Sample Opportunity Management Validation Rules

Examples for Examples for how to validate custom fields and other fields on opportunities.

Available in: both Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience

Available in: Contact Manager, Group, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, Developer, and Database.com Editions

For more information on any of the formula functions used in these examples, see Formula Operators and Functions.

Conditionally-Required Field Based on Opportunity Stage

Field	Value
Description:	Validates that a custom field called Delivery Date is provided if an opportunity has advanced to the Closed Won or Negotiation/Review stage.
Formula:
Error Message:	Delivery Date is required for this stage.
Error Location:	Delivery Date

Close Date Cannot Be Prior to Current Month

Field	Value
Description:	Validates that the Close Date of an opportunity is not within a month prior to the current month. Note the use of ISNEW and ISCHANGED in this formula to ensure the condition is only checked when the opportunity is being created or the Close Date field is modified subsequently.
Formula:
Error Message:	Close Date cannot be prior to current month.
Error Location:	Close Date

Close Date Must Be a Future Date

Field	Value
Description:	Ensures that users do not change the Close Date of an opportunity to a day in the past.
Formula:
Error Message:	Close Date cannot be a day in the past.
Error Location:	Close Date

Discounts on Opportunities

Field	Value
Description:	Validates that a custom discount percent field is between 0 and 40%.
Formula:	`OR(Discount_Rate__c < 0, Discount_Rate__c > 0.40)`
Error Message:	The Discount Rate must not exceed 40%.
Error Location:	Discount Rate

High-Value Opportunity Must Be Approved Before Closed

Field	Value
Description:	Opportunities with amounts greater than $50,000 require that a custom checkbox field called Approved is checked in order to change the stage to Closed Won or Closed Lost. To automate this, set field-level security on the Approved checkbox so that it can only be checked via a custom approval process (Enterprise Edition, Unlimited Edition, or Performance Edition).
Formula:
Error Message:	All high-value opportunities must be approved for closure. Click the Request Close button.
Error Location:	Top of Page

Opportunity Amount Cannot Exceed $10 Million

Field	Value
Description:	Validates that opportunity Amount is positive and no more than $10 million. This limit is designed to catch typos.
Formula:
Error Message:	Amount cannot exceed $10 million.
Error Location:	Amount

Opportunity Check for Products

Field	Value
Description:	Validates that an opportunity has at least one opportunity product before users can save a change to an opportunity.
Formula:
Error Message:	You must add products to this opportunity before saving.
Error Location:	Top of Page

Opportunity Must Have Products if Beyond “Needs Analysis” Stage

Field	Value
Description:	Validates that an opportunity has opportunity products before the Stage can move beyond Needs Analysis.
Formula:
Error Message:	Opportunity products are required to advance beyond the Needs Analysis stage.
Error Location:	Top of Page

Opportunity Name Format

Field	Value
Description:	Validates that an opportunity contains a hyphen as a way of enforcing an “[Account] - [Amount]” opportunity naming convention.
Formula:
Error Message:	Opportunity Name should use “[Account] - [Amount]” format.
Error Location:	Opportunity Name

Prevent Sales Reps from Moving Opportunity Stage Backwards

Field	Value
Description:	Prevent sales reps from changing opportunity Stage “backwards” to specific values, once they have accepted the opportunity via a custom approval process. The approval process sets the custom Accepted Flag checkbox to True.
Formula:
Error Message:	Invalid stage for accepted opportunity.
Error Location:	Stage

Probability Must Be 100% for Won Opportunities

Field	Value
Description:	Validates that the probability of a won opportunity is properly set to 100%. This is useful for data cleanliness and reporting purposes.
Formula:
Error Message:	Probability must be 100% for won opportunities.
Error Location:	Probability

Probability Must Be Zero for Lost Opportunities

Field	Value
Description:	Validates that the probability of a lost opportunity is properly set to zero. This is useful for data cleanliness and reporting purposes.
Formula:
Error Message:	Probability must be 0% for lost opportunities.
Error Location:	Probability

Project Start Date

Field	Value
Description:	Validates that a field is conditionally required based on the values of other fields. Use this validation formula to ensure that users include a Project Start Date for an opportunity that is closed/won.
Formula:
Error Message:	Project start date is required for won opportunities.
Error Location:	Project Start Date

Examples of Validation Rules