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Returns/Refunds Processing

Refunds/return processing is currently only available for WooCommerce, BigCommerce and Shopify.

Retrieving Returns from the Platform

When the Enable Refund Processing field is enabled on a sales channel and the corresponding refund setup fields are configured, CSM will automatically retrieve refunds that are entered through your external site into Business Central. CSM includes out-of-the-box automation routines that will automatically create Business Central sales credit memos based on this retrieved data. These automation routines can be configured to automatically post these credit memos, as well. As part of this operation, the related refund and credit memo entries are created in the appropriate customer ledger and are applied to each other.

It may be that a discrepancy exists between the amount that is retrieved from the channel and the amount that is entered on the credit memo in Business Central. It is possible to define a refund discrepancy account for a sales channel. If any discrepancies do exist, an extra line for the refund discrepancy account will be added to the sales credit memo, and the discrepancy amount will be assigned to it.

When a refund is created on the external channel, it is possible to indicate whether the refunded items will be restocked. CSM supports both scenarios by allowing you to identify both return and “returnless” refund locations for your channels. As part of the refund retrieval process, CSM obtains the restocking policy. When CSM builds a sales credit memo in Business Central, this value determines which location will be assigned:

  • If the refund has instructions to restock items, the sales credit memo will be created for the defined return location.
  • If the refund does not have instructions to restock items, the sales credit memo will be created for the defined returnless location.

BigCommerce Specific Information

In order to work with refunds, the following settings for your BigCommerce sales channel must be configured as follows:

    • On the Order Management FastTab:
      • The Payment Behavior field must be set to Channel.
      • The assigned record in the Payment Method Code field must not have an assigned balancing account in Business Central.
    • When setting up CSM payment methods, the payment method(s) that will be assigned to orders or refunds must have a defined balancing account in Business Central.
  • BigCommerce supports the concept of an external refund method, meaning that a refund can be issued externally against a payment provider. When an external refund is processed in BigCommerce, CSM will still retrieve it into Business Central, create a credit memo based on its information, and (depending on configuration) automatically post it. However, a corresponding refund entry will not be created in the related customer ledger. The end result of this process is an open, unapplied credit memo entry that can be manually applied as needed.

Sending Sales Returns from Business Central to the external channel

In addition to being able to retrieve refunds from the external platform and then create a credit memo in Business Central, it is possible to initiate a return order from Business Central and then send this to the corresponding order on your external platform.

It is recommended that you set up return reason codes that you can assign to the return order lines you generate for your orders. Return reasons are a standard Business Central feature that allow you to categorize and track the reasons for why items are being returned, such as "defective," "wrong item shipped," or "customer dissatisfaction." As part of setting up each reason code, you can indicate the location to which returned items will be received.

It is also necessary for you to enable refund functionality for the sales channel:

  • Open the sales channel and navigate to the Order management FastTab
  • Send Refund Memo: enable this field to indicate that you want to send refund credit memo information from Business Central to the platform.
  • Send Refund Memo When: select the method by which credit memo information will be sent to the platform.
    • Immediate: will send automatically when the return order/credit memo is posted.
    • Scheduled: will be sent when the SENDCREDITMEMO automation runs.
    • Manual: will be sent when the user checks the External Requires Update field on the CSM order document line and uses the Send to Channel action on the CSM Order page.
  • Send Refund Memo: enable this field to indicate that you want to send refund credit memo information from Business Central to the platform.
  • Send Refund Memo When: select the method by which credit memo information will be sent to the platform.
    • Immediate: will send automatically when the return order/credit memo is posted.
    • Scheduled: will be sent when the SENDCREDITMEMO automation runs.
    • Manual: will be sent when the user checks the External Requires Update field on the CSM order document line and uses the Send to Channel action on the CSM Order page.
  • Be sure Enable Refund Processing is turned on and the newly visible fields are completed.  Refer to the configuring your sales channel documentation for the channel you are working on.

Note: the CSM Sales Channel page also includes Return Order Behavior and Return Receipt Behavior sections. These setup options exist for integrations to other eCommerce channels.

