Actionable Relationship Center (ARC): The Complete Configuration & Exam Guide

What Is ARC and Why It Matters

Financial relationships are rarely simple. A single client might belong to a household with a spouse, have a trust managed by an attorney, hold joint accounts with a business partner, and receive advice from multiple advisors. Traditional CRM record pages — with their flat related lists — cannot communicate these layers of connection at a glance.

The Actionable Relationship Center (ARC) solves this by rendering interactive, graph-based visualizations of how people, households, businesses, and financial accounts are connected. Unlike the older Relationship Map component (which was static and read-only), ARC lets users view, create, edit, and delete records directly from the graph without navigating away from the page.

For admins and developers, ARC is deeply configurable. You define which objects appear as nodes, which fields display on each card, and which record actions are available — then drop the component onto any Lightning record page. For exam candidates, ARC is one of the most heavily tested FSC topics because it sits at the intersection of data model, security, UI configuration, and relationship modeling.

New ARC vs. Original ARC

FSC ships two versions of ARC. Understanding the differences between them is critical for both implementation decisions and exam preparation.

ARC Lightning Components

New ARC consists of four Lightning components, each designed for a specific role on the record page. Admins add these through Lightning App Builder and can position them independently.

Association Types Explained

ARC uses Association Types to classify how two accounts are related. These are stored as picklist values on the Association_Type__c field of the Account-Account Relationship object. All three values must be active for ARC to function properly.

Association Types determine how ARC constructs its graph hierarchy. When you configure a node of type “Group Relationships,” ARC queries for Account-Account Relationships where the Association Type is Group and displays the contained accounts as child nodes. Similarly, “Member Relationships” nodes query for the Member association type.

Relationship Objects That Power ARC

ARC does not create its own data — it visualizes relationships stored in three key FSC objects. Understanding these objects is essential because they define what ARC can display.

Reciprocal Roles

Each relationship can be described by a Reciprocal Role — a custom object that captures the nature of the relationship from both sides. When an admin creates a reciprocal role with the “Create Inverse Role” checkbox selected, Salesforce automatically generates the corresponding inverse record. For example, creating a “Financial Advisor” role with the inverse “Client” automatically populates both sides of the relationship.

FSC ships with predefined reciprocal roles including Spouse–Spouse, Parent–Dependent, Grandparent–Grandchild, Lawyer–Client, Accountant–Client, and Proprietor–Business. These roles appear as labels on the edges between nodes in ARC graphs, giving users immediate context about how two people or organizations are connected.

ARC Node Types in Detail

ARC graphs are composed of nodes — visual cards that represent records. Each node type queries a specific relationship object and is anchored to a specific root object. Understanding which node type maps to which object and root is essential for both configuration and exam questions.

Configuring Custom ARC Graphs

Building a custom ARC graph is a multi-step process performed in Setup. Each graph starts with a root node and branches into child nodes that represent related objects. The configuration controls both the data that appears and the actions users can take.

Step-by-Step Graph Configuration

1. Navigate to ARC Setup Setup → Actionable Relationship Center → New Relationship Graph.
2. Define the Root Node Select the root object (typically Account or Contact). This is the record the graph will be displayed on.
3. Add Child Nodes For each child node, select the target object, the relationship type (Lookup or Many-to-Many), the junction object (if Many-to-Many), and the lookup fields that connect parent to child.
4. Configure Display Tab Choose which fields appear on each node’s card. These are the fields users see when viewing the graph.
5. Configure Actions Tab Define which record actions (create, edit, delete, custom quick actions) are available on each node. These let users act on records directly from the graph.
6. Apply Filter Criteria (Optional) Add filter conditions to control which related records appear as nodes. For example, only show financial accounts with a status of “Active.”
7. Add to Lightning Record Page In Lightning App Builder, add the ARC Relationship Graph component to the record page and select the graph you created.

Node Configuration Details

Each child node in an ARC graph requires careful configuration. The relationship type determines how ARC queries for related records. For Lookup relationships, you specify the lookup field directly. For Many-to-Many relationships, you specify the junction object and both lookup fields that connect the parent object to the child object through the junction.

The Display tab configuration is particularly important for usability. You select which fields appear on the node card — typically a name, a key attribute (like role or account type), and a status or amount field. The Actions tab lets you wire up standard actions (Edit, Delete) or custom quick actions that your team has built.

Default B2C & B2B Templates

FSC provides two preconfigured ARC graph templates that serve as starting points for common financial services use cases. These templates can be used as-is or customized further.

Admins can extend these templates by adding additional child nodes. For example, you might add Financial Goals, Insurance Policies, or custom objects like Investment Accounts to the B2C graph. For the B2B graph, you might add Financial Deals, Loan Applications, or Key Contacts.

Setup Prerequisites & Permissions

ARC has a strict set of prerequisites that must be met before it will function. Missing any one of these will cause the component to fail silently — graphs simply will not render.

Mandatory Prerequisites

Permission Set Configuration

Salesforce recommends cloning the Financial Services Cloud Extension permission set rather than editing it directly. After cloning, enable the “Access Actionable Relationship Center” system permission on your custom permission set, then assign it to users who need ARC access.

Object-level and field-level security also play a role. If a user does not have read access to a field configured on a node’s Display tab, that field will not appear on the card. If the user lacks access to the entire object, the node itself will be hidden from the graph. This behavior is enforced at render time — the graph dynamically adjusts based on the viewing user’s permissions.

ARC Integrations

ARC does not operate in isolation. It integrates with two powerful FSC features that extend its value beyond simple relationship visualization.

Compliant Data Sharing

Compliant Data Sharing allows record owners to share account or opportunity records with other relevant users directly from the ARC graph. This is particularly important in regulated environments where data access must be controlled at the participant level. For example, a wealth advisor viewing a client’s ARC graph can share a specific financial deal record with a colleague who is also working the relationship — without opening up access to unrelated records.

Compliant Data Sharing works with ARC because both features operate on the same relationship data. When a user clicks on a node in the ARC graph and selects a sharing action, the system uses the underlying relationship record to determine sharing context. This is configured through Compliant Data Sharing rules in Setup, and the sharing actions appear on the ARC Actions tab.

Einstein Relationship Insights

The ARC Einstein Relationship Insights component surfaces AI-powered, web-sourced recommendations within the ARC interface. It scans public data sources for connections between people and businesses, then displays suggestions that users can act on — creating new relationship records, dismissing irrelevant suggestions, or navigating to the source of the insight.

This integration helps advisors and relationship managers discover relationships they might not have known about. For example, Einstein might surface that a client’s spouse serves on the board of a company that is already a prospect in the CRM — creating a referral opportunity that would have been invisible without the AI recommendation.

Key Exam Tips for ARC

Frequently Asked Questions