PSBI + Planning Center

Set up Planning Center for background checks

Configure the Compliance custom fields, the Background Check workflow, authorization, and the event subscription that starts a check.

Overview

Integration details

Property	Value
Integration type	API \| Webhook-triggered
Authentication	OAuth 2.0, authorized once by a Planning Center administrator
Sync frequency	Event-based — fires when a card reaches the trigger step
Fields read	Person identity and contact details, Role, Optional Tags
Fields written	Compliance status on the person's record

Required roles

Your Planning Center administrator

Create the Compliance custom fields
Create the Background Check workflow and its two steps
Approve the PSBI authorization link
Create the workflow event subscription

PSBI

Register the connection for your organization
Read your workflows, steps, and field IDs
Map each role to the right screening package
Test the connection and review a dry run with you

Before you begin

You'll need:

A Planning Center administrator who can manage People workflows, custom fields, and integrations.
The list of roles you screen differently, and any add-on requirements such as driving or working with minors.
Confirmation that everyone you intend to screen has a first name, last name, and their own email address, and is not marked as a child.
A small group to launch with, rather than your whole volunteer roster on day one.

Configuration steps

Planning Center administrator

Create the Compliance custom fields

1Open Overview → Configuration → Custom fields. Select Add tab and name it Compliance.
2Add a field named Role with type Dropdown, then add one option per group you screen differently — for example Volunteer and Church Staff.
3Add a second field named Optional Tags with type Checkboxes, and add an option for each add-on requirement — for example Driver and Works with Minors.

Creating the Role field as a dropdown with Volunteer and Church Staff options — Role is a dropdown. Each option becomes a screening package.

Creating the Optional Tags field as checkboxes with Driver and Works with Minors options — Optional Tags is checkboxes, so a person can carry more than one.

The finished Compliance tab showing the Role and Optional Tags fields — The finished tab. This is what you should end up with.

Field names are yours to choosePSBI stores the underlying field IDs, so renaming a field later will not break the connection — but adding or renaming an option does need to be shared with us, because options are matched by their value.

Planning Center administrator

Create the Background Check workflow

1Open Workflows and select New workflow. Name it Background Check.
2Add a first step named Select Role and Tags. Add the description: Choose the person's screening role and any additional requirements, then complete this step.
3Assign Select Role and Tags to the person who oversees screening.
4Add a second step named Check Submitted. A card arriving here starts the check.

Adding the Select Role and Tags step with its description — Step one. The description is what your team reads on the card.

Step settings showing assignment to a person — Assign the step to whoever owns screening.

The finished Background Check workflow showing both steps — Both steps in place. Check Submitted is the trigger.

Use one deliberate step as the triggerBecause enrollment is driven by a card arriving on a named step, ordinary edits elsewhere in Planning Center cannot start a background check by accident.

Planning Center administrator

Authorize PSBI

1Your implementation lead sends you an authorization link. Open it while signed in to the Planning Center account that administers your People workflows.
2Review the request. PSBI asks for access to People only, and the screen names your organization so you can confirm you are approving the right one.
3Select Allow. You are returned to a confirmation page, and access is now tied to your organization and revocable by you at any time.

The Planning Center authorization screen requesting People access for PSBI — The approval screen. People access only, scoped to your organization.

The link is short-livedIt carries a short-lived security code and should be opened promptly. If it expires, ask for a fresh one — the same link cannot be reused.

Planning Center administrator

Create the event subscription

1Open the Planning Center Developer area and go to Webhooks. Select Add.
2For Endpoint URL, enter this shared PSBI address. It is the same for every Planning Center organization; your organization-specific connection is established separately when you authorize PSBI:
https://app.psbi.com/api/v1/partners/planning-center/webhook
3Under people, find the Workflow card row and tick step_ready only. Leave every other event unticked, then save.

The Add webhook form with the PSBI endpoint URL entered — The shared PSBI endpoint. Your organization is connected separately when you authorize PSBI.

The Workflow card event row with step_ready ticked — Workflow card → step_ready. Nothing else.

Subscribe to step_ready alonePlanning Center emits several events as a card changes, and subscribing to more of them produces duplicate work without changing the outcome.

Validation

Validate before launch

Run these checks with your PSBI implementation lead using test people. Do not go live until the full path works once.

TriggerA test person reaches the trigger step and appears in PSBI within moments.

RoutingThe role you set selects the screening package you expected.

Add-onAn optional tag adds the extra requirement it should — a driver picks up a motor vehicle record.

WritebackStatus appears on the person's Planning Center record and updates as screening progresses.

IdempotencyMoving the same card twice does not enroll the person twice.

Once it is running

Your team adds a person to the workflow, sets their role, and completes the step. Everything after that happens on its own — the person is invited, completes their own information and consent, and the result appears on their Planning Center record.

See the full walkthrough →

Data sync

When	Direction	What moves
Card reaches Check Submitted	Planning Center → PSBI	Planning Center sends a step_ready event. PSBI acts only on cards that reached the exact trigger step.
Request is created	Planning Center → PSBI	The person's identity and contact details, and their Role and Optional Tags, which select the screening package.
Person completes intake	PSBI → Planning Center	Status on the person's record updates as screening progresses.
Screening completes	PSBI → Planning Center	The final status is written back to the person's record.

What PSBI never writes into Planning CenterDisclosures, consent records, personal identifiers collected during intake, and the contents of the completed report. Planning Center holds a status only.

Troubleshooting

I cannot find Webhooks in Planning Center.

Webhook subscriptions live in the Developer area and are created under a specific user account. Sign in as an administrator who can manage integrations for the organization. If the option is still unavailable, contact Planning Center support.

A person reached the step but nothing happened in PSBI.

Check three things in order: the card is on the exact step agreed during setup, the person has a first name, last name, and their own email address, and the person is not marked as a child. Send us the person's Planning Center record identifier and we will trace the event.

The wrong screening package was selected.

Compare the person's Role value against the mapping agreed during setup. Option values are matched exactly, so a renamed or newly added option needs to be shared with us before it is used.

We added a new role or ministry.

Tell us before anyone is moved into the workflow under it. An unmapped role does not silently pick a sensible default, and we would rather add the mapping than sort out a person screened under the wrong package.

Someone was screened before and no new record appeared.

That is expected. A person who already has a background check record has that record updated rather than a second one created, so their history stays on one row.

Need a hand?

Contact your PSBI implementation lead. Include:

The person's Planning Center record identifier and role
The workflow step and what you expected to happen
Roughly when the card moved

Do not send intake responses, report contents, or other screening information by email.