- Exam Snapshot: The Numbers You Need
- Domain Weights at a Glance
- Security and Access: The 20% Anchor
- Process Automation: The Other 20%
- Objects and Applications (19%)
- Data and Analytics Management (13%)
- Cloud Applications (11%)
- Auditing and Monitoring (10%)
- Environment Management and Deployment (7%)
- The Summer '22 Version Caveat
- Scheduling the Domains Across Your Prep
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The exam has 60 scored questions (plus up to five unscored), a 105-minute limit, and a 65% passing score.
- Security and Access and Process Automation are tied at 20% each, making them your highest-value domains.
- You must already hold the Salesforce Certified Platform Administrator credential before you can earn Platform Administrator II.
- No reference materials are allowed, whether you test online with OnVUE or at a Pearson VUE center.
Exam Snapshot: The Numbers You Need
Salesforce Certified Platform Administrator II is the advanced follow-up to the foundational Administrator credential. It targets admins with significant hands-on experience who handle complex security models, multi-step automation, data quality, and release management. This page condenses the facts that appear again and again in the official Salesforce exam guide, so you can verify the logistics before you commit study time. If you want a deeper walkthrough of the preparation process, see our SCAA study guide.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Certifying body | Salesforce |
| Question count | 60 multiple-choice/multiple-select questions, plus up to five unscored questions |
| Time allowed | 105 minutes |
| Passing score | 65% |
| Registration fee | US$200 plus applicable taxes |
| Retake fee | US$100 plus applicable taxes |
| Prerequisite | Salesforce Certified Platform Administrator certification |
| Delivery | Pearson OnVUE online proctoring or Pearson VUE testing center, through the Trailhead Academy/Pearson VUE experience |
| Reference materials | None permitted (no hard-copy or online resources) |
| Pass rate | Not publicly disclosed |
Two details deserve extra attention. First, the exam includes up to five unscored questions you cannot identify, so treat every question as if it counts. Second, the pass rate is not published by Salesforce, which means any figure you see quoted elsewhere is speculation. Our article on what the SCAA pass rate data actually shows explains how to interpret that gap.
Domain Weights at a Glance
The exam outline divides the content into seven weighted domains. Weighting should drive how you allocate review time, because a domain worth 20% of the exam deserves nearly three times the attention of one worth 7%.
| Domain | Weight | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Security and Access | 20% | Highest (tied) |
| Process Automation | 20% | Highest (tied) |
| Objects and Applications | 19% | High |
| Data and Analytics Management | 13% | Medium |
| Cloud Applications | 11% | Medium |
| Auditing and Monitoring | 10% | Medium-low |
| Environment Management and Deployment | 7% | Lower, but easy points |
Together, the top three domains account for 59% of the exam. A candidate who is rock solid on those three can absorb a few misses elsewhere and still clear 65%. For a full explanation of each area, see our complete guide to all seven SCAA exam domains.
Security and Access: The 20% Anchor
This domain tests whether you can design an access model that is secure without being so restrictive that users cannot work. Questions are usually scenario-based: a business requirement is described, and you choose the configuration that satisfies it with the least privilege necessary.
Security and Access (20%)
Know how data visibility is layered and which tool opens access versus which tool restricts it.
- Record access: organization-wide defaults, role hierarchy, sharing rules, manual sharing, and the difference between granting and restricting access.
- Field access: field-level security versus page layouts, and why hiding a field on a layout does not secure it.
- Profiles and permission sets: when to use a baseline profile plus additive permission sets, and how permission set groups simplify assignment.
- Delegated administration: what delegated admins can and cannot do, such as managing specified users and assigning specified profiles or permission sets.
- Authentication: single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, login policies, and session settings.
The Rule That Trips People Up
Sharing can only open access beyond the organization-wide default; it never tightens it. If a scenario requires a user to see fewer records than the default allows, the answer is a stricter default, not another sharing rule. Expect at least one question that hinges on this distinction.
Process Automation: The Other 20%
Process Automation is tied with Security for the largest slice of the exam, and it is the domain where hands-on practice matters most. The exam emphasizes declarative tools, meaning point-and-click automation rather than code.
Process Automation (20%)
Choose the right declarative tool, then predict how it behaves alongside everything else on the record.
- Flow: record-triggered, screen, scheduled, and autolaunched flows, plus when each is appropriate.
- Approval processes: entry criteria, approval steps, delegated approvers, and actions on approval, rejection, and recall.
- Validation rules and formula fields: logic that blocks bad data and derives values automatically.
- Order of execution: the sequence in which validation, triggers, flows, workflow-era automation, and commits run during a save.
- Troubleshooting: reading flow errors and understanding why two automations conflict.
Why Order of Execution Matters
Scenario questions often describe a field that ends up with an unexpected value because two automations touched it. You cannot answer these by memorizing tool features alone; you need to know where each automation fires relative to validation and before/after-save logic. Build one flow and one validation rule that interact, then watch how the record saves. That single exercise teaches more than rereading documentation.
Objects and Applications (19%)
This domain covers how your data model is structured and how users experience it. It is a close third in weight, so do not treat it as an afterthought.
Objects and Applications (19%)
Design the data model, then shape how users interact with it.
- Account and contact models: Person Accounts versus the standard business account-contact structure, and how contacts relate to multiple accounts.
- Object relationships: lookup versus master-detail, many-to-many with junction objects, and the effect of each on sharing, roll-up summaries, and deletion behavior.
- UI and UX: Lightning record pages, dynamic forms, page layouts, record types, and compact layouts.
