diff --git a/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/Event.java b/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/Event.java
index 0a21ebcd..c44a2e69 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/Event.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/Event.java
@@ -240,15 +240,15 @@ public final Object getTied() {
         return tied;
     }
 
-    public Event addFields(final Map<String, String> fields) {
+    public Event addFields(final Map<String, Object> fields) {
         return this;
     }
 
-    public Event setFields(final Map<String, String> fields) {
+    public Event setFields(final Map<String, Object> fields) {
         return this;
     }
 
-    public Map<String, String> getFields() {
+    public Map<String, Object> getFields() {
         return null;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/EventBatch.java b/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/EventBatch.java
index 352108f6..5319f6af 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/EventBatch.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/EventBatch.java
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ public abstract class EventBatch {
     public abstract void add(Event event);
     public abstract EventBatch createFromThis();
 
-    public final void addExtraFields(final Map<String, String> fields) {
+    public final void addExtraFields(final Map<String, Object> fields) {
         // recalculate the batch length since we inject more meta data to each event
         int newLength = 0;
         for (final Event event: events) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/HecChannel.java b/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/HecChannel.java
index c7f49805..ac78f972 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/HecChannel.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/HecChannel.java
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 final class HecChannel {
     private String id;
-    private Map<String, String> chField;
+    private Map<String, Object> chField;
     private IndexerInf indexer;
     private boolean isAvailable;
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/JsonEvent.java b/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/JsonEvent.java
index da24c8e7..5707ad3f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/JsonEvent.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/splunk/hecclient/JsonEvent.java
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
  */
 @JsonInclude(JsonInclude.Include.NON_NULL)
 public final class JsonEvent extends Event {
-    private Map<String, String> fields;
+    private Map<String, Object> fields;
 
     /**
      * Creates a new json event.
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ public JsonEvent(Object data, Object tied) {
      * @since              1.0
      */
     @Override
-    public JsonEvent addFields(final Map<String, String> extraFields) {
+    public JsonEvent addFields(final Map<String, Object> extraFields) {
         if (extraFields == null || extraFields.isEmpty()) {
             return this;
         }
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ public JsonEvent addFields(final Map<String, String> extraFields) {
      * @since              1.0
      */
     @Override
-    public JsonEvent setFields(final Map<String, String> extraFields) {
+    public JsonEvent setFields(final Map<String, Object> extraFields) {
         fields = extraFields;
         invalidate();
         return this;
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ public JsonEvent setFields(final Map<String, String> extraFields) {
      * @since              1.0
      */
     @Override
-    public Map<String, String> getFields() {
+    public Map<String, Object> getFields() {
         return fields;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/splunk/kafka/connect/SplunkSinkConnectorConfig.java b/src/main/java/com/splunk/kafka/connect/SplunkSinkConnectorConfig.java
index 0859a825..3a2b28a5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/splunk/kafka/connect/SplunkSinkConnectorConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/splunk/kafka/connect/SplunkSinkConnectorConfig.java
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ public final class SplunkSinkConnectorConfig extends AbstractConfig {
 
     final String lineBreaker;
     final boolean useRecordTimestamp;
-    final Map<String, String> enrichments;
+    final Map<String, Object> enrichments;
     final boolean trackData;
 
     final boolean hasTrustStorePath;
@@ -461,13 +461,13 @@ private static String[] split(String data, String sep) {
         return null;
     }
 
-    private static Map<String, String> parseEnrichments(String enrichment) {
+    private static Map<String, Object> parseEnrichments(String enrichment) {
         String[] kvs = split(enrichment, ",");
         if (kvs == null) {
             return null;
         }
 
