Financial advisors spend 30-40% of their time switching between different systems—checking portfolio performance in one platform, documenting client interactions in another, and generating reports in a third. This constant context-switching doesn't just waste time; it creates data inconsistencies, increases error rates, and diminishes client service quality.
The integration between Salesforce Financial Services Cloud (FSC) and Orion Advisor Services eliminates this fragmentation by creating a unified view of each client's relationship data alongside their investment information. With Orion commanding approximately 14.37% market share in portfolio management and Salesforce FSC emerging as the enterprise CRM standard for wealth management, connecting these two platforms has become essential for modern advisory firms.
The benefits of integrating Orion with Salesforce FSC are transformative:
Unified Client View - See portfolio data, account balances, performance metrics, and CRM data in one place, giving you immediate visibility into every aspect of your client relationships.
Eliminated Dual Entry - Updates sync bi-directionally, reducing manual data entry by 80% or more. Your team spends less time on administrative tasks and more time serving clients.
Real-Time Insights - Portfolio changes flow automatically to Salesforce for immediate visibility, ensuring you're always working with current information.
Enhanced Client Service - Answer client questions instantly without switching applications, improving response times by up to 60%.
Automated Workflows - Trigger actions when portfolio values cross thresholds or events occur, creating proactive client service opportunities.
Compliance Documentation - Maintain comprehensive audit trails across both systems, reducing compliance documentation time by 40%.
Orion Connect is Orion's official Salesforce integration, available through the Salesforce AppExchange. The app creates a bi-directional data bridge between your Orion database and Salesforce org, ensuring both systems stay synchronized.
Key capabilities include real-time synchronization of client data, accounts, and positions; flexible field mapping to custom Salesforce fields and objects; embedded Orion Dashboard components within Salesforce; single sign-on (SSO) for seamless navigation between platforms; and support for both FSC and standard Salesforce editions.
Orion's data model centers on a hierarchy designed for portfolio management: Firm → Representative → Household → Registration → Account → Asset → Transaction.
Salesforce FSC uses a different but compatible structure: Account (Household) → Account (Person/Individual) → Financial Account → Financial Holding.
The Orion Connect integration intelligently maps these structures together. Households sync to Household Account records, household members sync to Person/Individual accounts, Orion accounts flow to Financial Accounts, and assets populate Financial Holdings. Performance data, billing information, and receivables sync to custom fields and objects in Salesforce.
Important Note: While household and contact information syncs both ways, account positions and holdings are read-only from the Salesforce side—Orion remains the system of record for investment data.
Before starting your integration, ensure you have the following in place:
Email sme-salesforcesupport@orion.com to initiate the integration process. Provide your Salesforce edition, number of users requiring Orion Connect licenses, desired go-live timeline, and any custom requirements.
Orion will provide an installation link for the Orion Connect managed package, a DocuSign agreement for license confirmation, and a dedicated support contact for implementation.
Access the installation link provided by Orion Support, log in to your Salesforce org as a System Administrator, and select "Install for All Users" to ensure broad access. Approve third-party access when prompted and wait for the installation confirmation email, which typically arrives within 5-10 minutes.
Navigate to Setup → Security → Network Access → New and add the Orion IP ranges provided in your implementation documentation. This critical step ensures secure communication between Orion and Salesforce.
Create dedicated permission sets for Orion Integration users. Navigate to Setup → Users → Permission Sets → New and configure appropriate access to Orion Connect objects, Apex classes, Visualforce pages, and custom settings. For Financial Services Cloud implementations, clone the standard permission set and add FSC-specific object permissions.
Navigate to Setup → Connected Apps → Orion Connect → Edit. Under Permitted Users, select "Admin approved users are pre-authorized" and save your changes.
Navigate to Setup → Installed Packages, find Orion Connect, click Manage Licenses, and assign licenses to users who need integration access.
Add Orion components to your Household and Financial Account page layouts. Navigate to Setup → Object Manager → Account → Page Layouts, select your Household Layout, and drag new sections for Orion Links and Orion Dashboard. Add the Orion Links Visualforce page (width 100%, height 80) and Orion Dash component (width 100%, height 550).
Repeat this process for Financial Account page layouts to ensure advisors can access Orion data from both household and account-level views.
As System Administrator, navigate to Setup → Visualforce Pages → OrionSync → Preview. Click the Connection tab, then Link Salesforce. Click Allow in the popup window, enter your Orion username and password under Show Advanced, and click Link Orion. If "connection lost" appears, refresh your browser and click Enable to create the Integration Record.
Each user who needs Orion Connect access must complete authorization. Users should click the App Launcher, search for Orion Connect, click Authorize Orion, allow the connection, enter their Orion credentials, and click Authorize Salesforce.
Navigate to Setup → Visualforce Pages → OrionSync → Preview and click the Mapping tab. Review the Orion Object dropdown and verify all fields are populated with no blanks. Configure custom field mappings as needed to align with your firm's Salesforce customizations.
Choose between two approaches based on your existing data:
Option A: Link to Existing Salesforce Records (Recommended for FSC organizations with existing data) - Populate the Source System ID field on Salesforce Account records using the format Household-[FirmID]-[HHID] for households and Person-[FirmID]-[HHID] for individuals. Important: Populate Person records FIRST, then Household records to prevent duplicates.
