15 vs 18 character record IdsSalesforce exposes a 15-character case-sensitive Id and an 18-character case-safe version of the same key. Mixing them, or letting a process change the case of the 15-character form, collapses distinct records onto each other. Extracts standardise on the 18-character Id.

Bulk API 2.0 and SOQLBulk API handles volume; SOQL defines what is selected, including relationship traversal. Governor limits and batch behaviour shape how a large extract is staged.

Lookup vs master-detailThe two relationship types behave differently on deletion and ownership and do not map to one target construct, so each is resolved explicitly rather than treated as a generic foreign key.

RecordType drives validityRecordType decides which picklist values and layouts apply. A value valid under one RecordType is rejected under another, so RecordType is part of the mapping key, not an attribute beside it.

Formula and rollup fieldsThese are calculated, not stored. They must be recreated in the target rather than migrated, or the target inherits frozen numbers that stop updating.

Files, attachments and notesContent lives in its own objects with its own relationships. Carrying the parent record without them loses the evidence trail sales and service teams rely on.

How Salesforce accepts data

Load order is part of the design on any inbound route.

1Reference and setup data firstTerritories, currencies, price books, products and picklist values. Everything downstream resolves against these.
2Accounts, then contactsAccounts head the customer hierarchy. Parent-child account relationships resolve in a second pass, because a parent has no target key until it has itself been created.
3Use External Id fields for upsertLoading against an External Id makes a reload an update rather than a duplicate, which is what makes multiple migration cycles survivable.
4Leads with conversion state intactSo converted leads are not re-presented to sales as open work on day one.
5Opportunities and line itemsResolved against account and owning user. Stage and close date drive forecasting, so their mapping is validated rather than assumed.
6Activities, cases and historyEach resolving to a parent that now exists.
7Ownership and sharingOwner drives visibility. Where a source owner has no counterpart, the fallback is an explicit decision rather than a default.

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