Salesforce Pipeline Integration Setup & Troubleshooting

  • Updated on Jan 6, 2026
  • Published on Dec 12, 2024
  • 9 minute(s) read
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Before you begin

In order to successfully connect Salesforce to GovDash, you must be a Salesforce administrator, and a GovDash administrator. This is required in order to grant GovDash permission to access your Salesforce.

Setup/Connecting Salesforce

To connect Salesforce to GovDash:

  1. Access the Integrations page in GovDash.

  2. Click Connect Salesforce on the right hand side

  3. Login to your Salesforce account that you want to connect to GovDash

  4. Salesforce will process the connection, and bring you back to GovDash for configuration.

Configuration and Sync Settings

GovDash provides multiple options for syncing your Salesforce opportunities into your GovDash Pipeline. You can configure your Salesforce connection and sync settings on the Capture Cloud Settings page, located within your GovDash Settings.

Create Only Sync

This setting will only create opportunities in GovDash from your Salesforce pipeline, it will not overwrite any of your opportunities within GovDash.

Override Sync

This setting will move your opportunities within GovDash to the stage that they are currently set to within Salesforce. This option is useful for teams where Salesforce will be your source of truth, and you want GovDash to stay in sync with changes made in Salesforce.

Automating Sync

This setting allows you to automatically sync your Salesforce opportunities using your set sync setting. This can be enabled by selecting the checkbox on the right of the settings page. The automatic sync will run every 30 minutes.

Syncing Opportunities

The Salesforce integration offers multiple sync options for your convenience.

Important

Each sync option will require a manual resync by clicking the Sync Salesforce Opportunities button in order for GovDash to process the Salesforce changes.

One Time Sync

You can perform a one time sync by selecting the Sync Salesforce Opportunities button on the right hand side. You will then be prompted to map your phases from Salesforce to GovDash, and GovDash will process your sync and let you know once the sync has been successful.

This sync is preferred if you only wish to bring your opportunities over and not keep your Salesforce phases in sync with GovDash.

Linking Phases

If you would like to have Salesforce be your source of truth and sync your phases and opportunities to GovDash, select the Link Phases button on the right.

GovDash will prompt you to map your phases from GovDash to your phases within Salesforce.

You will then be prompted to select any additional phases within Salesforce that you'd like to link to GovDash.

You may rearrange your phases and choose color options in this step, or at any time from the Capture Settings in GovDash.

If you'd like to link your phases and sync your opportunities, select Link Phases & Sync Opportunities, otherwise select Link Phases to only link your phases to GovDash without a sync.

Tracking/Mapping Salesforce Fields

Using the Track Field button, you can map additional Salesforce fields to GovDash, such as due dates, descriptions, NAICS codes, opportunity values, and more.

Select your GovDash Opportunity Field and Salesforce Object, and then choose your field that you’d like to map from Salesforce → GovDash using the Salesforce Field drop down.

Salesforce Object/Table Support

We currently only support the Opportunity table in Salesforce, but this may change in future updates.

This will link the fields together, which will sync the data within the opportunity’s fields on your next successful sync.

Custom fields that you’ve created in GovDash can be mapped to your Salesforce fields as well!

What Happens When Fields Don’t Match?

If you are trying to map fields that do not contain the same data between GovDash and Salesforce (such as a NAICS selector that doesn’t have the same code layout/description, or Agency list that spells agency names out differently) and a sync is attempted, GovDash will show null within that field in your Pipeline opportunity Overview tab.


We recommend utilizing Custom Fields within GovDash for these types of fields, which you can map and ensure that the options match between GovDash and Salesforce, which is especially useful for pick lists.

Unsupported Custom Field Types

Currently there are four unsupported custom field types for mapping to Salesforce. We are working to support these as soon as possible:

Linking Existing GovDash Opportunities to Salesforce Opportunities

If you have the same opportunities in your GovDash Pipeline already within Salesforce and you’re setting up the integration, you can link these opportunities together through field and ID mapping using the steps below. This ensures that when Salesforce is synced to GovDash, it is able to identify your opportunities within your GovDash Pipeline and update the existing opportunities without creating new ones.