Option B: Create New Records via Sync - In Orion, navigate to Portfolio Audit → Household ID → Edit Household, then under Options → Salesforce Integration, check "Sync to Force.com." Repeat for each household to sync.
Navigate to Setup → Visualforce Pages → OrionSync → Preview, click the Schedule tab, and click Run Now to start the full sync. Monitor progress in the sync log. After successful sync, configure Delta Sync schedule (recommended every 15-30 minutes) and Full Sync schedule (recommended nightly).
After initial setup, customize the Orion Links component by navigating to any Household record in Salesforce. Locate the Orion Links section, click Edit, and click Sync to load available links. Drag your most-used tools like Household Editor, Assets, Reports, and Transactions into the navigation bar. Click Save Globally to apply your configuration to all users.
Refresh your browser, clear Salesforce cache, re-attempt authorization, and verify Orion credentials are correct.
Check that "Sync to Force.com" is enabled in Orion, verify the household has at least one account, confirm Source System ID format is correct, and run a manual sync from the OrionSync Visualforce page.
This typically occurs when Person records are populated after Household records. Always populate Person/Individual records FIRST, then populate Household records, and use Source System ID format consistently.
Add bypass conditions to flows checking for the Orion integration user, configure sync order to avoid conflicts, and contact Orion support for specific flow conflicts.
Navigate to OrionSync → Mapping tab, verify the field is mapped correctly, check field-level security for the integration user, and ensure the field API name matches exactly.
Performance calculations run on Orion's schedule, not in real-time. Performance data updates with delta/full sync schedules. Configure more frequent sync intervals if needed and verify performance date ranges in Orion settings.
Establish clear system of record rules: Orion owns investment data while Salesforce owns relationship data. Document field ownership so everyone knows which system controls each data element. Create data stewardship processes to resolve conflicts between systems and run quarterly data quality audits.
Train all advisors on using Orion Links and Dashboard within Salesforce. Document workflows that span both systems, create quick-reference guides for common tasks, and establish support escalation paths for integration issues.
Schedule full syncs during off-hours like nights and weekends. Use delta syncs during business hours every 15-30 minutes. Monitor API usage to avoid Salesforce governor limits and archive old household data to reduce sync payload.
Monitor sync logs daily, verify data accuracy through weekly spot checks, review error logs weekly, conduct full data audits quarterly, update IP whitelists as needed, and re-authorize user connections annually.
Orion Connect supports mapping to custom Salesforce fields. Navigate to OrionSync → Mapping, select the Orion object to configure, and for each field select your target Salesforce field from the dropdown. Custom fields appear with their API names.
Orion supports webhook notifications for real-time updates. Contact Orion support to enable webhooks, configure your endpoint URL in Orion settings, build Salesforce Platform Events or Apex handlers, and process incoming notifications for immediate updates.
Enable single sign-on from Orion Connect to Orion so users can access Orion directly from Salesforce with no separate login required. Context passes automatically including client and account information, reducing friction for cross-platform workflows.
Firms implementing the Orion-FSC integration typically see dramatic improvements:
A firm with 15 advisors, $2B AUM, and 1,200 households saw impressive results after 90 days: eliminated 3 hours per week of data entry per advisor, reduced new account opening time by 45%, improved client satisfaction scores by 18%, and achieved zero compliance findings related to data inconsistency.
How long does the initial setup take?Most implementations complete in 1-2 weeks, including package installation (1-2 hours), configuration (4-8 hours), field mapping (2-4 hours), testing (1-2 days), and user training (1-2 days).
What data syncs in real-time vs. scheduled?Real-time bi-directional sync includes household name and demographic changes plus contact information updates. Scheduled sync from Orion to Salesforce includes account balances and positions, performance metrics, billing information, and transaction history.
Can I use this integration with Practifi or XLR8?Yes. Orion Connect works with Salesforce Financial Services Cloud, Standard Salesforce (Enterprise+), Practifi, XLR8, and other Salesforce platforms.
What happens if a client leaves our firm?You have two options: remove the Orion ID from Salesforce to stop sync but preserve historical data, or disable "Sync to Force.com" in Orion to maintain the link for reference but stop updates.
How do I handle multi-custodian households?Orion aggregates positions across custodians at the household level. All accounts sync to FSC regardless of custodian, providing a consolidated view.
What are the licensing costs?Orion Connect requires per-user licenses purchased through Orion. Contact your Orion account representative for current pricing.
Ready to implement? Follow these steps:
Complex integrations benefit from experienced guidance. A qualified Salesforce consulting partner can accelerate your implementation timeline, configure custom field mappings, build automated workflows leveraging integrated data, train your team on best practices, and provide ongoing optimization support.
Vantage Point specializes in helping financial institutions design and implement client experience transformation programs using Salesforce Financial Services Cloud. Our team combines deep Salesforce expertise with financial services industry knowledge to deliver measurable improvements in client satisfaction, operational efficiency, and business results.
David Cockrum founded Vantage Point after serving as Chief Operating Officer in the financial services industry. His unique blend of operational leadership and technology expertise has enabled Vantage Point's distinctive business-process-first implementation methodology, delivering successful transformations for 150+ financial services firms across 400+ engagements with a 4.71/5.0 client satisfaction rating and 95%+ client retention rate.