Opportunities are the deals your sales team is actively working — the heartbeat of the pipeline. The platform requires more here than on most objects because the forecast engine depends on it.
- Open the Opportunities tab
App Launcher → Opportunities. Most reps create Opportunities from the parent Account so the AccountId auto-populates.
- Click New
Top-right of the list view, or use the New Opportunity quick action on the Account.
- Enter Opportunity Name
Use a consistent naming pattern your team has agreed on (e.g., "AccountName - Product - Year") so the pipeline list view stays scannable.
- Pick a Stage
Stage drives Probability and Forecast Category. Pick honestly — over-stating Stage is the #1 reason forecasts blow up.
- Set the Close Date
The expected close date. Past dates are allowed but flag in reports. Don't roll the date forward to hide slipping deals — use Stage instead.
- Link the Account
If you opened the New form from an Account, this is pre-filled. Otherwise pick the Account — it's almost always required by org policy.
- Save
Save commits the record. Stage-specific validation rules often fire here (e.g., requiring an Amount past Stage 3).
Opportunity Name. Required by the platform.
Stage. Drives the Probability and Forecast Category fields automatically — picking the right stage is the highest-leverage data point on the record.
Required by the platform. Past dates are valid but signal a slipped deal in reports.
- Closing an Opportunity (Stage = Closed Won / Closed Lost) is irreversible in the standard UI — many orgs lock the record on close via validation rules.
- Probability is automatically derived from Stage and is not directly editable on standard layouts. Edit Probability by editing the underlying Stage's mapping in Setup.
- AccountId is technically nullable at the API level, but private Opportunities (no Account) cause sharing chaos. Always link an Account.