BigCommerce Specific Setup

BigCommerce provides a number of different ways in which a refund payment can be processed. You can define the default method for both customers and guests on the sales channel:

  • Customer Refund Payment Selection Method: select the default payment method for refunds that are created from customer orders, which refers to customers who have set up an account on your BigCommerce platform.
    • Original Payment Methods: refunds will be paid out to the payment method that was used for the original sales order. For example, if a sales order was paid with a credit card, the refund would be made to that credit card’s account.
    • Manual Selection: users will manually choose the way in which refund payments are made on an order- by-order basis.
    • Store Credit Only: refunds will be paid as store credit to the customer’s account in BigCommerce. 
    • Offline/custom: information about the refund will be communicated to BigCommerce, but BigCommerce will not process the transaction. In this scenario, the refund must be processed through an external activity (directly through the payment provider, for example) or via a custom extension.
  • Guest Refund Payment Selection Method: select the default payment method for refunds that are created from guest orders, which refers to customers that have not set up an account on your BigCommerce platform. The options for this field are the same as those for the Customer Refund Payment Selection Method field, with one exception being that Store Credit Only is not an option. This is because BigCommerce does not permit store credit for guest customers.

 Creating and Processing Return Orders

You can generate a sales return order from any CSM order that has been fully or partially shipped. CSM will not allow you to create a return for any CSM orders that have not been shipped. CSM will also not allow you to create a return order if the External Requires Update field for any shipment or credit memo order documents on the related CSM order is set to True. This will prevent the creation of a return for an order that has not been properly shipped or credited.

  • Open the CSM Channel Orders list, then select an order for which the return will be issued.
  • Choose the Create Sales Return Order action in the ribbon on the CSM Order page.

Business Central’s standard Copy Sales Document page is displayed. This page is automatically configured to copy the related order’s sales document, so it should not be necessary to change any values.

  • Choose the OK button. CSM creates a new sales return order and updates the CSM order’s sales return status to Open. You can navigate to this return directly from the CSM order by selecting the Outstanding Return Order Amount link in the Sales Channel Order Statistics FactBox.
  • On the Sale Return Order page, in the Channel Sales Manager FastTab enter a CSM Return/Refund Reason (some examples are, damaged, wrong size, wrong color, wrong style, etc.). 
  • Make any necessary adjustments on the return order lines.

Note: if you wish to perform a partial return, you must reduce the value in the Quantity field for the relevant return lines accordingly. Adjusting the quantity to receive, rather than the quantity, will result in an incorrect refund amount being calculated.

  • In the Return Reason Code field for each line that will be returned, enter a return reason.
  • Once you have finished entering the necessary information on the return order, choose the Release action in the ribbon.

Attempting to release the return order will validate it against the related CSM order to ensure that the two documents are in sync (the order hasn’t already been returned, order quantities are correct, etc.). If any discrepancies are detected, the release process will error, and a message will instruct the user as to where the inconsistency lies.

If the release process is successful, the related CSM order’s refund status will be updated to Pending, and its sales return status will be updated to Released.

Regardless of whether the release process was successful, a new sales return order document line will be entered on the CSM Order Documents FastTab of the related CSM order. This line contains information about the return order. In addition, if the release process produced an error, the text of the error message can be reviewed in the Last External Update Result field.

    Selecting Payment Methods and Posting Return Orders

    Depending on what refund payment selection method has been defined for your sales channel, it may be necessary to choose the payment method you want to use for the refund before you can post it. Payment methods can be defined for both customer and guest orders, which in this instance refers to those customers who have set up an account on your platform versus those who have not. The Guest Customer Boolean on the Channel Data FastTab of the CSM Order page indicates whether an order is a guest order; this setting will determine whether CSM applies the channel’s customer or guest refund payment method.

    If the selected refund payment method for the CSM order is Manual Selection, you must manually select the payment method(s) that you want to use; if you attempt to post the sales return without selecting a payment method, an error message will be presented instructing you to do so. If you have any other payment method type selected, CSM will automatically attempt to select the relevant payment methods at the time of posting, meaning that you may proceed to posting the sales return. You can, however, choose to manually select different payment methods if you wish.

    To select refund payment methods:

    • On the Sales Return Order page, choose the Actions ribbon, then select the Functions group and choose the Select Refund Payment Methods action.

    The Refund Payment Method Selection Worksheet page presents the payment methods that are available for selection. The number of available payment methods depends on the way in which the original transaction was processed. The final line in the list of available payment methods will always be the custom option for the full amount of the refund, meaning that you can always choose to instruct the external platform to not process a payment method because you wish to do so offline/externally.

    If a gift card/certificate was used to pay for some or all of the original sales order, there are certain rules as to how it may be refunded.