Note

This will not update opportunities from GovDash → Salesforce without setting up webhooks. Webhooks must be configured before information can be sent out of GovDash to Salesforce. For information on configuring webhooks, please see our guide here.

1. On the Salesforce side, your team will need to create a new field/column titled GovDash_Opportunity_ID. This field will contain the opportunity ID from within GovDash, which will be used to "match" the opportunities upon import/sync to GovDash.

2. For any opportunities that exist between both systems, using this GovDash_Opportunity_ID field, enter the opportunity ID of the opportunity within GovDash (found within the URL bar when you're in the opportunity) into the Salesforce side/version.

3. When configuring the Salesforce integration in GovDash and mapping the fields, ensure that the GovDash Opportunity ID field is mapped to the External CRM Identifier ID.

4. Initialize the opportunity sync with the Override option. By mapping these fields ahead of time, this ensures that Salesforce has the GovDash ID mapped, which will update the GovDash opportunities with the Salesforce data.

Mapping Lookup Fields to GovDash

While the integration doesn’t directly support lookup fields (as these fields in Salesforce reference an ID rather than a readable value), you can use the steps below to create a field that extracts the value from the lookup field into a value that is readable (and mappable) to GovDash, while keeping the two fields completely in sync.

Creating and Mapping Lookup Field Steps

Step 1: Find your lookup field’s API name

  1. Go to Setup

  2. Go to Object Manager

  3. Click Opportunity

  4. Click Fields & Relationships

  5. You’ll now see a table of fields.

How to identify the Lookup field

Under the Data Type column, look for the Lookup data type to find your lookup field.

What to copy

On the field detail page, look for:

Field Name (API name)

Examples:

Vehicle__c

Agency_Description__c

Account__c

Owner

Copy this exactly, including __c

Step 2: Confirm The Lookup Object

On the same field page:

Find Related To

Example: Account

This will tell you what object you’ll pulling the Name value from. That .Name will work in the formula

Step 3: Create the Formula (Text) field

Now that you have the lookup field API name, we can build the formula that will reference this value in a way that is readable to GovDash.

Steps

  1. While still in Opportunity

  2. Click Fields & Relationships

  3. Click New

  4. Select Formula

  5. Click Next

  6. Select Return Type: Text

  7. Provide the Field Label and Field Name

  8. Click Next

Step 4: Apply the Formula

Formula structure

LookupFieldAPIName__r.Name

Examples

Lookup Field API Name

Formula

Vehicle__c

Vehicle__r.Name

Agency__Description__c

Agency__Description__r.Name

Partner__c

Partner__r.Name

Owner

Owner.FirstName,Owner.LastName

Important

  • Replace c with r

  • Keep everything else in the API name the same

  • If you’re trying to map a user-based Lookup field, please note the syntax will be changed slightly and may not include ‘__c’ or ‘__r’ (see example table).

Step 5: Validate & Save

  1. Click Check Syntax

  2. You should see No errors

  3. Click Next

  4. Set Field-Level Security if desired

  5. Add to your page layout

  6. Save

Step 6: Map the Field in GovDash

  1. Navigate to Capture Cloud Settings in Settings

  2. Create the corresponding custom field for your new formula fields

  3. Click Track Field, select your GovDash field, and then the new Salesforce formula field, and then Confirm to save.

  4. On your next sync (whether manual or automatic, depending on your settings), the new formula field data will sync showing the actual value of that lookup field, rather than the key.

Bidirectional Salesforce Sync

GovDash supports bidirectional sync to Salesforce through webhooks. This will allow GovDash to communicate opportunity creation, deletion, and updates directly to your Salesforce pipeline. For more information on how to configure this integration, please see our support article here.

Disconnecting Salesforce

To disconnect your Salesforce account, select the Disconnect Salesforce Account button above the Sync Settings.

Troubleshooting

I am receiving an OAuth Error when trying to connect my Salesforce account

If you see an OAuth error when trying to connect GovDash to Salesforce, especially one that mentions “app must be installed in org”, this usually means Salesforce is blocking the connection because the connected app has not yet been approved by an administrator.

