---
schema_version: "1"
id: 0a1630d4ee2259b38e5c0a87655846d1b528a0322db6479d5945a1601ff9b30f
title: Planning for Entitlement Management
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/service/264-0-0/entitlements_determining_set_up.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.entitlements_determining_set_up.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 2c2da203a01360c47705c09adb2c623066dd69409011968c3330d0cc6a7e412e
description: Entitlement management is highly customizable, which means you have many choices during setup. Before you begin the setup process, it’s essential to choose an entitlement management model.
products:
  - Service Cloud
release: "264"
---
# Planning for Entitlement Management

Entitlement management is highly customizable, which means you have many choices during setup. Before you begin the setup process, it’s essential to choose an entitlement management model.

### 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;"><a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.service_editions_reference.htm&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">View supported editions</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table>

## Choose What Determines Support Eligibility

You can set up entitlement management so customers are eligible for support based on one or several of the following types of records:

- _Accounts:_ Any contact on the account is eligible for support.
- _Contacts:_ Specific contacts are eligible for support.
- _Assets:_ Specific assets (purchased products) are eligible for support.
- _Service contracts:_ Customers are eligible for support based on a specific service contract.
- _Contract line items:_ Specific products covered by a service contract are eligible for support.

Your approach depends on how detailed you want your support process to be. If you prefer to keep it simple, just have your support reps determine support eligibility based on accounts. Here’s what this approach looks like:

![Verifying support](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-service-support-264-0-0-production-enus/dd14551c-a772-4db6-9a1d-d84df8df2980/support/images/entitlements/em_verify_support.png)

## Choose a Setup Model

There are three general ways to set up entitlement management. Once you’ve decided what should determine support eligibility, review the three models and select the one that best meets your business needs. You can always change which model you’re using.

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
          <col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
          <col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d48394e117">Entitlement model</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d48394e120">What determines support eligibility</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d48394e123">Use this model if</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Entitlement model" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d48394e117 ">Entitlements only (simplest option)</td>

            <td data-label="What determines support eligibility" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d48394e120 ">Support reps determine whether a customer is eligible for support at the
              account, contact, or asset level.</td>

            <td data-label="Use this model if" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d48394e123 ">
              <ul>
                <li>There's no need to manage your customers' entitlements as part of a service
                  contract</li>

                <li>Your entitlements don't have a renewal process</li>

                <li>Entitlements aren't purchased by your customers; they're bundled with products
                  (warranties)</li>

                <li>Your customers' entitlements are short term and managed independently of each
                  other</li>

              </ul>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Entitlement model" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d48394e117 ">Entitlements + service contracts</td>

            <td data-label="What determines support eligibility" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d48394e120 ">Support reps determine whether a customer is eligible for support based on
              their service contract. </td>

            <td data-label="Use this model if" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d48394e123 ">
              <ul>
                <li>Entitlements are purchased and managed separately from the products they cover and are
                  part of a service contract</li>

                <li>Your customers' entitlements are renewed at a contract level</li>

                <li>You use Salesforce for customer support but
                  not necessarily for service contract management</li>

              </ul>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Entitlement model" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d48394e117 ">Entitlements + service contracts + contract line items (most complex option)</td>

            <td data-label="What determines support eligibility" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d48394e120 ">Support reps determine whether a customer is eligible for support based on the
              products covered in their service contract.</td>

            <td data-label="Use this model if" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d48394e123 ">
              <ul>
                <li>You use Salesforce for customer support and
                  to manage your customers' service contracts</li>

                <li>Your support team manages service contract transactions, such as transfers, mergers,
                  and renewals</li>

                <li>Warranties, subscriptions, or other support products appear as line items on your sales
                  orders and map to one or more entitlements</li>

                <li>Entitlements are created and updated through an integration with your order management
                  system</li>

              </ul>
            </td>

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

Regardless of the setup model you choose, you can enhance your support process with other entitlement management features. For example, you can:

- Create entitlement processes to enforce required, time-dependent steps in your support process
- Use entitlement versioning to create and maintain multiple versions of entitlement processes
- Add entitlements to experiences
- Report on entitlements

After you select a setup model, head to the invaluable [Entitlement Management Setup Checklist](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.entitlements_setting_up_entitlement_management.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "When you set up entitlement management, you decide which features to use. Use this checklist to confirm that you’ve set up entitlement management in a way that fits your support processes.").

#### See Also

- [What’s Entitlement Management?](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.entitlements_about.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Entitlement management helps you provide the correct support to your customers. Its variety of features let you define, enforce, and track service levels as part of your support management process.")