Why does importing a Salesforce report with multiple objects create duplicate rows?

Why Salesforce Reports Create Duplicate Rows

Root Cause

When importing Salesforce reports with multiple connected objects (Payments, Applications, Organizations), the system creates Cartesian joins. This means each combination of records appears as a separate row.

For example, if an account has 3 payments and 2 applications, you'll see 6 rows (3 ×

2. instead of 1.

Why Single Field Identifiers Fail

Using a single uniqueness field like "Account Name" is insufficient because:

• The same account name appears multiple times
• Each appearance is paired with different payment and application records
• Clay treats each row combination as distinct, causing massive duplication

Solution

During import setup, select multiple uniqueness fields that together create a truly unique identifier:

• Account Name + Payment ID + Application ID
• Use enough fields so no two rows share the same combination

This tells Clay to treat identical combinations as duplicates rather than separate records.

References

• Salesforce Integration Overview
• Salesforce Reports Documentation