When to Use a Custom Object in Salesforce

Learn when to use a custom object in Salesforce vs a standard object or creating custom fields.

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[quinnbero]

Hey Brian, this was very helpful, thank you. More videos breaking down examples of custom objects in action would be great.

I’m working with creating a custom object for my organization that will represent a service product transaction (called a “Plan”) that we sell to our customers, aka Contacts. We sell multiple types of plans and each plan is different. The plan itself is represented by the Product object which stores data, such as the value of the plan and its ID; however, the entirety of the process isn’t represented by any particular object. The components of the plan also are meant to be structured based on a timeline with actionable tasks assigned in accordance with that timeline.

Based on your video, it sounds like my solution may be as follows:
- Create a new Custom Object to represent the transaction in its entirety. This custom object will be related to the Contact Record
- add related lists for other Objects that are components of the transaction to the new Custom Object (i.e., Product[plan], Gifts[custom object representing plan touchpoints], and other important individual components)
- Create a flow so that when the plan is created for the Contact, the timeline of tasks can be created and components assigned to it automatically (products, costs, etc)

Does this sound like a candidate for a new Custom Object?

My original idea was to use the Opportunity object because of the relationships it already has with the Standard Objects (according to Schema Builder and other background set up). I felt like this was a good solution because I didn’t want to miss any background set up and am on a time crunch with an upcoming deadline. I feel that if I decide to use Opportunities instead of a custom object, I will not only lose the existing functionality of Opportunities in the database (which our organization may need in the future), but will also need to work around some of the components of the Opportunity object that are not changeable (I can’t seem to remove the Profitability field for example).

Sorry for the essay. I’m hoping to add clarity to this unique crossroad I’m having so hopefully others like me can make informed and effective decisions when configuring their database.

Simply put, based on this reading, should I proceed with creating a custom object, even though it may require extensive background set up?

[Marcin.Sochacki]

What standard object should be used if we want to add payment data records to the object contracts?

and what standard object should be used if we want to add service data records to the custom object assets?

[onlyyenna]

That was a perfect example with the invoice custom object. Is it possible to show us how to set that up, please?

[quinnbero]

Can you make a video on the topic of what type of background configuration / set up goes into creating a Custom Object?

Considerations such as:
Schema Builder relationships
Security for the Custom Object within the org
Usability
Complex and simple examples of Custom Objects that are set up
Show a sample Custom Object for Invoices

Thanks!