-        Map<String, String> enrichmentKvs = new HashMap<>();
+        Map<String, Object> enrichmentKvs = new HashMap<>();
         for (final String kv : kvs) {
             String[] kvPairs = split(kv, "=");
             if (kvPairs.length != 2) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/splunk/kafka/connect/SplunkSinkTask.java b/src/main/java/com/splunk/kafka/connect/SplunkSinkTask.java
index f238c433..abe27e5c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/splunk/kafka/connect/SplunkSinkTask.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/splunk/kafka/connect/SplunkSinkTask.java
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ private Event createHecEventFrom(final SinkRecord record) {
                 event.setTied(record);
                 event.addFields(connectorConfig.enrichments);
             } catch(Exception e) {
-                log.error("event does not follow correct HEC pre-formatted format: {}", record.value().toString());
+                log.error("event does not follow correct HEC pre-formatted format: {}", record.value().toString(), e);
                 event = createHECEventNonFormatted(record);
             }
         } else {
@@ -416,7 +416,7 @@ private Event createHecEventFrom(final SinkRecord record) {
         }
 
         if (connectorConfig.trackData) {
-            Map<String, String> trackMetas = new HashMap<>();
+            Map<String, Object> trackMetas = new HashMap<>();
             trackMetas.put("kafka_offset", String.valueOf(record.kafkaOffset()));
             trackMetas.put("kafka_timestamp", String.valueOf(record.timestamp()));
             trackMetas.put("kafka_topic", record.topic());
@@ -459,7 +459,7 @@ private Event addHeaders(Event event, SinkRecord record) {
         // "custom_header_1,custom_header_2,custom_header_3"
         if (!connectorConfig.headerCustom.isEmpty()) {
             String[] customHeaders = connectorConfig.headerCustom.split(",\\s?");
-            Map<String, String> headerMap = new HashMap<>();
+            Map<String, Object> headerMap = new HashMap<>();
             for (String header : customHeaders) {
                 Header customHeader = headers.lastWithName(header);
                 if (customHeader != null) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/splunk/hecclient/JsonEvenBatchTest.java b/src/test/java/com/splunk/hecclient/JsonEvenBatchTest.java
index 29fefbf1..a70f968e 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/splunk/hecclient/JsonEvenBatchTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/splunk/hecclient/JsonEvenBatchTest.java
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ public void setterGetter() {
         Assert.assertEquals(1, events.size());
 
         // Add extra fields
-        Map<String, String> fields = new HashMap<>();
+        Map<String, Object> fields = new HashMap<>();
         fields.put("hello", "world");
         batch.addExtraFields(fields);
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/splunk/hecclient/JsonEventTest.java b/src/test/java/com/splunk/hecclient/JsonEventTest.java
index 5c27b6c4..5e07fa6a 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/splunk/hecclient/JsonEventTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/splunk/hecclient/JsonEventTest.java
@@ -65,14 +65,14 @@ public void addFields() {
         Assert.assertNull(event.getFields());
 
         // empty extra fields
-        Map<String, String> fields = new HashMap<>();
+        Map<String, Object> fields = new HashMap<>();
         event.addFields(fields);
         Assert.assertNull(event.getFields());
 
         // one item
         fields.put("ni", "hao");
         event.addFields(fields);
-        Map<String, String> fieldsGot = event.getFields();
+        Map<String, Object> fieldsGot = event.getFields();
         Assert.assertNotNull(fieldsGot);
         Assert.assertEquals(false, fieldsGot.isEmpty());
         Assert.assertEquals(1, fieldsGot.size());
@@ -180,15 +180,15 @@ public void getterSetter() {
         event.setTied("hao");
         Assert.assertEquals("hao", event.getTied());
 
-        Map<String, String> fields = new HashMap<>();
+        Map<String, Object> fields = new HashMap<>();
         fields.put("hello", "world");
         event.setFields(fields);
         Assert.assertEquals(fields, event.getFields());
 
-        Map<String, String> moreFields = new HashMap<>();
+        Map<String, Object> moreFields = new HashMap<>();
         moreFields.put("ni", "hao");
         event.addFields(moreFields);
-        Map<String, String> got = event.getFields();
+        Map<String, Object> got = event.getFields();
         Assert.assertNotNull(got);
         Assert.assertEquals(2, got.size());
         Assert.assertEquals("world", got.get("hello"));
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ private void doSerialize(Object data, SerialAndDeserial sad) {
         String tied = "tied";
         Event event = new JsonEvent(data, tied);
 
