# Using Your Own Objects

The Onboarded™ application is designed to be flexible. You can map Onboarded™ data to your existing Salesforce objects instead of using the package's custom objects.

> **Remember:** The custom objects included with this package are purely optional convenience objects. Most organizations will benefit from mapping to their existing data model.


## Common Mapping Scenarios

### Employees to Contacts

Map Onboarded™ employees directly to Salesforce Contact records:

1. Configure the Employee object mapping to use `Contact`
2. Add custom fields to Contact: `Onboarded_Id__c` (Text, External ID), `Onboarded_Last_Sync__c` (DateTime)
3. Update field mappings to use Contact field API names (FirstName, LastName, Email, etc.)
4. Configure Account lookup if linking employees to employer Accounts


### Employers to Accounts

Map Onboarded™ employers to Salesforce Account records:

1. Configure the Employer object mapping to use `Account`
2. Add custom fields to Account: `Onboarded_Employer_Id__c` (Text, External ID), `Onboarded_Last_Sync__c` (DateTime)
3. Update field mappings to use Account field API names (Name, BillingStreet, etc.)
4. Consider using Record Types to differentiate Employer accounts from other account types


### Person Accounts

For organizations using Person Accounts:

1. Configure the Employee object mapping to use `Account`
2. Enable the Person Account setting in the Onboarded™ Setup
3. Map to Person Account fields (PersonEmail, PersonPhone, FirstName, LastName)
4. Note: Person Account field API names differ from Contact fields


See the Person Accounts page for detailed setup instructions.

### Existing Custom Objects

Map to your organization's existing custom objects:

1. Identify which custom objects correspond to Onboarded™ entities
2. Add required fields: Onboarded™ ID (External ID) on all objects, and Last Sync timestamp on the Employee object
3. Configure object mappings in Onboarded™ Setup
4. Create field mappings for each field you want to synchronize
5. Test with a small dataset before enabling full sync


## Required Fields for Target Objects

Ensure your target objects have the following fields:

| Field | Type | Properties | Purpose |
|  --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Onboarded™ ID | Text (255) | External ID, Unique | Required on all objects. Matches records between systems. |
| Last Sync | DateTime | Required on Employee object only | This field is exclusively for whatever object you designate as the employee, and where the Employee Onboarded component will be set up. This field captures when the **Sync Now** operation within that component was last executed, preventing multiple users from clicking the button simultaneously (which could cause system errors). |


> **Need to consolidate data from multiple objects?** If your hiring or onboarding workflow spans multiple custom objects (e.g., Application, Interview, Offer, Background Check), see the Junction Object Patterns page for strategies on using Onboarded™ objects to centralize your integration.