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Unify SAP S/4HANA and First Data: Intelligent Payments & Financial Automation for Mid-Market

Revolutionize your order-to-cash process with real-time payment synchronization, AI-powered reconciliation, and low-code workflows between your SAP S/4HANA ERP and First Data payment gateway.

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The Challenge

Disconnected Payments & ERP: The Mid-Market Financial Bottleneck

Mid-market businesses often grapple with a fragmented financial ecosystem. Without seamless integration between their core ERP (SAP S/4HANA) and payment processing (First Data), critical financial workflows become manual, error-prone, and slow, directly impacting cash flow and compliance.

  • Manual reconciliation of First Data settlements with SAP S/4HANA General Ledger.
  • Delayed posting of payments to S/4HANA, impacting real-time cash visibility and order fulfillment.
  • Increased risk of data entry errors and financial discrepancies.
  • Challenges in maintaining PCI DSS compliance across disparate systems.
  • Lack of real-time visibility into payment statuses, refunds, and chargebacks.
  • Inefficient handling of fraud detection and financial adjustments.
  • Reliance on IT for every minor workflow change or data mapping adjustment.
Integration Diagram
Solution Illustration
The Solution

Intelligent Integration: SAP S/4HANA & First Data Powered by AI and Low-Code

Our AI-first iPaaS solution delivers seamless, real-time integration between SAP S/4HANA and First Data, automating every step of your financial transaction lifecycle. From secure payment processing to accurate GL postings, we transform your operations with agility and intelligence.

  • Real-time Payment & Order Synchronization
  • Automated Daily Settlement Reconciliation
  • Comprehensive Refund & Chargeback Management
  • PCI DSS Compliant Data Handling
  • AI-Driven Data Mapping & Validation
Implementation Timeline

Go live with SAP S/4HANA + First Data in as little as 2–4 weeks.

A proven, repeatable implementation approach that minimizes risk while getting your team to value quickly.

1

Access Enabled

Secure connections established to both SAP S/4HANA and First Data, with credentials and environments confirmed.

2

Configuration & Mapping

Field mappings, business rules, and workflows configured using visual tools and pre-built templates.

3

Go Live

Launch production-ready integration with monitoring, alerting, and support in place—typically within 2–4 weeks.

Time to Value

2–4 weeks

Typical implementation window from access granted to production go-live for most SAP S/4HANA + First Data deployments.

Project Phases

Discovery
Configure & Map
Validate
Launch

Engagement Model

Guided by Clarity experts with your team involved at key milestones.

Comprehensive Solution Details

  • Real-time Payment & Order Synchronization
  • Automated Daily Settlement Reconciliation
  • Comprehensive Refund & Chargeback Management
  • PCI DSS Compliant Data Handling
  • AI-Driven Data Mapping & Validation
  • Low-Code/No-Code Workflow Builder
  • Centralized Integration Monitoring & Governance

SAP S/4HANA & First Data: Architecture & Flow

Our integration solution leverages an API-first, event-driven architecture orchestrated by a modern iPaaS. This ensures robust, scalable, and real-time data exchange between SAP S/4HANA's core ERP functionalities and First Data's secure payment processing capabilities.

Data Flow Steps

Secure Connection: Establish authenticated connections to SAP S/4HANA APIs (OData, RFC/BAPI) and First Data APIs (REST, webhooks).

Event Listener/Polling: iPaaS monitors First Data for payment events (e.g., capture, refund, chargeback via webhooks) and/or SAP S/4HANA for business events (e.g., Sales Order created, Invoice posted via Event Mesh).

Data Ingestion: Ingest raw data payloads from source systems into the iPaaS.

AI-Assisted Mapping & Transformation: Visually map fields between First Data and S/4HANA entities. AI suggests mappings, validates data types, and applies business logic (e.g., currency conversion, tax calculations).

Data Validation: Enforce S/4HANA's business rules and data integrity checks within the iPaaS before posting.

API Call/Posting: iPaaS calls the relevant S/4HANA or First Data API endpoint to create or update records (e.g., create an S/4HANA Payment, post a First Data Refund).

