Salesforce Formula Interview Questions: Functions and Limits (Part 10)

Salesforce Formula Interview Questions check how well you write formulas for fields, validation rules, reports and flows, plus the limits every admin should know. This is Part 10 of our 25-part series.

In Part 3, we covered formula fields at a basic level. Here we go deeper into functions, special variables and common limits. Our formula fields guide and REGEX guide are good companions.

How to Use These Salesforce Formula Interview Questions

Write each formula on paper before you answer. Interviewers often ask you to “say the formula out loud”, so practise a few common ones until you can explain them line by line. Also learn the main limits, because “what is the limit of” questions are easy points.

Salesforce Formula Interview Questions on Formula Basics

Study with Formula Fields.

1. What is a formula field?
2. Where else can you use formulas besides fields?
3. What return types can a formula have?
4. What is the character limit of a formula?
5. Define the compiled size limit of a formula.
6. Does a formula field store data?
7. When does a formula field recalculate?
8. Can a formula field reference another formula field?
9. What happens to a formula when a referenced field is deleted?
10. What is the difference between “Treat blank fields as zeroes” and “as blanks”?
11. Can you use a formula field as a filter in a roll-up summary?
12. Can you index a formula field?
13. Why can formula fields slow down reports on large objects?
14. Scenario: a formula is too long to save. What do you do?
15. Scenario: a formula shows #Error! on some records. How do you fix it?

Text Functions Questions

Study with Formula Fields.

16. What does the TEXT() function do?
17. What do LEFT, RIGHT and MID do?
18. Briefly, what does LEN return?
19. What do UPPER and LOWER do?
20. What does TRIM do?
21. Briefly, what does SUBSTITUTE do?
22. What does CONTAINS do?
23. What does BEGINS do?
24. Briefly, what does FIND return?
25. How do you join two text fields?
26. What does HYPERLINK do?
27. What does IMAGE do?
28. Briefly, what does ISPICKVAL do, and why is it needed?
29. What does ISNUMBER do?
30. What does LPAD do?
31. Briefly, what does RPAD do?
32. What does INCLUDES do with a multi-select picklist?
33. Scenario: show a full name from First Name and Last Name. Write the formula idea.
34. Scenario: show a clickable link to a Google search for the account name. Which function do you use?

Salesforce Formula Interview Questions on Date and Time Functions

Study with Formula Fields.

35. What is the difference between TODAY() and NOW()?
36. How do you add days to a date?
37. How do you add months to a date?
38. What does DATEVALUE do?
39. What does DATETIMEVALUE do?
40. Briefly, what do YEAR, MONTH and DAY return?
41. What does WEEKDAY return?
42. How do you find the number of days between two dates?
43. How do time zones affect date and time formulas?
44. What does TIMEVALUE do?
45. What does ADDMONTHS do?
46. Briefly, what does DATE() build?
47. How do you get the first day of the month?
48. How do you check if a date is in this year?
49. Scenario: show the number of days until a course starts. Write the formula idea.
50. Scenario: show “Overdue” when the due date is in the past. Write the formula idea.

Logical Functions Questions

Study with Validation Rules.

51. What does IF do?
52. What does CASE do, and when is it better than IF?
53. Briefly, what do AND, OR and NOT do?
54. What does ISBLANK do?
55. What does ISNULL do, and why is ISBLANK preferred?
56. Briefly, what does BLANKVALUE do?
57. What does NULLVALUE do?
58. What does ISCHANGED do?
59. Briefly, what does ISNEW do?
60. What does PRIORVALUE do?
61. Where can ISCHANGED and PRIORVALUE be used?
62. How do you nest IF statements safely?
63. What is the maximum nesting you should use before switching to CASE?
64. What does ISCLONE do?
65. Scenario: show High, Medium or Low based on fee ranges. IF or CASE?
66. Scenario: a rule must fire only when the Stage changes to Closed Lost. Write the idea.

Salesforce Formula Interview Questions on Math and Number Functions

Study with Formula Fields.

