Person accounts in Salesforce allow an individual to be represented as both an Account and Contact record simultaneously. When a person account is created, a linked contact record is also created. Person accounts are recommended for business-to-consumer scenarios like healthcare. Configuration requires enabling person accounts and specifying a record type. Data can be converted between traditional and person accounts using Data Loader if relationships are one-to-one. Limitations include incompatibility with some packages and lack of account hierarchies.

1. Overview of person accounts in
Salesforce
Astrea IT Services Pvt Ltd

2. Person Accounts
 Traditional accounts are targeted for B2B customers
 Two standard objects Account and Contact are merged together
into a Person Account
 Feature available by requesting Salesforce
 Account represents an individual instead of a company
 Contact related list is not displayed
 We can continue to use Business accounts, once person accounts
are set up
 Fields of contact are displayed on the Account page layout
 Recommended by Salesforce for
 business-to-consumer functionality
 for those who sell to or do business with individuals
 example, a doctor or real estate

3. Person Account
 When a person account is created, a person contact is also created
 The contactId is stored in the PersonContactId field of account
 Only one contact is allowed for person account
 If Account is deleted, contact is also deleted
 Contact cannot be directly deleted
 User will need to specify a record type every time a new account
needs to be made
 Implemented internally as a different record type
 The Account field IsPersonAccount is set to true
 Salesforce supports multiple record types for both Person and
Business accounts

4. Conversion
 Conversion can be done through Data Loader
 To convert account to person account
 There should be one to one relationship between account and
contact
 Fields that are shared between account and contact
(owner, currency) must have same values
 The Parent Account field on the Account and the Reports To
field of the Contact are both blank
 The Account is not set as the Parent Account of any other
Account records
 The Contact is not set as the Reports To of any other Contact
records
 To convert person account to account
 No validations are performed

5. Migration considerations
 Account Name field will be permanently overwritten by
the First Name and Last Name of the Contact(not the
Contacts Salutation)
 Store original Account Name and Salutation in custom
fields prior to conversion (if required)
 For any Account and Contact fields that have the same
field label, only the original Account fields are available to
be added to the Person Account page layout. Examples
Phone, Fax, Description, Created By info, Last Modified
info, and Last Activity info
 Custom fields of contact are copied to custom fields of
account (have extension of __pc instead of __c)

6. Limitations for Person Accounts
Cross Object Formulas do not work for some
fields of Person Account
Certain contact fields are not accessible
[workaround available]
Many Appexchange packages do not work
with Person accounts
Account hierarchy feature is not available

7. Alternative – simulate behavior of
Person account
It is possible to enforce restrictions in
Accounts/Contacts … only one contact per
account
Could be implemented thru validation rule or
trigger
Fields of contact can be displayed on the
Account using formula/triggers (for example
mass email)

8. Additional resources
 Salesforce Implementation Guide for Person
accounts
 Article by Jeff Douglas
 Cloudyk article
 Tips and hints for person account by Salesforce
 For any questions contact ngabrani At astreait dot
com