In the high-touch world of automotive retail, customer experience extends far beyond the showroom. Refunds, payment visibility, and reconciliation are all part of delivering a seamless journey. That’s why leading automotive businesses are turning to integrated digital finance workflows, powered by Salesforce, SAP, Square, and MuleSoft. Here’s how we helped transform finance operations across multiple retail and OEM layers by building end-to-end, auditable integrations.
From Manual to Digital: A Finance Workflow Reinvented
Digitalisation of the Existing Processes and Forms
Legacy refund processes were largely email-driven, error-prone, and difficult to track. We replaced this with a structured refund workflow built entirely within Salesforce:
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Salesforce-native refund form with custom fields and dynamic logic.
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Approval workflow across teams, with visibility of status and audit trail.
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Document upload support for receipts and justifications.
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Integration with SAP via MuleSoft, allowing:
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Outbound file transfer to SAP for refund processing.
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Return file ingestion with approval status updates.
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This removed the need for finance teams to leave Salesforce or manage email chains, drastically improving speed and traceability.
Square Integration for Real-Time Transactions
We also enabled dealership-level payment integration via Square:
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Direct API integration with Square for real-time refund execution and status tracking.
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Two-way sync between Square and Salesforce for transaction data.
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Custom surcharge logic, initially calculated through Salesforce metadata to replicate Square’s surcharge calculation (not directly accessible via API).
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Update to flat-rate surcharge approach (e.g. 2.2%, 1.6%) for simplicity and compliance.
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Planned enhancement: SMS notifications to customers upon refund status change.
The Square connection gives dealers visibility into payments without switching platforms, supporting better retail operations.
Bank Refunds via SAP and MuleSoft
For bank-issued refunds, we developed an integration layer using MuleSoft to link Salesforce and SAP:
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Outbound refund request files sent from Salesforce to SAP.
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Inbound file handling from SAP confirming successful processing or highlighting errors.
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Internal record updates for each refund line, reflecting status and reconciliation.
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Error handling flows with alerts to finance team for resolution.
All this happens behind the scenes but results in a much smoother experience for internal teams and customers alike.
Business Benefits Delivered
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Reduced manual rework through digital forms and API workflows.
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Improved auditability with a complete trail of finance approvals.
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Faster refund turnaround, boosting customer trust.
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Tight system integration, closing the loop across Finance, Retail, and Digital.
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Better issue handling, thanks to automated error flows and internal alerts.
Final Thoughts
For automotive organisations looking to modernise payment and finance workflows, Salesforce can serve as a central hub for integrating retail and finance systems. By connecting SAP and Square into the platform, businesses unlock faster service, better customer experiences, and finance operations that scale.
