SF-Admin Data and Analytics Management Practice Question
Universal Containers has a custom object 'Project__c' that has a lookup relationship to Account. The administrator needs to create a formula field on Project__c that displays the Account's Industry. However, when viewing a Project record, the Industry field is blank even though the related Account has an Industry value. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that field-level security or page layout affects formula field results, but formula fields ignore those settings and only depend on data and relationships.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The lookup relationship is not populated on the Project record.
A formula field that references a field on a related record via a lookup will return blank if the lookup relationship is not populated. In this scenario, the Project record must have an Account lookup value for the formula to retrieve the Industry. The most likely cause is that the lookup field is empty on the Project record.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The lookup relationship is not populated on the Project record.
Why this is correct
If the lookup relationship to Account is empty on the Project record, the formula field that references Account.Industry will return blank. The formula field can only display the Industry if there is a related Account. The most likely cause is that the Project record does not have an Account lookup value.
- ✗
The formula field is referencing a field that is not accessible to the user's profile.
Why it's wrong here
Formula fields run in system mode and do not enforce field-level security for the referenced fields. Even if the user does not have access to the Industry field on Account, the formula field would still display the value. Therefore, field-level security is not the cause of the blank value.
- ✗
The formula field is using the wrong syntax to reference the Account's Industry.
Why it's wrong here
If the syntax were incorrect, the formula field would either not save or return an error, not a blank value. Salesforce validates formula syntax at save time. A blank result indicates that the referenced field is empty or the lookup is empty, not a syntax error.
- ✗
The Account's Industry field is not included in the page layout.
Why it's wrong here
Page layout settings do not affect formula field calculations. The formula field evaluates based on data, not on whether the referenced field is on a layout. Even if Industry is not on the Account page layout, the formula field would still display the value if the lookup is populated and the field has data.
About these practice questions
One of 202 original SF-Admin practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Salesforce exam blueprint
This SF-Admin practice question is part of Courseiva's free Salesforce certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SF-Admin exam.