The Salesforce Certified Administrator credential is the foundation of the Salesforce certification path. It tests whether you can configure and maintain an org for a business: data model, security, automation, and reporting.
What the exam covers
- Configuration and setup (the app, the org, and the user interface).
- Object Manager and data modelling (standard and custom objects, fields, relationships).
- Sales and marketing applications (leads, accounts, opportunities, campaigns).
- Service and support applications (cases, queues, entitlements).
- Data and analytics management (imports, data quality, reports, dashboards).
- Workflow and process automation (flows, approval processes).
- Security and access (profiles, permission sets, sharing, field-level security).
Get a free Developer Org
Reading about Salesforce is not the same as using it. A free Developer Org lets you create objects, build a flow, write a validation rule, and run a report. Do the thing you are reading about within a day of learning it.
Security is the hardest area
The organization-wide defaults, role hierarchy, sharing rules, profiles, permission sets, and field-level security work together. Draw the diagram yourself: highest level of access needed at each layer. Most candidates lose points here, not on navigation.
Automation: prefer Flow
Newer exams lean on Flow over legacy automation. Learn when to use a record-triggered flow, a screen flow, or an approval process, and how to test them safely.
Suggested five-week plan
- Week 1: Navigation, setup, and the data model.
- Week 2: Sales and service applications.
- Week 3: Security and access in depth.
- Week 4: Automation with Flow.
- Week 5: Reports, dashboards, and timed practice sets.
