Skip to content
Release: Australia · Updated: 2026-03-12 · Official documentation · View source

Configure accounts and contacts

An account is a supported external customer and a contact is a user who is an employee of an account.

Before you begin

Role required: One of the following roles:

  • sn_crm_account_data_manager
  • sn_crm_account_relationship_data_manager
  • sn_crm_foundation_data_manager
  • sn_crm_foundation_admin
  • admin

About this task

There are two types of accounts: customer accounts and partner accounts. The Customer and Partner fields on the Account form denote the account type. An account can be a customer account, a partner account, or both.

A partner is a supported external customer that sells to and supports other customers. A partner can report and manage cases on behalf of customers. A partner can also be a customer.

Note: After importing customer account data, you must also set the account code system property.

An account can have multiple contacts but a contact can be associated with only one account. A contact can have one or more associated assets and service contracts. A contact can also have a user ID and can log in to the customer portal.

Note: A contact is a user in the system. If you create a contact, that person is also added to the User table (sys_user).

Procedure

  • You can import existing accounts and contacts using guided setup.

  • You can create accounts and contacts using the Customer Service Management application.

Related topics

Create customer accounts

Account hierarchy