      • If the order is a customer order, gift certificate refunds can be recorded to store credit or handled as a custom, offline option.
      • If the order is a guest order, gift certificate refunds can only be handled as a custom, offline option (remember that it is not possible to process refunds to store credit for guest orders).
    • Place a check mark in the Selected field for the payment method(s) you want to use for the refund.  The total value of the selected payment selection worksheet lines must equal the order balance.
    • Choose the Close button.

    Note: the Total Selected Payment field for the sales return order document line on the CSM Order Documents FastTab of the related CSM order will present the amount that has been selected for payment on the Refund Payment Method Selection Worksheet page. If this amount does not equal the total payment amount of the sales return, it will be presented in red; if the values match, it will be presented in green. Again, it should be noted that CSM will automatically attempt to select payment methods if your channel is configured to use anything other than manual payment method selection, meaning that the presence of a zero value in the Total Selected Payment field may not be an issue.

    • You can now post the sales return. Choose the Post action in the ribbon.

    This will perform the standard Business Central activities that occur whenever a sales return order is posted.

    • The sales return order is deleted and posted return and credit memo documents are The CSM return/refund reason that was specified on the sales return will be copied to these archive documents.
    • An inventory adjustment for the return amount is made to the specified location, along with the related item ledger entries.
    • A new credit memo entry for the refund amount will be entered in the customer’s ledger. 

    In addition, the following adjustments are made to the related CSM order:

    • New credit memo and return receipt order document lines will be entered on the CSM Order Documents FastTab
    • The CSM order’s refund status will be updated to Complete 
    • The CSM order’s sales return status will be updated to Posted
    • In the Sales Channel Order Statistics FactBox, the outstanding return order amount, posted shipments, and total amount credited values will be updated accordingly.

    Sending and Retrieving Refund Information from External Platform

    After the sales return order is posted, CSM will send credit memo information to the external platform. The manner in which this is sent depends on the selected value in the Send Refund Cr. Memo field on your sales channel:

    • Immediate: will send automatically when the return order/credit memo is posted.
    • Scheduled: will be sent when the SENDCREDITMEMO automation runs. 
    • Manual: will be sent when the user checks the External Requires Update field on the CSM order document line and uses the Send to Channel action on the CSM Order page.

    After CSM communicates this information to the external platform, it will process/issue the refund. Depending on the seller’s balance on the platform and other factors, this process may not be instantaneous.

    When the platform does issue the refund, this activity will be retrieved into Business Central by CSM the next time the order automation routines are executed. Retrieving this refund information results in the following activities:

    •  A new refund entry is entered in the customer’s ledger.  This entry is applied to the related credit memo entry.
    • The CSM order’s channel status value will be updated to Refunded.
    • A new refund order document line is entered on the CSM Order Documents FastTab.
    • The Refund Reference field on the related CSM order is populated with a reference number that is obtained from the external platform. 

    Shopify POS Returns

    On the Shopify POS platform, scan the customer’s receipt, add the items to return, select the payment method where it will be returned and clicking done.

    • Go to BC and run the appropriate automation
    • The system receives the notification of the return processed on Shopify POS and Creates a ‘CreditMemo’ line on the ‘CSM Order’ > ‘CSM Order Document’ FastTab, posts it and applies it towards the invoice of the involved CSM Order. (if the auto document creation is not enabled on the automation the user can select the sales return line in the CSM Order Document and press the create credit memo).
    • Creates a ‘SalesReturn’ line on the ‘CSM Order’ > ‘CSM Order Document’ FastTab
    • Creates ‘Refund’ lines on the ‘CSM Order’ > ‘CSM Order Document’ FastTab for each of the methods used on the order.
    • You can easily review the Credit Memo generated either through the FactBox from the CSM Channel order list, from withing the CSM Order, at the Customer Ledger Entries page and Posted Sales Credit Memo list.

    Important fields to consider for the returns:

    • ‘Reference Document No.’, referring to the ‘Order Document No.’ of the ‘SalesReturn’ that the ‘Refund’ lines were created for.
    • ‘Parent Document No. ’, for which the ‘Refund’ lines are associated with.
    • ‘Unposted Document No.’, which associated the ‘CreditMemo’ and the ‘SalesReturn’ lines.

    Investigating the documents of your ‘CSM Order Documents’ FastTab

    • Click Manage on the FastTab ribbon button
    • Click on Document Lines

    Alternatively, click the row of the document you want to investigate, then hover over the FactBox and click on the shortcut link for the document you want to see.