---
schema_version: "1"
id: 0beacdff66a2d79a9ee71a3a3a4ad0ef1c98c2250e959b4d5601db97e0e51a4a
title: Establish Areas and Distribute Units in Top-Down Territory Models
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/sales/264-0-0/territory_planning_design_top_down_planning_alignment_division.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sales.territory_planning_design_top_down_planning_alignment_division.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 5994f8a049dc458fb17c3309ba1345b2775c8327f123ab30291161bceb58d280
description: Structure your model so that subordinate areas support leadership goals within top-level areas in Territory Planning. Branch top-level areas into smaller ones, such as districts, states, and postal codes. Then distribute units in a way that gives you the best chances of meeting and exceeding leadership goals.
products:
  - Sales Cloud
  - Sales Enablement
release: "264"
---
# Establish Areas and Distribute Units in Top-Down Territory Models

Structure your model so that subordinate areas support leadership goals within top-level areas in Territory Planning. Branch top-level areas into smaller ones, such as districts, states, and postal codes. Then distribute units in a way that gives you the best chances of meeting and exceeding leadership goals.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: both Salesforce Classic (not available in all orgs) and Lightning Experience</td></tr><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: <strong>Professional</strong>, <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Performance</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, and <strong>Developer</strong> Editions with <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sales.territory_planning_api_access.htm&amp;type=5&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">Web Services API enabled</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small permission">
        <colgroup>
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        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
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            <th scope="colgroup" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d13347e77">User Permissions Needed</th>
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            <td data-label="User Permissions Needed" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13347e77 ">To modify alignments:</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d13347e77 ">
              <p>SF Maps Territory Planning permission set</p>
              <p>OR</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;">SF Maps Territory Planning for Sales Planning permission set (after you purchase Sales Planning)</p>
            </td>

          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>

1. Open an alignment that includes the top-level areas you want to branch into smaller areas. Select all the top-level areas, select **Include Unassigned Units**, then click **Apply**.
    
    ![New alignment that you created with the focus set to show all top-level areas and unassigned units](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-sales_performance_management-264-0-0-production-enus/b1f2feb4-26b8-444f-97f7-be2349869d93/sales_performance_management/images/salesforce_maps_territory_planning_top_down_alignment_4.png)
    
    The top-level areas and unassigned units appear on the map and its legend.
2. Click **Optimize**, then set your optimization priority. For example, to distribute units equally among top-level areas, select **Balance**, then optimize the alignment.
    
    ![Unassigned units and top-level areas on the map with optimization set for balance](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-sales_performance_management-264-0-0-production-enus/b1f2feb4-26b8-444f-97f7-be2349869d93/sales_performance_management/images/salesforce_maps_territory_planning_top_down_optimize_1.png)
    
    Territory Planning assigns units to the top-level areas based on the optimization priority that you set.
    
    ![Assigned units in top-level areas](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-sales_performance_management-264-0-0-production-enus/b1f2feb4-26b8-444f-97f7-be2349869d93/sales_performance_management/images/salesforce_maps_territory_planning_top_down_optimize_2.png)
3. Assign owners to the top-level areas, then give editor access to those owners for their areas. The owners can define their territory structures.
    
    ![Area assignment and sharing](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-sales_performance_management-264-0-0-production-enus/b1f2feb4-26b8-444f-97f7-be2349869d93/sales_performance_management/images/salesforce_maps_territory_planning_top_down_assign_share_1.png)
4. Add subordinate areas, such as districts within the top-level areas, then apply your changes.
    
    ![Area definition within the top-level area](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-sales_performance_management-264-0-0-production-enus/b1f2feb4-26b8-444f-97f7-be2349869d93/sales_performance_management/images/salesforce_maps_territory_planning_top_down_assign_share_2.png)
    
    Territory Planning assigns the units from the top-level area to the first subordinate area, such as District 1. For other top-level areas, Territory Planning places their units into placeholders until you add subordinate areas to them.
    
    ![Area definition within the top-level area](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-sales_performance_management-264-0-0-production-enus/b1f2feb4-26b8-444f-97f7-be2349869d93/sales_performance_management/images/salesforce_maps_territory_planning_top_down_assign_share_3.png)
5. Change the focus to show the top-level area that you added subordinate areas to. Change the hierarchy level to show the subordinate areas, then optimize the focus.
    
    ![Focus changed from showing regions to districts and optimization options](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-sales_performance_management-264-0-0-production-enus/b1f2feb4-26b8-444f-97f7-be2349869d93/sales_performance_management/images/salesforce_maps_territory_planning_top_down_assign_share_4.png)
    
    Territory Planning assigns units to the subordinate areas based on the optimization priority that you set.
    
    ![Subordinate areas optimized for balance](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sales-sales_performance_management-264-0-0-production-enus/b1f2feb4-26b8-444f-97f7-be2349869d93/sales_performance_management/images/salesforce_maps_territory_planning_top_down_assign_share_5.png)
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each area that you want to add subordinate areas to. Apply the same method when you branch to even smaller areas, such as states and postal codes.