How to Identify This Issue

You may be experiencing this issue if:

  • You see an OAuth error after clicking Connect Salesforce in GovDash

  • The browser URL or error message includes:

    • app+must+be+installed+in+org

    • or similar language about the app not being installed

  • The Salesforce connection fails immediately, even when logged in as an Admin

What to Check First

Confirm that:

  • The user attempting to connect Salesforce is a Salesforce Admin

  • That Admin has permission to approve uninstalled connected apps

Even some Salesforce Admins do not have this permission by default.

Resolution Steps

Step 1: Grant Permission to Approve Uninstalled Connected Apps

Because the GovDash app is not yet installed, Salesforce may hide it unless the Admin has explicit permission.

  1. In Salesforce, go to Setup

  2. Search for Permission Sets

  3. Click New

    • Name: Approve Uninstalled Apps

    • Click Save

  4. Open the new Permission Set and go to System Permissions

  5. Click Edit

  6. Enable Approve Uninstalled Connected Apps

  7. Click Save

  8. Click Manage Assignments

  9. Assign this permission set to yourself (the Admin)

Step 2: Trigger the App to Appear in Salesforce

Salesforce will not show the app until it has been “called” at least once.

  1. Log in to GovDash

  2. Make sure you are logged in as the Salesforce Admin who just received the new permission

  3. Click Connect Salesforce

Note:
You may still see an error on this first attempt. That’s expected. This step registers the app in Salesforce so it can be approved.

In many cases, the connection will succeed immediately after this step.

Step 3 (If Needed): Install the App from OAuth Usage

If the connection still fails, or if other users will also need to connect, install the app directly in Salesforce.

  1. In Salesforce, go to Setup

  2. Navigate to Connected Apps OAuth Usage

  3. Find the GovDash app in the list

  4. Click Install

  5. Confirm by clicking Install again

Step 4 (Recommended if performing Step 3): Update App Policies for Ongoing Access

To prevent future connection issues for other users:

  1. In Connected Apps OAuth Usage, find the GovDash app

  2. Click Manage App Policies

  3. Set Permitted Users to:

    • All users may self-authorize

  4. Under IP Relaxation, select:

    • Relax IP restrictions

  5. Save your changes

When Are Steps 3 & 4 Required?

  • If only the Admin is connecting GovDash, Steps 1–2 are often sufficient

  • If other Salesforce users will:

    • Connect GovDash

    • Run syncs

    • Authenticate the integration themselves

      then Steps 3 and 4 are strongly recommended

Still Having Trouble?

If you continue to see OAuth errors after completing these steps, please contact GovDash Support and let us know:

  • The exact error message

  • Whether the app appears in Connected Apps OAuth Usage

  • Whether the connecting user is a Salesforce Admin

We’re happy to help get you connected.

FAQ

What do I need to have to connect GovDash with Salesforce?

You need to be both a Salesforce administrator and a GovDash administrator.

What happens after I request Salesforce integration access?

After you request access, our team will process it, and you'll receive a confirmation email once it's enabled.

Can I automatically sync my Salesforce opportunities to GovDash?

Yes! This can be enabled by selecting the checkbox on the right of the settings page, which will utilize your set sync setting. The automatic sync will run every 5 minutes.

If I add a document to the solicitation package in Salesforce, will it be added to the solicitation package in GovDash?

We currently do not support syncing of documents within the Salesforce integration.

If I update answers to questions or prompts in the capture pipeline in GovDash, will that be reflected in Salesforce?

We currently do not support sending data back to Salesforce, anything updated within GovDash stays in GovDash.

Is there any mirroring that happens in the Proposal Cloud pipeline to Salesforce with the integration?

We currently only mirror the Capture Pipeline with Salesforce, but are exploring the Proposal Cloud sync for the integration.

What should I do if I want to disconnect my Salesforce account from GovDash?

To disconnect, simply select the Disconnect Salesforce Account button above the Sync Settings.

Is it possible to customize the phases when linking them between Salesforce and GovDash?

Yes, you can rearrange your phases and choose color options during the linking process.

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