67. What do ROUND, CEILING and FLOOR do?
68. What does MOD return?
69. Briefly, what do MAX and MIN do?
70. What does ABS do?
71. What does VALUE do?
72. How do you calculate a percentage in a formula?
73. How do you avoid dividing by zero?
74. What is the difference between a currency and a number return type?
75. What does SQRT do?
76. Briefly, what does EXP do, at a high level?
77. How do you round to two decimal places?
78. Scenario: calculate a discounted fee from Fee and Discount Percent. Write the idea.
79. Scenario: a percent formula shows 5000% instead of 50%. Why?

Special Variables and Cross-Object Formulas Questions

Study with Cross-Object Formulas.

80. What is a cross-object formula?
81. How many levels up can a cross-object formula go?
82. What is $User used for?
83. What is $Profile used for?
84. Explain what $UserRole is used for.
85. What is $Setup used for?
86. What is $Label used for?
87. Explain what $CustomMetadata is used for.
88. What is $Permission used for?
89. What is $Organization used for?
90. Briefly, what does CASESAFEID do?
91. What does REGEX do, and where can you use it?
92. What does GETRECORDIDS do, at a high level?
93. Explain what $Api is used for.
94. What does VLOOKUP do in a validation rule?
95. Scenario: a validation rule must skip users with a custom permission. Which variable do you use?
96. Scenario: show the account owner manager name on a case. Is it possible?

Salesforce Formula Interview Questions on Validation Rule Formulas

Study with Validation Rules.

97. When does a validation rule show its error?
98. How do you make a field required only for one stage?
99. How do you stop a past start date for new records only?
100. Explain how you check that the end date is after the start date.
101. How do you stop users from changing a field after it is set?
102. How do you check a phone number format?
103. Explain how you check that a picklist value is chosen.
104. How do you allow an admin to bypass a rule?
105. How do you write a rule that checks a related record field?
106. Explain how you write a rule that runs only for one record type.
107. How do you stop a status from moving backwards?
108. How do you require a reason when a deal is lost?
109. Scenario: the discount cannot be more than 20% unless the user is a manager. Write the idea.
110. Scenario: a closed deal must not be edited by reps. Write the idea.

Report and Flow Formulas Questions

Study with Report Formulas.

111. What is a summary formula in a report?
112. What is a row-level formula in a report?
113. Briefly, what does PARENTGROUPVAL do?
114. What does PREVGROUPVAL do?
115. What is a formula resource in Flow?
116. How is a flow formula different from a field formula?
117. Can you use a formula in flow entry conditions?
118. Scenario: show each rep share of the team total in a report. Which function do you use?
119. Scenario: a flow must calculate a due date seven business days later. What is your approach?

Salesforce Formula Interview Questions on Limits Every Admin Should Know

Study with Order of Execution.

120. How many custom fields can an object have, and what controls it?
121. How many master-detail relationships can an object have?
122. Briefly, how many relationship fields can an object have?
123. How many roll-up summary fields can an object have?
124. How many fields can you track with field history?
125. Briefly, how long does the Recycle Bin keep records?
126. How many records can the Data Import Wizard load?
127. What is the daily limit for Web-to-Lead?
128. What is the daily limit for Web-to-Case?
129. How often can you refresh a Full sandbox?
130. What is a governor limit, and why does it exist?
131. What does “Too many SOQL queries: 101” mean?
132. How many validation rules can an object have?
133. What is the formula size limit?
134. How many custom objects can an org have, and what affects it?
135. Scenario: an interviewer asks a limit you do not remember. What do you say?
136. Scenario: an object is close to its custom field limit. What do you do?

Salesforce Formula Interview Questions FAQ

Do I need to memorise every limit?

No. Know the common ones and say you would confirm others in Salesforce Help. Limits also change between editions.

Will I be asked to write a formula live?

Often, yes. Practise five common formulas until you can write them without help.

Official Resources

• Formula Operators and Functions (Salesforce Help)
• Formulas and Validations (Trailhead)

Quick Recap

• These Salesforce Formula Interview Questions cover text, date, logical and math functions, variables and limits.
• Use ISBLANK, not ISNULL, for most checks.
• Learn $User, $Permission and $CustomMetadata.
• Practise five common formulas aloud.
• Know the common limits and say when you would check Help.

What’s Next?

Continue with the next part. Read Experience Cloud Interview Questions for Salesforce Admins (Part 11).