Accounts and Contacts are the foundation of Salesforce. An Account represents a company or organization, and a Contact is a person associated with that company. Getting these set up correctly from the start keeps your CRM clean and your team on the same page.

Step 1 — Create an Account

An Account is always created first, because Contacts are linked to Accounts. Think of it as creating the company record before adding individual people.

  1. From the navigation bar at the top, click Accounts.
  2. Click the New button in the top-right corner.
  3. Fill in the key fields:
    • Account Name — the company name (required)
    • Phone — main office number
    • Website — company website
    • Industry — helps with reporting and segmentation
    • Billing Address — company's primary address
  4. Click Save.

💡 Tip: Before creating a new Account, use the search bar to check if it already exists. Duplicate accounts are one of the most common data quality issues in Salesforce.

Step 2 — Add a Contact to the Account

Once the Account is saved, you can add a Contact directly from the Account record — this automatically links them together.

  1. Open the Account you just created (or any existing Account).
  2. Scroll down to the Contacts related list on the Account record.
  3. Click New within that related list.
  4. Fill in the Contact details:
    • First Name / Last Name (required)
    • Title — their role at the company
    • Email — used for email logging and campaigns
    • Phone / Mobile
  5. Confirm the Account Name field is pre-filled with the Account you came from.
  6. Click Save.

💡 Tip:You can also create a Contact from the top navigation (Contacts → New), but you'll need to manually type in the Account Name. Starting from the Account record is faster and eliminates the risk of linking to the wrong Account.

Step 3 — Verify the Relationship

After saving the Contact, navigate back to the Account. You should see the new Contact listed in the Contactsrelated list. Click the Contact to open their record — you'll see the Account Name field linking back to the company.

This two-way relationship is what makes Salesforce powerful. From the Account, you can see all related Contacts, Opportunities, Cases, and Activities in one place.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Creating duplicate records — always search first before creating a new Account or Contact.
  • Leaving the Account Name blank on a Contact— unlinked Contacts are hard to manage and won't show up in Account-level reports.
  • Using the wrong Account type — Salesforce has Account types like Prospect, Customer, and Partner. Make sure your team uses them consistently.