The Company Information section in Salesforce is one of the initial areas I focus on when training new admins, and also the first thing I look at in every Salesforce org. This section is full of useful and interesting information about a Salesforce org. Yet many admins don’t know how to access it, or what it means!
In this post, I’ll go over 10 hidden “Company Information” gems and explain how you can make the best use of that information.
How to Access Company Information
From “Setup”, type in “Company Information” and then click. It’s that easy!
The Company Information area is split into several sections. The main section is called “Organization Detail”. Underneath, there are several sections for different types of licenses, permission set licenses, and other additional features.
Now that we’re in Company Information, do you know what we should look for? Let’s jump into the 10 hidden gems (in no particular order!)
1. Instance
Your instance indicates which group of servers your org is on. It’s important to know because your particular instance may have performance issues when others do not. Get your instance here, and navigate to status.salesforce.com. Type in your instance to see if there are any performance issues, track instance maintenance, and subscribe to notifications.
2. Org ID
Your org ID is totally unique to your particular org. Just like every other ID in Salesforce, your org ID is 15 characters long and is a mix of letters and numbers. This is the ID that will be requested by Salesforce support if you ever open a support ticket.
3. Edition
The edition of Salesforce you’re on determines what features you have access to. This is important to know because with different editions come different storage limits, and you may or may not be able to install certain packages from the AppExchange.
Together, these three make up the trifecta of required org knowledge. You will be asked for this information repeatedly by Salesforce support or by third-party integration teams.
4. Used Data Space
This is where we start to get into the really interesting stuff! If you are in an older org, you might find a major surprise with this percentage alone. Your data storage is largely dependent on the number of users you have, what edition of Salesforce you’re on, and if your org has purchased anything that would grant more data storage.
However, the percentage alone is not all you need to know. Click “View” next to “Data Storage”, and you’ll see exactly which objects are taking up that storage and how many records exist of each.
This screenshot is from a hands-on org, so the volume is quite small compared to most normal orgs. In all of the real orgs I’ve looked at, the number one data storage spot is taken up by either campaign members or tasks. This makes sense because orgs often have multiple campaign members and tasks tied to each lead or contact record.
5. File Storage
While we’re on the topic of storage, file storage works in much the same way. Details can be seen by clicking “View” next to “File Storage” and scrolling down. There are two sections – by type and user. Don’t be surprised if you see an admin’s name or an integration user taking up a lot of space, or if you see old users that are no longer active!
6. API Requests, Last 24 Hours
API Requests are one of those things that new admins sometimes don’t think about until it’s too late. You get that panicked email from the Marketo Integration team saying, “Salesforce is broken! None of our updates are going through!”
Before you get to that point, it’s important to know what your API Limit is and what is using up those calls. If you want more information on how to report on API Calls – check out this post! Like most other things, your API limits are determined by your edition and the number of licenses.
7. User Licenses
I’m adding this section here because it’s something I go over every single month with Salesforce Admins. This is by far the fastest and easiest way to see how many licenses you have purchased, how many are used, how many are left, and when they expire. And while you’re in this section, also check out the bottom row for #8!
8. Integration User Licenses
Integration User licenses are a new (as of 2023) feature of Salesforce. These are API-only licenses and are perfect for integrations like Marketo, Hubspot, Outreach.io, and other third-party apps that don’t require an actual UI login. The best part about these licenses is that the first five are FREE! Additional licenses can be purchased at a drastically reduced rate from a regular user license.
If you have any integrations that aren’t already on this type of license, or if you are sharing a license between a user and an integration tool – now is the time to get that fixed! This is a quick win for admins and also gives you some concrete proof of value – migrating to a free license type is an immediate financial savings for your org!
9. Feature Licenses
The biggest things here are the “Marketing User”, “Service Cloud User”, and “Flow User” numbers. These checkboxes are set on the individual user records and are not fields that you can run a standard report on. The Feature License section is the only place in Salesforce where you can see how many of these licenses are in use and how many are available.
10. Basic Org Information
Shockingly, most admins I talk to don’t know how old their org is or who the primary contact is. Keeping your organization details updated and accurate is crucial and will help immensely during Salesforce renewal season. Things like your default time zone, locales, phone number, and address can cause pain later in your org if they aren’t set up correctly.
Summary
Company Information is one of the most important places an admin has access to in Salesforce, but it’s also one of the least referenced for new admins. I hope this blog post has introduced you to some of the features available and explained how you can make the best use of them!