Checked 28 September 2026. From Veeva's six exam guides, certification page and 2026 Program and Policy Guide (including its credential pipeline, whose target dates Veeva says may change), and Salesforce's Platform Administrator exam guide.
"Veeva certification" is not one exam. In September 2026 Veeva sells six: two Administrator exams (Vault Platform and Vault CRM), two Associate exams (Vault CRM and Quality) and two clinical-data specialty exams (EDC Study Builder and DQS Clinical Data Programmer), with more on Veeva's published roadmap. And many people weighing a Vault CRM role are also looking at Salesforce's Platform Administrator exam, because the legacy Veeva CRM was built on Salesforce and is being retired. This guide compares all of them from the official guides and helps you pick an order by role. Eligibility first: Veeva exams need a Veeva customer, partner or employee email; the Salesforce exam states no such condition.
Veeva certification page, Program and Policy Guide 2026, certification FAQ.
The six Veeva exams side by side
| Exam | Tier | Items / minutes | Written on | Recommended experience | Training | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vault Platform Administrator | Administrator | 50 / 120 | 25R2 | 3–6 months | VPTF recommended | $300 |
| Vault CRM Administrator | Administrator | 50 / 120 | 25R2.2 | 6–12 months | VPTF + Discover + Administer Vault CRM (or the migration workshop) recommended | $300 |
| Vault CRM Associate | Associate | 40 / 100 | Vault CRM 25R3.5 | Discover course (1–3 months' use as an alternative audience) | Discover Vault CRM required | In the $1,900 course |
| Veeva Quality Associate | Associate | 40 / 100 | 26R1.0 | Discover course (1–3 months' use as an alternative audience) | Discover Veeva Quality required | In the $2,850 course |
| Veeva EDC Study Builder | Specialty | 40 / 100 | 25R3.0 | Course or end-to-end study builds | Build Clinical Studies with Veeva EDC recommended | $300 |
| Veeva DQS Clinical Data Programmer | Specialty | 50 / 120 | 25R3.0 | Workshops or end-to-end DQS programming | DQS CQL + Data Ingestion workshop recommended | $300 |
From each exam guide and Veeva's certification page (28 September 2026). The Associate guides word 1–3 months of hands-on use as an alternative audience, while Veeva's product pages list the Discover course and 1–3 months together as required experience, and the policy guide makes the Discover course a prerequisite — we print the stricter rule.
Where other pages get this wrong
The Vault admin credential is "Certified Vault Platform Administrator".
Commonly published instead: "The official certification exam name is Veeva Certified Vault Training Administrator" (a training institute's page), and older names such as "Vault Platform Associate Administrator".
Veeva's exam guide says passing earns the Certified Vault Platform Administrator credential. The Associate Administrator / Certified Administrator ladder belongs to the pre-2026 program, whose holders were moved across on passing the 2025 maintenance exam.
Domain weights: Platform Admin vs CRM Admin
| Vault Platform Administrator domain | Weight | Vault CRM Administrator domain | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fundamentals and Architecture | 12% | Application Configuration | 34% |
| Objects and Data | 20% | User Management and Security | 18% |
| Documents and Content | 18% | Vault CRM Mobile App Configuration | 14% |
| Lifecycles and Workflows | 20% | Data Management and Reporting | 14% |
| Users, Groups, and Security | 16% | Multichannel and Integration Administration | 12% |
| Monitor and Troubleshoot | 14% | Environment Management and Deployment | 8% |
Official weights from the two exam guides, listed side by side (rows are not equivalents). The CRM exam puts a third of its weight on application configuration and adds mobile and multichannel domains the Platform exam does not have.
From the Vault CRM Administrator exam guide.
| Exam | Domains and weights |
|---|---|
| Vault CRM Associate | Platform Foundation and Mobile Usage 20% · Account, Territory and User Management 32.5% · Mapping Business Requirements to Features 22.5% · Business Administration Processes 25% |
| Veeva Quality Associate | Strategy and Platform Logic 10% · QualityDocs 22% · QMS 22% · Veeva Training 20% · Quality Data Model Analysis 13% · Reporting and Metrics 13% |
| Veeva EDC Study Builder | Study Setup and Environment 12.5% · Casebook Design 25% · Rules 27.5% · Study Features 15% · Validation, Deployment and Amendments 20% |
| Veeva DQS Clinical Data Programmer | Fundamentals 10% · Configuration and Setup 6% · Data Ingestions 24% · CQL and Deployment 52% · Exports 8% |
From each exam guide. The combined CQL-and-Deployment domain is 52% of the DQS exam — it is a programmer's exam.
Associate or Administrator?
Veeva frames the split clearly: the Associate credential covers the "Business Why" and the Administrator credential the "Technical How". Its FAQ recommends Associate exams for business leads, business analysts, project managers and operations leads who need to show they know the system and its industry logic, and Administrator exams for IT system administrators and technical consultants responsible for configuration, security and maintenance. Neither is a prerequisite for the other, and the Vault Platform Administrator credential is not required for any Associate exam. For people in small teams who "wear many hats", Veeva suggests holding both.
