Creating a Business Account is the everyday act of adding a company to your CRM. In a B2B-only org every new Account is a Business Account automatically. In an org that also uses Person Accounts, pick the business record type so Salesforce treats the record as a company rather than an individual.
- Open the Accounts tab
From the App Launcher or navigation bar, go to the Accounts tab and click New. The tab lists existing Accounts and is the starting point for adding a company.
- Choose the business record type
If your org has Person Accounts enabled, a record type prompt appears. Select the Business Account record type so the company page layout and fields load. In a B2B-only org this step is skipped.
- Enter the company details
Fill in Account Name and the firmographic fields you rely on, such as Industry, Annual Revenue, Type, and the Billing address. Set Parent Account if the company belongs to a larger corporate family.
- Save and add Contacts
Save the Account, then add the people you work with as Contacts on the record. Each Contact links back through AccountId, building the company-and-contacts structure that the rest of the model depends on.
The company name and the only field Salesforce requires to save a Business Account. Use a consistent naming convention to avoid duplicates.
Required only when Person Accounts are enabled. Choosing the business record type marks the record as a company and loads the right layout and fields.
The user who owns the account. It defaults to the creator and drives sharing, reporting, and assignment, so set it deliberately on shared accounts.
- Enabling Person Accounts is a one-way org change. Confirm the business genuinely sells to individuals before turning it on, because it cannot be cleanly reversed.
- In a mixed org, always filter B2B reports by the Business Account record type. Blending companies and individuals on one dashboard produces misleading totals.
- Populate Parent Account for enterprise customers from the start. Scattered child records that should roll up to a parent are a frequent source of reporting pain.