A reliable pattern: when a question mentions that a child record must inherit its parent's sharing or that roll-up summary fields are needed, the relationship is almost certainly master-detail. When the child needs independence, lookup is the answer.
Data and Analytics Management (13%)
Here the exam tests data quality, movement, and reporting. These questions reward practical familiarity with the tools admins use weekly.
Data and Analytics Management (13%)
Keep data clean, get it in and out safely, and report on it accurately.
- Data quality: duplicate management, matching and duplicate rules, validation, and required fields.
- Imports: choosing between the Data Import Wizard and Data Loader based on volume, object support, and operation type.
- Reporting and analytics: report types, joined reports, dashboards, dynamic dashboards, and filtering logic.
- External data access: connecting to data that lives outside Salesforce.
Import tool selection is a frequent question type. The wizard suits simpler imports of supported objects, while Data Loader handles larger volumes and operations such as delete and export. Learn the boundary between them.
Cloud Applications (11%)
This domain spans several Salesforce product areas, and the official objectives now include Agentforce Sales and Agentforce Service capabilities within the broader scope. You are not expected to be a specialist in each cloud, but you should recognize which feature solves which business problem.
Cloud Applications (11%)
Match business needs to the right sales, service, and community features.
- Sales: forecasting and territory management, including how territories differ from roles.
- Service: Salesforce Knowledge, entitlements and service-level commitments, and Agentforce Service capabilities.
- Experience Cloud: external user access and the capabilities available to portals and communities.
Because this domain is broad rather than deep, a quick conceptual pass on each feature usually pays off more than deep configuration practice.
Auditing and Monitoring (10%)
Auditing questions ask how you would track changes, investigate problems, and protect sensitive information.
Auditing and Monitoring (10%)
Know which tool answers which "who changed what" question.
- Audit and monitoring tools: setup audit trail, field history tracking, debug logs, and login history.
- Sensitive-data controls: approaches to protecting regulated or confidential fields, including encryption options and access restrictions.
Environment Management and Deployment (7%)
The smallest domain is still worth studying, because the concepts are finite and the questions tend to be straightforward once you know the tools.
Environment Management and Deployment (7%)
Move changes safely from development to production.
- Sandboxes: the purpose and refresh behavior of each sandbox type, and when to use which.
- Change sets: what they can and cannot carry, and how inbound and outbound sets work between connected orgs.
- AppExchange deployment: installing and managing packaged solutions.
The Summer '22 Version Caveat
The current official exam guide still states that questions align to the Summer '22 release. Salesforce continues to list Platform Administrator II as an active certification in its 2026 materials, and no newer public exam outline was located in the official sources reviewed. In practice this means two things: the seven weighted domains are authoritative, but the detailed version statement is stale relative to today's product. Study the concepts the guide lists, and when a feature has evolved since Summer '22, understand both the classic behavior and the current one. Always confirm details against the official certification page before you register.
Scheduling the Domains Across Your Prep
If you only follow one structured plan, anchor it to the domain weights rather than to a generic calendar. Here is a sample sequence that front-loads the heaviest, most hands-on material.
Security and Access
- Rebuild a layered sharing model in a developer org
- Practice permission set groups and delegated administration
Process Automation
- Build record-triggered flows and an approval process
- Trace order of execution on a record with conflicting automation
Objects and Applications, then Data and Analytics
- Model master-detail and many-to-many relationships
- Run imports with both tools; build joined reports
Cloud Applications, Auditing, Environment Management
- Skim Knowledge, entitlements, forecasting, and territory concepts
- Take timed practice exams and review every miss
Security and automation come first because they carry the most weight and take the longest to internalize through hands-on work. For realistic timed practice, use the SCAA practice tests to check your readiness against the 105-minute limit and the 65% threshold.
Key Takeaway
Do not rely on memorization. The exam is scenario-driven and closed-book, so build things in a sandbox or developer org until you can predict how Salesforce will behave without looking anything up.
Registration, Renewal, and Test-Day Rules
Registration runs through the Trailhead Academy/Pearson VUE certification experience, and you choose between online proctoring (OnVUE) and a physical testing center. Either way, no reference materials of any kind are allowed. The fee is US$200 plus applicable taxes, and a retake is US$100 plus taxes; our SCAA certification cost breakdown covers budgeting in detail, and the scheduling guide explains how to book a slot.
Passing is not the end of your obligations. Salesforce requires certification maintenance, and the exam guide states that the Administrator maintenance badge must be completed three times a year or the certification expires. Plan for that ongoing commitment. If you are weighing the long-term value, our ROI analysis and salary guide look at what the credential can do for your career.
Frequently Asked Questions
The exam contains 60 multiple-choice and multiple-select questions, plus up to five unscored questions. You will not know which ones are unscored, so answer every question carefully within the 105-minute time limit.
The passing score is 65%. For more on how scoring works and what that means for your target, see our guide to the SCAA passing score.
Yes. Holding the Salesforce Certified Platform Administrator certification is a prerequisite for Platform Administrator II. Salesforce also recommends significant hands-on administrator experience and completion of ADX211 or equivalent knowledge.
Start with Security and Access and Process Automation, which are each 20% of the exam, followed by Objects and Applications at 19%. Together they make up 59% of the content. Our difficulty guide explains where candidates tend to struggle most.
No. The exam is proctored, whether online or at a testing center, and no hard-copy or online reference materials are permitted. That is why hands-on familiarity matters more than bookmarking documentation.