Setting up entitlements is a multi-step configuration: enable the feature, define the Entitlement Process with Milestones, create Entitlement records linked to Accounts and Contracts, then wire case auto-assignment. Most production rollouts take two to four weeks of admin time.
- Enable Entitlement Management
Setup, Service Setup, Entitlement Management, Entitlement Settings. Check Enable Entitlement Management. Choose whether to track Milestones on Cases, Work Orders, or both. This activates the Entitlement object and exposes the related-list on Account and Case page layouts.
- Define one or more Entitlement Processes
Setup, Service Setup, Entitlement Processes. New Entitlement Process. Add Milestones (First Response in 1 hour, Resolution in 24 hours), define entry and exit criteria, and configure time-based workflow actions for each milestone (email, escalation, owner reassignment).
- Create the Entitlement records
On each customer Account, create one or more Entitlement records. Set the Entitlement Process, Start Date, End Date, and optional Case Allowance. Link to a Service Contract for contract-driven entitlements or to an Asset for warranty-driven ones.
- Wire case auto-assignment
Either turn on Entitlement Auto-Assign rules (Setup, Entitlement Settings, Auto-Assign on Case Create) or build a flow on Case before-save that looks up active Entitlements for the Account and stamps the Entitlement field.
- Surface SLA progress on the case page
Add the Case Milestones related list and the Milestone Tracker component to the Case Lightning record page. Service agents see the countdown to each milestone in real time, with visual indicators when a milestone is approaching breach.
Required link to the customer Account record that the entitlement covers. Cannot be changed after creation; reparenting requires delete and recreate.
When the entitlement becomes active. Cases created before this date do not match this entitlement in the picklist.
When the entitlement expires. After this date the entitlement is inactive and filtered out of the case picklist; existing cases referencing it keep their milestones running.
Reference to the Entitlement Process that controls milestone firing. Optional but typical; an entitlement without a process tracks eligibility only, not SLAs.
- Entitlements do not auto-populate on Case create. Build a flow or enable Auto-Assign rules or every case has a blank Entitlement field.
- Asset-based entitlements only match cases that have the same Asset link. Agents who forget to set the Asset on the case lose the entitlement match.
- Case Allowance overruns are warnings, not blocks. The case still creates; the warning is operational signal for upsell.
- Milestones continue to count down on existing cases even after the parent Entitlement ends. End-date is for new case eligibility, not running SLA enforcement.
- Entitlement Processes cannot be edited once they are referenced by an active case. To change the SLA, clone the process, point future entitlements at the new version, and let in-flight cases finish on the old version.