Creating and Managing Associations Between Opportunities, Companies, and Custom Objects
About Associations
Associations allow you to connect different types of records in your CRM to reflect real-world business relationships. You can link Opportunities to Companies, Opportunities to Custom Objects, and Companies to Custom Objects. This creates a unified view of related information, helping your team work more efficiently and make better decisions by seeing the full context of each business relationship.
Benefits of Using Associations
Using associations in your CRM provides several key advantages:
- Gain a complete view of how Opportunities, Companies, and Custom Objects relate to each other
- Model actual business relationships, such as connecting deals to specific companies or assets
- Save time by accessing related information without switching between different records
- Use association data in workflows, reports, and exports for better tracking and personalization
Supported Association Types
Your CRM supports associations between the following record types:
- Opportunities and Custom Objects
- Companies and Custom Objects
- Companies and Opportunities
You can configure different relationship types including one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many relationships.
Creating an Association
Step 1: Access the Associations Tab
Navigate to Settings, then select Custom Objects, and choose the specific object you want to configure. Click on the Associations tab and select Create Association.
Step 2: Configure the Association
Select the object type you want to associate with (either Opportunities or Companies). Name your association using either a single label or a pair of labels to describe the relationship. Choose the relationship type that matches your business needs. Optionally, you can set record limits (up to 1,000 records). Review the preview and click Save to create the association.
Managing Associations from Records
You can manage associations directly from individual records:
From Opportunities
Open an Opportunity record, go to the Associated Objects section, click the + Associate button, and select either Company or Custom Object to link.
From Companies
Open a Company record, navigate to the Associations or Related Objects section, and link to Opportunities or Custom Objects.
From Custom Objects
Open a Custom Object record and add associated Opportunities or Companies. All associations appear immediately and can be edited at any time.
Viewing Associations
Record Details View
All linked records appear in the Associated Objects panel within each record. You can open any linked record in a side panel without leaving your current screen.
Kanban View (Opportunities)
Go to Opportunities and use Manage Fields to add Association Label fields to your cards. This allows you to view linked Companies or Custom Objects directly on the opportunity cards.
List View
Add Association fields as columns in list views to see all linked records in one place. This is useful for filtering, bulk actions, and exports.
Tips and Best Practices
- You can create up to 10 labels per object pair
- Each label supports up to 1,000 linked records per side
- Associations are automatically removed if a record is deleted
- You can add association fields to reports and exports through Manage Fields
Example Use Cases
Real Estate
Link Properties (as Custom Objects) to Opportunities and Companies to track buyers, listings, and agencies in one centralized view.
Events Management
Connect Events (as Custom Objects) to Companies and Sponsorship Opportunities to manage event relationships.
Insurance
Associate Policies or Quotes (as Custom Objects) with Opportunities and Companies for complete lifecycle tracking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I limit relationships between records?
Yes, you can use One-to-One relationship types or set specific limits during the association configuration.
Will renaming association labels break existing associations?
No, renaming labels only changes the display name - your existing associations will remain intact.
Can I bulk import associations?
Bulk import functionality for associations is not currently available.
Can I use associations in reporting?
Yes, you can include association fields in your reports through the Manage Fields option.
What happens to associations when a record is deleted?
Associations are automatically removed when either record in the association is deleted.