A case on how a women-led apparel brand eliminated manual payment tracking by implementing a fully automated reconciliation system.
The Client
The client is a women-led retail enterprise based in Chennai, built on a strong foundation of cultural heritage and traditional Indian craftsmanship. The brand specializes in handcrafted products across categories like return gifts, wedding accessories, and festive hampers. With a catalog of over 5,000 unique items, it caters to both retail and bulk gifting needs across India. The brand works closely with artisans and self-help groups, helping preserve cultural heritage while supporting livelihoods.
Challenges Faced by the Client
Reconciling online transactions is a critical part of day-to-day operations for any business selling through digital platforms. Every order placed and payment received must be tracked accurately to avoid financial mismatches. However, the client’s reconciliation process had several challenges that made it slow, error-prone, and heavily dependent on manual checks, as listed below:
- Order and Payment Data Mismatch Across Systems: When a customer placed an order on Shopify, it created a unique Order ID. However, a separate Transaction ID was generated once the payment was made through Cashfree. These two didn’t always align. The Matrixify report, used to match them, often had missing or mismatched data, making it hard to confirm whether an item like a saree or gift box was fully paid for.
- Tracking Payments Across Three Different Reports Was Confusing: The Sales report showed the product name, product code, Order ID, and how much was paid per order, but it only tracked purchases. The Matrixify report listed the same Order ID with a linked Transaction ID and total payment. Finally, the Cashfree report only had the Transaction ID and the actual payment received from the bank. Since each report served a different purpose and used different fields, stitching them together to verify payments became time-consuming.
- Partial, Split, or Duplicate Payments were Hard to Trace: A customer might pay part online and the rest in cash or UPI, or even accidentally pay twice. These split or duplicate payments weren’t flagged anywhere. The team had to manually go through every entry to figure out what was valid and what wasn’t.
- Too Many Manual Steps Involved: To verify payments, someone had to log into Cashfree, download daily reports, and cross-check them with orders. This process was partly automated using a tool miming human actions on the website. But if the site layout changed or the tool ran into an error, the team had to do everything manually, delaying their daily work.
Solutions
We built an automated reconciliation system using Microsoft Power Platform to fix these issues. It connected data from Shopify, Matrixify, and Cashfree, and handled the entire process as follows:
- Daily Reports Automatically Downloaded and Combined: Reports from Shopify, Matrixify, and Cashfree were automatically fetched every day without manual intervention. Python scripts were used to pull order data frox`m Shopify’s API, while a desktop automation tool handled secure logins to Matrixify and Cashfree portals to download payment reports. All this data was then cleaned, standardized, and combined to prepare it for reconciliation.
- Order IDs and Transaction IDs Mapped Correctly: The system then matches Order IDs from Shopify with Transaction IDs from Cashfree using data from Matrixify. Even when the formats varied or entries were missing, the logic adjusted for those differences and filled the gaps.
- Duplicate, Split, and Partial Payments Flagged Automatically: The flow was built to spot unusual payment patterns (like duplicate transactions or split payments). These were marked clearly in the report, so the finance team didn’t have to search for them manually. Excel macros were also used to speed up calculations and apply custom logic quickly during data handling.
- Real-Time Alerts for Exceptions and Failures: If any data is missing, unmatched, or flagged as an issue, the system immediately notifies the finance team.
- Reliable Automation that Scales with Transaction Volume: Microsoft Office add-ins were used to support large datasets for faster and efficient data push into cloud storage, making it easier to manage and access reports without performance lags.
Solutions Benefits
- Hours of Manual Word Saved: The solution eliminated 2.5 hours of human efforts per day for each business unit, saving a total of 5 hours daily across operations, adding up to 100+ hours of time saved every month.
- Improved Accuracy in Financial Records: Errors caused by missed, delayed, or duplicate payments were drastically reduced, leading to cleaner books.
- Faster Customer Resolution on Payment Issues: Real-time alerts helped the team quickly follow up with customers regarding failed or partial payments, improving trust and service.
- Scalable Setup for Growing Order Volumes: The solution could handle more transactions without increasing effort, making it ready for festive or high-sales seasons.
Conclusion
By automating the reconciliation process, the client moved from a slow, manual workflow to a fast, reliable system that easily handles daily transactions. The teams were delighted with the outcome, especially the time saved, and the accuracy gained through daily operations. At UB Technology Innovations Inc., we help gifting brands modernize their operations with scalable, intelligent solutions that simplify complexity and support business growth.
About Us
UB Technology Innovations, Inc. (UBTI) is a leading global technology solution provider with over 3 decades of experience across all industries, specializing in Capital Markets, Logistics, and Healthcare. We are the preferred Microsoft Solutions Partner backed by a world-class team of Microsoft Certified experts with rich experience in Azure Cloud Platform and Data Analytics.
Winner of the prestigious Azure
Synapse Hackathon 2021 award
One of the Top 10 winners of the
Microsoft’s Azure AI & ML Workathon