Error Handling & Notification: Log all transactions, implement retries for transient errors, and notify relevant teams for critical failures.

Audit & Monitoring: Maintain comprehensive audit trails and provide real-time dashboards for end-to-end visibility.

Data Touchpoints

First Data Transaction <-> SAP S/4HANA Payment / Invoice
First Data Settlement Report <-> SAP S/4HANA General Ledger Entry
First Data Refund <-> SAP S/4HANA Credit Memo / Payment Adjustment
First Data Chargeback <-> SAP S/4HANA Invoice / Case Management
First Data Customer (token) <-> SAP S/4HANA Business Partner
eCommerce Order <-> SAP S/4HANA Sales Order

"The integration flow typically starts with a customer's payment interaction through First Data. First Data's webhooks notify the iPaaS of transaction events (authorization, capture, refund, chargeback). The iPaaS then orchestrates the data transformation, applying AI-assisted mapping and validation, before pushing the relevant financial records (Payments, Invoices, General Ledger Entries) into SAP S/4HANA via its OData APIs. Conversely, actions within SAP S/4HANA (e.g., creating a credit memo for a refund) can trigger events that the iPaaS captures, leading to refund processing via First Data. Daily, the iPaaS pulls First Data settlement reports to reconcile and post summarized financial data to S/4HANA's General Ledger. Master data (Business Partner, Material) synchronization often flows from S/4HANA as the system of record to other systems, or is harmonized via the iPaaS."

Pricing

Simple, transparent pricing for SAP S/4HANA + First Data.

Start with a single integration pair and scale as your business grows—without surprise fees or transaction penalties.

Connect™ Plan

Clarity Connect

$595 /mo

Billed annually • Includes one production integration pair

  • Unlimited transactions and API calls within fair-use limits.
  • Visual workflow designer and reusable mapping templates.
  • Monitoring, alerting, and access to Clarity’s support team.
View full pricing & options
Innovative & Robust

How Middleware Integration Works

Benefits of Integrating SAP S/4HANA

Integrating SAP S/4HANA fosters greater efficiency and data accuracy. Automate your critical business processes to deliver consistently outstanding results.

Hover over the steps on the right to see detailed integration points.
Data Mapping

Key Entities & Intelligent Mapping for SAP S/4HANA & First Data

Seamless integration relies on accurate mapping of core business entities. Our iPaaS, enhanced with AI, provides visual tools and smart suggestions to harmonize critical data between First Data's transactional focus and SAP S/4HANA's comprehensive ERP model.

Transaction (First Data) / Payment (S/4HANA)

Represents a financial event (authorization, capture, refund) in First Data, mapped to an incoming payment or invoice clearing in SAP S/4HANA.

SAP S/4HANA Fields

ClearingDocument PaymentDocumentType CompanyCode PostingDate Amount Currency PaymentMethod BankReference ReferenceDocument (Sales Order/Invoice)

First Data Fields

transactionId orderId amount currency transactionType status timestamp paymentMethodToken merchantId processorResponse last4Digits

Mapping Notes

First Data's `transactionId` maps to a custom field or reference in S/4HANA `Payment` or `Invoice` for traceability. `amount` and `currency` require direct mapping. `transactionType` (e.g., 'capture', 'refund') dictates corresponding S/4HANA actions (e.g., incoming payment, credit memo). Tokenized `paymentMethodToken` should never be stored in S/4HANA directly; only relevant masked details (e.g., `last4Digits`) can be.

Next Steps

See SAP S/4HANA + First Data integration in action.

Explore a guided demo, start a sandbox integration, or speak directly with our solution architects about your specific use cases.

Start Free Trial Request Live Demo
Real-World Applications

Integration Use Cases

Explore how the integration behaves in real business scenarios, with clearly defined steps, outcomes, and execution patterns.

eCommerce Order-to-Cash (Real-time)

Automate the entire order lifecycle from an external eCommerce platform to SAP S/4HANA, encompassing order creation, real-time inventory updates, payment processing via First Data, and financial posting.

