back to Finalsite Enrollment.

For other systems, the ID must either be manually entered or updated via import in Finalsite Enrollment.

Household ID Generation

Since IDs are assigned specifically to contacts using the Finalsite Enrollment ID generation system, additional entities linked to the contact, such as Households, can also have unique Identifiers set for them on export. This value will be based on the ID of the contact they belong to. A simple example would be a contact with an ID of “250” might have a household ID of “250H1” for their primary household or “250H2” for their secondary household. This ensures that the contacts easily stay in sync with their additional entities.