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Data Quality
Standard Account Matching Rule

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Standard Account Matching Rule

The standard account matching rule identifies duplicate accounts using match keys, a matching equation, and matching criteria. It’s activated by default.

Match Keys

Match keys speed up matching by narrowing the potential matches to the most likely duplicates before the rule applies the comprehensive matching equation.

Match Key Notation Match Key Value Examples
Company (2,6) City (_, 6)

Account: Orange Sporting Company = orangesporti

City: San Francisco = sanfra

Key: orangesportisanfra
Company (2,6) ZIP (1,3)

Account Name: salesforce.com = salesf

ZIP: 94105-5188 = 941

Key: salesf941
Website City (_,6)

Website: https://www.salesforce.com = salesforce.com

City: San Francisco = sanfra

Key: salesforce.comsanfra
Website ZIP (1,3)

Website: https://www.salesforce.com = salesforce.com

ZIP: 94105-5188 = 941

Key: salesforce.com941

Matching Equation

Important
Important For accurate matches, the new or edited record must include a value in the Account Name field and either the City or the ZIP Code field.

(Account Name AND Billing Street)

OR (Account Name AND City AND State)

OR (Account Name AND ZIP)

OR (Account Name AND Phone)

OR (Website AND Phone)

OR (Website AND Billing Street)

Matching Criteria

Field Matching Algorithms Scoring Method Threshold Blank Fields Special Handling
Account Name

Acronym

Edit Distance

Exact

 Maximum 70 Don’t match Removes words such as “Inc” and “Corp” before comparing fields. Company names are normalized.
Phone Exact Weighted Average 80 Don’t match on all sections except Area Code, which ignores blank fields

Phone numbers are broken into sections and compared by those sections. Each section has its own matching method and match score. The section scores are weighted to come up with one score for the field. This process works best with North American data.

  • International code (Exact, 10% of field’s match score)
  • Area code (Exact, 50% of field’s match score)
  • Next three digits (Exact, 30% of field’s match score
  • Last four digits (Exact, 10% of field’s match score)

For example, these two phone numbers are being compared: 1-415-555-1234 and 1-415-555-5678.

All sections match exactly, except the last four digits, so the field has a score of 90, which is considered a match because it exceeds the threshold of 80.
Billing Street

Edit Distance

Exact

 Weighted Average 80 Don’t match

Addresses are broken into sections and compared by those sections. Each section has its own matching method and match score. The section scores are weighted to come up with one score for the field. This process works best with North American data.

  • Street Number (exact, 20% of field’s match score)
  • Street Name (Edit Distance, 50% of field’s match score)
  • Street Suffix (exact, 15% of field’s match score)
  • Suite Number (exact, 15% of field’s match score)

For example, these two billing streets are being compared: 123 Market Street, Suite 100, and 123 Market Drive, Suite 300.

Because only the street number and street name match, the field has a match score of 70. The field isn’t considered a match because the score is below the threshold of 80.
ZIP Exact Weighted Average 80 Don’t match

ZIP codes are broken into sections and compared by those sections. Each section has its own matching method and match score. The section scores are weighted to come up with one score for the field.

  • First five digits (exact, 90% of field’s match score)
  • Next four digits (exact, 10% of field’s match score)

For example, these two ZIP codes are being compared: 94104-1001 and 94104.

Because only the first five digits match, the field has a match score of 90. The field is considered a match because the score exceeds the threshold of 80.
City

Edit Distance

Exact

 Maximum 85 Don’t match  
Website Exact Maximum 100 Don’t match The prefix “https://” is appended to the website domain. For example, the field value www.salesforce.com becomes https://www.salesforce.com for matching purposes. Matching for an account record that has a website without the “https://” prefix identifies the record as a duplicate.

See Also

 
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