From Profiles to Permission Sets & Groups – making Salesforce flexible and secure
Permission management quickly becomes messy. The modern approach is working with Permission Sets and Permission Set Groups. In five minutes you'll learn how to set this up smartly.
What is a Profile exactly?
A Profile determines a user's basic permissions: object and field access, tabs and record types. Each user has exactly one.
Practical example: Sales User
- Read/Edit: Lead, Opportunity
- Read: Account, Contact
- Sales app visible, relevant tabs enabled
- Record Types: for example New Business
Think of it as a basic ID card: everyone has one, but it says little about your specific permissions.
What are Permission Sets?
Permission Sets are extra passes on top of your profile. You use them to grant additional permissions without creating new profiles.
Example
Kim in Marketing has the same profile as Sales, but gets access to Campaigns via the Permission Set Campaign Access. No extra profile needed — management stays flexible.
From loose sets to Permission Set Groups
With Permission Set Groups you bundle multiple sets into one logical package. Useful for teams or roles.
Sales Core Group
Leads, Opportunities, Reports
Backoffice Group
Contracts, Invoices, Cases
Finance Group
Payment Data, Reports, Account fields
Someone leaving the team? Remove the Group assignment — done.
Why this change?
Salesforce scales better with Permission Sets and Groups. They deliver:
- Flexibility: quickly add or remove permissions.
- Clarity: fewer profiles, more structure.
- Security: least privilege remains the guiding principle.
- Efficiency: permissions per team or project — not per individual.
Tip from practice
Create one standard profile for all users and assign department permissions via Groups. This prevents you from having to maintain 20 profiles.
Best approach for admins
- Use Profiles only for basic permissions.
- Use Permission Sets for extras (apps, objects, tabs).
- Group Permission Sets in Groups per team or function.
- Report regularly via Permission Set Assignments for overview.
| Use this for… | Then choose… | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Basic permissions | Profile | Access to Accounts & Leads |
| Extra permissions | Permission Set | Access to Campaigns |
| Team access | Permission Set Group | Sales Core Group, Finance Core Group |
Conclusion
Profiles are your foundation, Permission Sets the building blocks and Groups the structure. This keeps Salesforce clean, secure and ready for growth.
Working on your permission model? Read Automating with Salesforce Flow.
Want to make your permission management more flexible and clear?
We help you migrate from profiles to Permission Sets, structure groups and ensure security without complexity.