Platform Administrator II
The Platform Administrator II credential (formerly Advanced Administrator) is for admins who already hold the base Administrator cert and want to prove deeper platform expertise. It tests complex, multi-layered scenarios: how OWD, Territory Management, sharing rules, and delegated administration interact. You need to know not just what each tool does, but exactly how it behaves when combined with others. The exam assumes mastery of the foundational security model and jumps straight into order of execution, approval processes, and advanced reporting.
4-Step Path to Passing
- 1Complete theStart with the official Salesforce prep trailmix for Platform Administrator II. The recommended modules align with the exam blueprint. Keep your completion percentage up as Salesforce occasionally updates the trailmix.
- 2Look at theEvery concept you need to know for your exam, available for free to check off as you learn.
- 3AttemptI recommend my own practice exams, but I have linked other options in the Study Resources section below. These are the best indicators for how you should expect to do on the real exam. Expect more scenario-based questions than the Admin exam.
- 4Exams run every day at all hours. Schedule with short notice when you are ready. There is no need to book far in advance.
Core Resources
Exam Overview
Questions
65
60 scored + 5 unscored
Duration
105 min
1 hour 45 minutes
To Pass
65%
Minimum Score
Question Format
Scored
92%60questions
Unscored
8%5questions
Exam Details
Pricing
$200 registration · $100 retake
Delivery
Online proctored or at a testing center
Experience
12+ months recommended
Prerequisites
Salesforce Certified Platform Administrator
Exam Topics
Each topic section shows the topic weight, learning objectives, and links to study resources.
Security and Access20%
Sharing model, OWD, role hierarchy, controlled by parent, criteria-based and owner-based sharing rules, manual sharing, Territory Management 2.0, dashboard and report folder access, profiles, permission sets, delegated administration, authentication (My Domain, SSO, MFA), Person accounts, Contact to Multiple Accounts.
- Given a scenario, determine the implications to record and field data access (Sharing model, controlled by parent, grant access by hierarchies, dashboard and report folders access, email folder access, Territory Management).
- Compare and contrast the capabilities of custom profiles, permission sets, and delegated administration.
- Given a scenario, determine the implications of user authentication.
- Compare and contrast the capabilities of a complex business model (Person accounts, Account, Contacts, and Contact to multiple Accounts).
Resources
Objects and Applications19%
Master detail, lookup, junction objects, related lists, record types, Schema Builder, Object Creator, App Manager, Lightning App Builder, Dynamic Forms, standard components, Console, Lightning page analyze button.
- Given a scenario, determine the appropriate solution to enhance or extend objects (master-detail, lookup, junction object, related list, record type, Schema Builder, and Object Creator).
- Given a scenario, determine the appropriate solution to enhance or extend the UI/UX with applications (App Manager, Lightning App Builder, Dynamic Forms, standard Lightning page components, Console, and Lightning page analyze button).
Resources
Auditing and Monitoring10%
Setup Audit Trail, debug logs, Field History Tracking, Health Check, sandbox data security, Shield Platform Encryption vs Classic Encryption.
- Given a scenario, determine the appropriate tools for monitoring and troubleshooting system activity (debug log, set up audit trail).
- Explain how to ensure sensitive data is set up to support a business/legal/compliance use case in production and sandbox environments.
- Explain how to review and troubleshoot security settings including pending updates that may change system access.
Resources
Cloud Applications11%
Products, price books, quotes, orders, forecasting, Territory Management 2.0, Salesforce Knowledge, data categories, entitlements, entitlement processes, milestones, Omni-Channel, Service Console, Case Feed.
- Describe the features of Salesforce which enable Sales users to conduct the sale process, including products, price books, schedules, orders, and quotes.
- Distinguish and understand the implications and capabilities of Forecasting and Territory Management.
- Explain how to create and maintain Salesforce Knowledge (article record types, data categories).
- Explain how to create and maintain service entitlements and entitlement processes.
- Describe the features of Salesforce which enable interaction between support agents and customers (Chat, Case Feed, Service Cloud Console, Experience Cloud sites, Omni-Channel).
- Given a scenario, understand the standard Salesforce suite of products that enable extending the core platform.
Resources
Data and Analytics Management13%
Data quality, validation rules, duplicate rules, custom report types, reporting snapshots, joined reports, cross filters, bucket fields, custom summary formulas, dynamic dashboards, dashboard filters, Data Loader, data import wizard.
- Explain the tools and best practices for assessing, improving, and enriching data quality (data types, validation, managing duplicates, enriching, archiving).
- Given a scenario, determine the appropriate analytic tools to meet complex reporting requirements (custom report types, reporting snapshots, complex charting, custom summary formulas, bucketing, joined reports, cross filters, dynamic dashboards, dashboard filters).
- Understand methods to connect to, access, backup/restore, or archive data outside of the Salesforce Platform (big objects, data warehouse, external objects, data lakes, third-party solutions, and Salesforce Connect).
- Given a scenario, identify the appropriate tools and methods for importing data into Salesforce (data import wizard, data loader, and external ID).
Resources
Environment Management and Deployment7%
Sandbox types (Developer, Developer Pro, Partial Copy, Full Copy), change sets (inbound, outbound, component types, deployment connections), AppExchange managed and unmanaged packages.
- Describe the options available to move metadata between environments (change sets, sandboxes, and AppExchange - managed/unmanaged).
- Describe the capabilities and best practices for using change sets to move metadata between environments.
Resources
Process Automation20%
Order of execution, record triggered flows (before save, after save, before delete), autolaunched flows, scheduled flows, approval processes, validation rules, subflows, fault paths, loop limits.
- Given a complex scenario, determine the solution using the best tool or combination of tools to solve a business problem.
- Given a scenario, identify the appropriate tool or method for troubleshooting declarative automation.
- Given a scenario, explain the capabilities and limitations of each declarative automation tool.
- Understand the implications of the order of execution when using automation tools.
Resources
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