Bi-directional account relationships

Release version: Australia

Updated March 12, 2026

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Summary of Bi-directional Account Relationships

A bi-directional account relationship connects two accounts, which can be between two customer accounts or between a partner account and a customer account. These relationships are defined by specific account relationship types and are crucial for managing interactions effectively.

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Key Features

Two-Step Creation Process: Establish relationships by defining account relationship types and creating records between selected accounts.
Account Relationship Types: Administrators can define relationships such as Account to Account and Partner to Account, specifying source and target accounts along with their relationship dynamics.
Account Relationship Records: Created by users with the Customer Service Manager role, these records include details about the source and target accounts and the defined relationship type.
Access to Relationship Records: Users can view relationship records from either account in the Account Relationships related list, facilitating easy management and oversight.

Key Outcomes

By implementing bi-directional account relationships, ServiceNow customers can enhance collaboration between accounts, streamline case management for partner accounts, and gain better visibility into account interactions. This capability enables improved customer service and relationship management across the enterprise.

A bi-directional account relationship is a relationship that exists between two accounts. You can create account relationships between two customer accounts or between a partner account and a customer account.

A bi-directional account relationship is based on a defined account relationship type. Creating a bi-directional account relationship is a two-step process that involves:

Defining the types of relationships that exist between your partners and customers.
Using these relationship types to create relationship records between selected accounts.

You can view relationship records on the Account form for either account in the relationship. These records are stored in the Account Relationships related list.

For relationships between a partner account and a customer account, contacts with the Partner or Partner administrator role can create and manage cases for their customer accounts.

Account relationship types

An account relationship type defines a relationship that can exist between accounts. Users with the administrator role can define the following account relationship types:

Account to account
Partner to account

When creating an account relationship type, you define the following information on the Account Relationship Type form:

The type of source account (account or partner).
The type of target account (account or partner).
The relationship between the source account and the target account.
The reverse relationship between the source account and the target account.

Account Relationship form displaying an instance of the relationship between two accounts. — Figure 1. Account Relationship Type form

Note:

One default account relationship type is provided for partner accounts.

Account relationship records

Once an account relationship type is defined, users with the Customer Service Manager role can use it to create relationships between specific accounts or partners. An account relationship record includes the following information:

A source account, selected in the Account From field.
A target account, selected in the Account To field.
The account relationship type that this relationship record is based on.
The relationship and the reverse relationship of the selected accounts.

View a relationship record from either account:

The relationship (Account From > Account To) appears in the Account Relationships related list on the source account record.
The reverse relationship (Account To > Account From) appears in the Account Relationships related list on the target account record.

Select the account relationship record from either account to see the Account Relationship form.

Account Relationship Type form displaying various fields related to customer and partner accounts. — Figure 2. Account Relationship form

You can also view account relationship records that use a specific account relationship type. This information appears as a related list on the Account Relationship Type form. This list shows the source account (Account From field) and the target account (Account To field) for each account relationship record.