In the previous example, you created a new account named Sonoma Partners. Now let’s assume that Sonoma Partners is a division of a much larger organization named Contoso. Knowing a relationship exists between Sonoma Partners and Contoso might be beneficial when you’re working with either company. Microsoft Dynamics CRM allows you to capture and record this type of relationship by using parent accounts and sub-accounts. In this example, you would specify Contoso as the parent account of Sonoma Partners. When you do so, Microsoft Dynamics CRM automatically denotes that Sonoma Partners is a sub-account of Contoso.
Important
You can use parent accounts and sub-accounts to record a link between two organizations. Specifying one account as the parent account automatically makes the other a sub-account. Each account can have only one parent account, but you can specify as many sub-accounts as necessary.
Most companies that use Microsoft Dynamics CRM use parent accounts and sub-accounts to denote a legal or ownership relationship between two accounts. When one or more sub-accounts are related to a parent account, all of the activities and history for the sub-accounts are rolled up to the parent account. Therefore, when you look at the history of the Contoso account, Microsoft Dynamics CRM also displays the history of records attached to the Sonoma Partners account. This provides a complete picture of the interactions between the various records in your system, allowing your organization to understand your customers and tailor your sales, marketing, and customer service efforts accordingly.
See Also
For more information on how to track activities, see Chapter 4.
In this exercise, you will create a new Contoso account and link it to the Sonoma Partners account created in the previous example.
Note
USE the Sonoma Partners account record you created in the previous exercise.
BE SURE TO use the Internet Explorer Web browser to navigate to your Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web site, if necessary, before beginning this exercise.
In the application menu toolbar, click New Record, and select Account to launch the New Account form.
In the Account Name field, enter Contoso.
Enter values in any other required fields marked by a red asterisk, and then click the Save and Close button.
In the application navigation pane, click Accounts, and double-click the Sonoma Partners record.
In the box next to Parent Account, enter Contoso, and then press the
key.Microsoft Dynamics CRM automatically resolves the text you entered to the Contoso record. The association is indicated by the underline and blue text color of the parent account name.
