How Genesee & Wyoming Inc. Centralized Customer Refunds Across 100+ Legal Entities

About Genesee & Wyoming

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. is a global railroad holding company with more than 100 subsidiary railroads operating across North America and internationally. With over 130 legal entities supported in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance (D365), the organization manages a complex financial landscape that includes centralized cash operations, and strict controls around customer reimbursements.

In September 2023, Genesee & Wyoming completed its transition to D365, modernizing its ERP environment while retaining trusted Truvio banking automation capabilities. The goal was to improve visibility, security, and control across financial processes without disrupting the organization's established workflows.

The Challenge: 
Managing Customer Refunds at Scale 

•  A detailed review of the customer's account
•  Validation of eligible credits
•  Management approval
•  Bank detail verification (especially for third-party payers)
•  Manual tracking via internal spreadsheets

The team also needed the ability to refund specific credits - not just net credit balances - since many customers pay ahead of invoicing, creating temporary credits that shouldn't automatically be refunded.

Why Control Matters in Customer Reimbursements

Unlike vendor payments, customer refunds require context. Some credits are simply timing issues. Others involve billing disputes or overcharges that require executive-level decisions. Automating this process too aggressively could introduce financial or operational risk.

Cristina emphasized:

"A lot of our customers pay us before we bill them. That credit's on the account. We don't necessarily want to refund that if it's just a timing issue."

Genesee & Wyoming needed a reimbursement solution that allowed:

• Selective credit refunds

   

• Exception-based processing

   

• Manual approvals

   

• Centralized payments for multiple legal entities

   

• Full control without forcing refunds through Accounts Payable

The Truvio Solution: Flexible, Embedded Reimbursements in D365

With Truvio's Customer Reimbursement (powered by SKsoft) capabilities embedded within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, Genesee & Wyoming was able to modernize how refunds are executed without changing how decisions are made.

Instead of routing refunds through Accounts Payable, the AR team now manages reimbursements directly inside D365 using Truvio's customer reimbursement journals combined with BankFabric connectivity.

Key capabilities now include:

• Refunds processed directly by AR

• Ability to cherry-pick specific credits

• Centralized electronic payments across 100+ legal entities

• Secure, direct bank transmission via BankFabric

• Support for third-party refund recipients

This approach allows Genesee & Wyoming to modernize refund execution while preserving the manual review and approval process that are critical to their financial controls.

A More Controlled Refund Process

Rather than relying on net credit balances, the Truvio solution allows Genesee & Wyoming to refund only the credits they choose.

This flexibility is critical when executive leadership approves refunds that fall outside of standard refund policies.

For an organization managing thousands of customer relationships across many legal entities, this level of control ensures refunds remain both accurate and compliant.

Improved Security with BankFabric

Before implementing D365, Genesee & Wyoming relied on SFTP sites for transferring bank payment files. This required users to manually manage files outside the ERP system.

With BankFabric, reimbursement files are now transmitted directly and securely from D365 to the bank.

By eliminating manual file handling and SFTP uploads, Genesee & Wyoming strengthened payment security while simplifying operational workflows.

Key Benefits for Genesee & Wyoming

• AR-controlled refunds without AP involvement

• Selective credit reimbursement rather than relying on net balances

• Centralized payments across 100+ legal entities

• Secure bank transmission through BankFabric

• Full integration inside D365

For Genesee & Wyoming, modernizing customer reimbursements wasn't about automating financial decisions. It was about executing those decisions more efficiently while maintaining the oversight their business requires. By using Truvio's embedded Customer Reimbursement capabilities inside Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, the organization centralized refunds across more than 100 legal entities while preserving the manual controls that govern their financial operations. The result is a reimbursement process that is secure, controlled, and aligned with real world financial decision making.