-        Map<String, String> fields = new HashMap<>();
+        Map<String, Object> fields = new HashMap<>();
         fields.put("ni", "hao");
         event.addFields(fields);
         event.setHost("localhost");
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ private void doSerialize(Object data, SerialAndDeserial sad) {
             Assert.assertEquals("test-sourcetype", deserialized.getSourcetype());
             Assert.assertEquals(event.getTime(), deserialized.getTime());
 
-            Map<String, String> fieldsGot = deserialized.getFields();
+            Map<String, Object> fieldsGot = deserialized.getFields();
             Assert.assertEquals("hao", fieldsGot.get("ni"));
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/splunk/hecclient/RawEventTest.java b/src/test/java/com/splunk/hecclient/RawEventTest.java
index 4fd789c2..97903208 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/splunk/hecclient/RawEventTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/splunk/hecclient/RawEventTest.java
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ private void writeTo(final String lineBreaker) {
     @Test
     public void getterSetter() {
         Event event = new RawEvent("ni", null);
-        Map<String, String> m = new HashMap<String, String>();
+        Map<String, Object> m = new HashMap<>();
         m.put("hello", "world");
         event.setFields(m);
         Assert.assertNull(event.getFields()); // we ignore extra fields for raw event
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/splunk/kafka/connect/SplunkSinkTaskTest.java b/src/test/java/com/splunk/kafka/connect/SplunkSinkTaskTest.java
index 2198fae6..f74d4583 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/splunk/kafka/connect/SplunkSinkTaskTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/splunk/kafka/connect/SplunkSinkTaskTest.java
@@ -21,14 +21,12 @@
 import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.OffsetAndMetadata;
 import org.apache.kafka.common.TopicPartition;
 import org.apache.kafka.common.config.ConfigException;
-import org.apache.kafka.common.header.Header;
 import org.apache.kafka.common.record.TimestampType;
 import org.apache.kafka.connect.errors.RetriableException;
 import org.apache.kafka.connect.sink.SinkRecord;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-import java.text.ParseException;
 import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
 import java.time.Instant;
 import java.util.*;
@@ -267,6 +265,52 @@ public void putWithRawAndAck() {
         putWithSuccess(true, true);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void checkFormattedEvent() {
+
+        SplunkSinkTask task = new SplunkSinkTask();
+        UnitUtil uu = new UnitUtil(0);
+        Map<String, String> config = uu.createTaskConfig();
+        config.put(SplunkSinkConnectorConfig.RAW_CONF, String.valueOf(false));
+        config.put(SplunkSinkConnectorConfig.HEC_EVENT_FORMATTED_CONF, String.valueOf(true));
+
+        Collection<SinkRecord> record = createSinkRecords(
+            1, "{" +
+            "\"index\":\"main\"," +
+            "\"event\":\"Hello, world!\"," +
+            "\"host\":\"host-01\"," +
+            "\"source\":\"bu\"," +
+            "\"fields\":{\"foo\":\"bar\",\"CLASS\":\"class1\",\"cust_id\":[\"000013934\",\"000013935\"]}}"
+        );
+
+        HecMock hec = new HecMock(task);
+        hec.setSendReturnResult(HecMock.success);
+        task.setHec(hec);
+        task.start(config);
+        task.put(record);
+
+        List<EventBatch> batches = hec.getBatches();
+        for (Iterator<EventBatch> iter = batches.listIterator(); iter.hasNext();) {
+            EventBatch batch = iter.next();
+            List<Event> event_list = batch.getEvents();
+            Iterator<Event> iterator = event_list.listIterator() ;
+            Event event = iterator.next();
+
+            Assert.assertEquals("host-01", event.getHost());
+
+            Assert.assertEquals("bar", event.getFields().get("foo"));
+
+            Object custIdObject = event.getFields().get("cust_id");
+            Assert.assertTrue(custIdObject instanceof List);
+            @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+            List<String> custIdList = (List<String>) custIdObject;
+            final List<String> expectedCustIdList = Arrays.asList("000013934", "000013935");
+            Assert.assertEquals(expectedCustIdList, custIdList);
+            break;
+        }
+        task.stop();
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void checkExtractedTimestamp() {