Discrepancies between Native Reports and Salesforce Data Imported into Tableau

Issue

The data presented in a report within Salesforce does not match the data imported into Tableau.

Environment

Tableau Desktop
Salesforce.com

Resolution

Use the following options to troubleshoot this issue:

Option 1 - Set up the data source by joining relevant tables, instead of using a standard connection

Using tables instead of a standard connection may facilitate drilling down into the data to isolate the discrepancies. For example, instead of using the Tasks standard connection as the basis for replicating the Activities with Leads report in Salesforce, do an inner join of the Lead and Task tables where Lead ID = Name ID.

You can refer to Standard Objects in the Salesforce SOAP API Developer Guide for a list of standard objects (equivalent to tables in the Salesforce connector) and their standard fields.

Option 2 - Account for timezone difference

To convert the UTC timezone output for date fields when using the Salesforce connector, refer to Option 2 in NOW() and TODAY() Functions Return Datetimes in Unexpected Time Zone.

Option 3: Check the filters applied to the Salesforce report

Ensure that all filters applied to the data in the Salesforce report are valid and relevant for your analysis.

Option 4: Export the data from the Salesforce report as a csv file

Then connect Tableau to the csv file for easy comparison with the workbook that uses the Salesforce connector.

Option 5: Ensure that the data in both the Tableau workbook and the Salesforce report is up to date

In Tableau Desktop, to see a history of when the extract was refreshed, selecting the data source on the Data menu and then select Extract > History. To refresh the data, right-click the data source in the Data pane and select Extract > Refresh (Full).

Cause

The mismatch in data may arise due to the following reasons:

The Salesforce API that Tableau Desktop uses to connect to Salesforce data exports date and datetime fields in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Different filters are applied in the Salesforce report compared to the view in Tableau.
The data was exported from the Salesforce report at a different time than when the data was imported into Tableau from Salesforce. There was a change in the data during this time.