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The Problem

• Shopify refunds (especially partials) often don’t sync to NetSuite properly
• Manual steps involve Excel, email chains, and copy-paste errors
• Finance teams are forced to reconcile mismatches manually every month

What Most Integrations Miss

• Multiple refund types (partial, full, per item, per shipping)
• Restock flags and inventory impact
• Tax implications and journal entries

How to Fix It (Step-by-Step)

Use the Shopify Refund API to pull refund objects:

• Capture refund amount, restock status, refunded quantity, line items, and associated order ID
• Look up Sales Order using Shopify Order ID or custom field
• If the Sales Order doesn’t exist in NetSuite yet (due to sync lag), flag it for retry rather than failing silently

Pre-Shipment Refund Logic

• Check if a Customer Deposit or Cash Sale exists
  • If not → flag for retry
• If yes:
  • Customer Deposit → create Customer Refund
  • Cash Sale → create Cash Refund, and match the refund line item by SKU / Shopify Line ID
  • For non-item charges (e.g. shipping refund), use a generic “NON-ITEM REFUND” SKU

Post-Shipment Refund Logic

• Create Credit Memo against Invoice
• Or Cash Refund against Cash Sale
• If multiple invoice/cash sale exists match correct invoice/cash sale using:
  • Shopify line item ID
  • Refunded quantity
  • SKU
• Handle Restock Flags, Quantity, and Variances
• If restock = false, set item quantity to 0 in the credit/refund
• If restock = true, use the actual refunded quantity
• Discounts and taxes:Calculate based on original line values. Use a “variance item” (non-inventory) to post rounding or mismatch differences

Refund automation can be messy, but with the right structure, you can handle 100% of refund scenarios

We’ve helped clients move from manual reconciliations to fully automated workflows that save hours each week.

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