Best Practice for Refund Syncs
Because of the limitations or features of certain storefronts, or the way that NetSuite Connector integrates with those storefronts, the best practice for certain storefronts may differ from the general approach. If a connector has both workflows (in the diagrams) available in the Manage Data Sync page in NetSuite Connector, then you must use the best practice workflow unless told otherwise by specialists or support personnel. Do not apply both workflows at the same time because this will cause issues. If a connector only has workflow available, then that is the best practice for that connector.
NetSuite Records
When syncing from NetSuite, NetSuite Connector will sync from Cash Refunds or Credit Memo records created from orders that it previously synced. This ensures that NetSuite Connector associates the refund with the correct order in the storefront.
When syncing refunds to NetSuite, the best practice is for NetSuite Connector to sync a Cash Refund or Credit Memo record only. Most storefronts only provide the refunded amount and, if applicable, the items refunded. Typically, NetSuite Connector will not receive the refund until the funds have really been refunded. Therefore, because the real refund has usually occurred, but whether the item has been returned, may or may not have necessarily occurred. Perhaps the return may even be expected to occur. NetSuite Connector has no source data to sync to NetSuite that accurately represent any other record type besides the Cash Refund or Credit Memo. Therefore, syncing only those records is the best practice. You can use the NetSuite Return Authorization and Item Receipt records to track the return of your products (if applicable) to accurately reflect that information.
Generic Refund Items
For storefronts that offer partial or nonitem-specific refunds, NetSuite Connector lets you designate specific items in NetSuite to account for the refunded amount on the Refund record. The best practice is to create Other Charge For Sale items to represent those partial or nonitem-specific refunds. Such items must NOT be set to fulfillable and in a taxable tax schedule. The latter enables NetSuite Connector to account for any tax amount that the storefront may have included in the refund.
Processing the Payment Refund
NetSuite Connector does not integrate to payment gateways or processors. This means the real refunding of the customer's payment is not done by NetSuite Connector. Refund records that NetSuite Connector creates in the storefront or (if capturing payment in NetSuite) in NetSuite may result in a refund being triggered (and often do). But NetSuite Connector does not initiate that process with any sort of communication to the payment processor or gateway. This lets you use any payment processor or gateway in your storefront that the host platform supports to capture and subsequently refund payments.