Integration Steps:

  1. 0 Customer places order on eCommerce site.
  2. 1 Order and tokenized payment details sent to iPaaS.
  3. 2 iPaaS triggers First Data for payment authorization/capture.
  4. 3 First Data confirms payment status via webhook.
  5. 4 iPaaS creates Sales Order in SAP S/4HANA (`APISALESORDER_SRV`).
  6. 5 S/4HANA updates inventory (`APIMATERIALSTOCKSRV`) and Business Partner (`APIBUSINESS_PARTNER`).
  7. 6 iPaaS posts payment as incoming against the S/4HANA invoice (`APIFINANCIALACCOUNTINGDOCUMENTSRV`).

Business Outcome

Accelerated order fulfillment, improved customer experience, real-time financial accuracy, reduced manual data entry.

Frequency

Real-time, Event-driven

Business Value

Key Integration Benefits

Discover the strategic advantages and business value of seamless integration between your systems.

Accelerated Cash Flow & Order-to-Cash Cycle
Achieve real-time payment processing and immediate posting to SAP S/4HANA, drastically shortening your order-to-cash cycle and improving working capital.
Automated Financial Reconciliation & Close
Eliminate manual reconciliation tasks by automatically matching First Data settlements with S/4HANA, reducing errors and accelerating your financial close.
Enhanced Data Accuracy & Compliance
Ensure consistent, accurate financial data across First Data and SAP S/4HANA, while maintaining strict PCI DSS compliance through tokenization and secure data handling.
AI-Driven Fraud Prevention & Anomaly Detection
Leverage AI to monitor transactions for suspicious activity in real-time, reducing fraud losses and protecting your business.
Empowered Business Users with Low-Code
Enable finance and operations teams to build, modify, and manage integration workflows without extensive IT involvement, fostering agility and innovation.
Real-time Visibility & Strategic Insights
Gain immediate insights into payment statuses, cash flow, and financial performance, enabling faster, more informed decision-making.
✨

Accelerated Cash Flow & Order-to-Cash Cycle

25%+ Reduction in O2C Cycle

📋 What You Get

Achieve real-time payment processing and immediate posting to SAP S/4HANA, drastically shortening your order-to-cash cycle and improving working capital.

💼 Business Impact

This benefit directly contributes to 25%+ improvement in Reduction in O2C Cycle, enabling your team to focus on high-value strategic initiatives.

Technical Documentation

API Endpoints & Data Logic

Technical details for developers and architects.

Method Endpoint Purpose
POST, GET, PATCH /sap/opu/odata/sap/APISALESORDER_SRV Create, retrieve, or update Sales Orders in SAP S/4HANA upon payment confirmation or for order status updates.
POST, GET, PATCH /sap/opu/odata/sap/APIBUSINESSPARTNER Manage Customer master data (Business Partners) for synchronization with payment customer details.
POST, GET /sap/opu/odata/sap/APIFINANCIALACCOUNTINGDOCUMENTSRV Post financial accounting documents and journal entries for payments and settlement reconciliation.
GET, PATCH /sap/opu/odata/sap/APIMATERIALSTOCK_SRV Retrieve and update material stock levels in real-time based on paid orders.

⚡ Transformation Logic

  • Currency Conversion: Automatically convert amounts to S/4HANA company code currency if different.
  • Status Mapping: Map First Data `status` codes (e.g., 'APPROVED', 'DECLINED') to S/4HANA `Payment Document Type` or `Clearing Status`.
  • Reference ID Generation: Use First Data `transactionId` as a reference in S/4HANA `Payment` or `Invoice` documents.
  • Aggregated to Detail: Break down First Data `Settlement Report` aggregates into individual `Debit/Credit` lines for S/4HANA `General Ledger Entries`.
  • Data Enrichment: Enrich S/4HANA `Business Partner` data with billing address details from First Data transactions if not already present.
  • PCI Compliance: Ensure only tokenized or masked data is processed and stored by iPaaS, never raw card details.

🛡️ Error Handling

  • Payment Decline: First Data returns a decline code. iPaaS updates order status in eCommerce and notifies customer/CRM, but does not create S/4HANA payment.
  • S/4HANA Posting Failure: Due to invalid data or business rules. iPaaS logs error, triggers alert, and places message in dead-letter queue for manual review/reprocessing.
  • Network Timeout: Transient issue during API call. iPaaS automatically retries with exponential backoff.
  • Duplicate Transaction: First Data webhook sends duplicate. iPaaS's idempotent logic prevents duplicate S/4HANA payment creation.
Support & Information

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about integration implementation, security, and best practices.

Business Value FAQs

▸ Why is integrating SAP S/4HANA with First Data crucial for mid-market businesses?
For mid-market companies, this integration eliminates manual reconciliation, accelerates cash flow by posting payments to S/4HANA in real-time, reduces fraud risk, and ensures PCI DSS compliance. It streamlines the entire order-to-cash process, leading to significant operational efficiencies and better financial visibility.

AI Capabilities FAQs

▸ How does AI enhance the SAP S/4HANA and First Data integration?
AI plays a pivotal role by providing intelligent mapping suggestions between complex entities, validating data for accuracy before posting to S/4HANA, detecting anomalies (like potential fraud or reconciliation discrepancies) in real-time, and even suggesting or auto-resolving common integration errors. This reduces manual effort and improves data quality.

Low-Code/No-Code FAQs

▸ Can business users (e.g., finance teams) manage these integrations with a low-code platform?
Absolutely. Our low-code/no-code iPaaS empowers finance, accounting, and operations teams to visually design, deploy, and modify complex financial workflows without extensive coding knowledge. This accelerates development, reduces reliance on IT, and allows the business to quickly adapt to changing requirements.

Security & Compliance FAQs

▸ How does the integration ensure PCI DSS compliance for payment data?
Security is paramount. The integration leverages First Data's native tokenization services, meaning raw cardholder data never touches your iPaaS or SAP S/4HANA. All data in transit and at rest is encrypted (TLS 1.2+, AES-256), and access is secured with robust authentication (OAuth 2.0) and role-based access controls, significantly reducing your PCI scope.

Data Synchronization FAQs

▸ What are the key data points synchronized between SAP S/4HANA and First Data?
Core synchronized entities include First Data 'Transactions' (authorizations, captures, refunds) mapped to SAP S/4HANA 'Payments' and 'Invoices'. First Data 'Settlement Reports' are mapped to S/4HANA 'General Ledger Entries'. Customer data (First Data 'Customer' to S/4HANA 'Business Partner') and order references are also crucial for end-to-end visibility.

Error Handling FAQs

▸ How are failed integrations or data discrepancies handled?
Our iPaaS provides comprehensive error handling. This includes automated retries for transient issues, dead-letter queues for persistent failures, centralized logging for all transactions, and customizable alerts to notify relevant teams (IT, finance) for critical errors. AI can also assist in auto-resolving common, predictable discrepancies.

Scalability FAQs

▸ Can this integration support multiple eCommerce platforms or merchant accounts?
Yes, our advanced iPaaS platform is designed to connect First Data to multiple eCommerce platforms (e.g., Shopify, Magento) and can handle various First Data merchant accounts concurrently. It provides the necessary connectors, mapping engines, and orchestration capabilities to manage diverse data formats and workflow requirements across all your sales channels and business entities.

Implementation FAQs

▸ What is the typical time-to-value for implementing this integration?
Leveraging AI-assisted low-code development and pre-built connectors, initial integration and automation of core workflows (e.g., real-time payment posting) can be achieved in a matter of weeks, not months. This rapid deployment ensures a quick return on investment and immediate operational benefits.
Pricing

Simple, transparent pricing for SAP S/4HANA + First Data.

Start with a single integration pair and scale as your business grows—without surprise fees or transaction penalties.

Connect™ Plan

Clarity Connect

$599 /mo

Billed annually • Includes one production integration pair

  • Unlimited transactions and API calls within fair-use limits.
  • Visual workflow designer and reusable mapping templates.
  • Monitoring, alerting, and access to Clarity’s support team.
View full pricing & options
Next Steps

See SAP S/4HANA + First Data integration in action.

Explore a guided demo, start a sandbox integration, or speak directly with our solution architects about your specific use cases.

Start Free Trial Request Live Demo