Veeva Vault admin vs Salesforce Platform Administrator
| Feature | Vault Platform Administrator | Salesforce Platform Administrator |
|---|---|---|
| Who may sit | Veeva customers, partners, employees only (employer email) | No prerequisite stated |
| Questions | 50 items | 60 multiple-choice + up to 5 unscored |
| Time | 120 minutes | 105 minutes |
| Pass mark | Not published | 68% (English version); 65% (Japanese) |
| Fee | $300 | US$200 plus taxes |
| Retake | $300 (repurchase), 7-day wait | US$100 |
| Books and notes | Open book on the listed resources | Proctored; no open-book provision in the guide |
| Delivery | Online via Veeva Training Portal (Scorpion), non-proctored or online proctored | Test centre or online, proctored |
| Keeping it | $300 a year, one fee for all credentials (2026 waived for first credentials earned from 1 Jan 2026), + maintenance exam (up to 20 questions) | Annual maintenance module on Trailhead |
| Content version | Vault 25R2 | Summer '25 release |
| Related legacy credential | Certified Veeva CRM Administrator: valid to 31 December 2029; Veeva CRM support ends December 2029 | — |
Veeva figures from its exam guide, product page and policy guide; Salesforce figures from its Platform Administrator exam guide (official). Salesforce's guide does not state a maintenance fee or a negative-marking rule, so neither is shown.
The two credentials are not substitutes. The Salesforce exam is open to anyone and proves Salesforce platform administration — useful for legacy Veeva CRM work, which ran on Salesforce. But Veeva says support for Veeva CRM ends in December 2029, all Certified Veeva CRM Administrator credentials were extended to 31 December 2029 with no further maintenance, and its replacement, Vault CRM, runs on the Vault Platform. For a life-sciences CRM career beyond 2029 the Vault credentials are the ones tied to the product; for someone not yet eligible for Veeva's program, the Salesforce credential is the one that can be earned now.
What is coming next from Veeva
| Credential | Status (Veeva, subject to change) |
|---|---|
| Certified Veeva RIM Associate | Targeting Q3 2026 |
| Certified Veeva Clinical Operations Associate | Targeting Q4 2026 |
| Certified Veeva Safety Associate | Targeting Q4 2026 |
| Certified Veeva RIM Administrator | Targeting Q4 2026 |
| Certified Veeva Quality Administrator | Targeting Q4 2026 |
| Certified Veeva Safety Administrator | Targeting Q1 2027 |
| Certified Veeva Clinical Operations Administrator | Targeting Q1 2027 |
| Certified Veeva Network MDM Associate | Listed "Available" in the guide, but no exam is on the certification page (28 Sep 2026) |
From the Program and Policy Guide 2026, p.5 ("Target dates are subject to change"). The RIM Associate had not appeared on the certification page by 28 September 2026. Until a new exam launches, Veeva says the course completion certificate serves as its endorsement.
Which credential should you aim for first?
The picker applies Veeva's eligibility rule first: without an eligible email it recommends nothing from Veeva, whatever your role. Its recommendations are our reading of Veeva's audience descriptions.
Practise it, don't just read it
Heading for Vault Platform Administrator? The ProSyllabus quizzes cover it topic by topic.
The ProSyllabus Veeva Vault library has 13 quizzes of 10 questions, all for the Vault Platform Administrator exam: objects and fields, object relationships and data integrity, document types, UI, layouts and search, users, groups and security profiles, the security model and e-signatures, applying the security model, document lifecycles, object lifecycles and workflows, lifecycle states and actions, reports and dashboards, configuration migration, and data loading and troubleshooting. They are written from public Vault documentation and are not Veeva exam items. There are no Vault CRM, EDC, DQS or Quality quizzes yet.
Which Veeva certification is best for beginners?
For technical roles, Vault Platform Administrator (3–6 months' experience recommended). For business roles, the Associate exam that comes with your Discover course. Both need an eligible Veeva customer, partner or employee email.
Is Vault Platform Administrator required before Vault CRM Administrator?
No. Veeva publishes no prerequisite credential; Vault Platform Technical Foundations is recommended training for both.
Should I do Salesforce Admin or Veeva Vault Admin?
They certify different platforms. Anyone can sit Salesforce's exam; Veeva's needs a customer, partner or employee email. Legacy Veeva CRM ran on Salesforce and loses support in December 2029; Vault CRM runs on the Vault Platform.
What happens to the Veeva CRM Administrator certification?
All Certified Veeva CRM Administrator credentials were extended to 31 December 2029 with no further maintenance exams, and then sunset.
How many Veeva certifications are there?
Six exams were on sale on 28 September 2026, and Veeva's 2026 guide lists more RIM, Quality, Safety and Clinical Operations credentials targeted for Q3 2026 to Q1 2027.
What is the difference between Associate and Administrator?
Associate covers the business "why" for functional roles and requires a Discover course; Administrator covers the technical "how" and can be bought exam-only.
What does the DQS exam test?
Veeva DQS clinical data programming: 52% Clinical Query Language and deployment, 24% data ingestions, plus fundamentals, configuration and exports.
How long is the Salesforce Platform Administrator exam?
105 minutes for 60 scored multiple-choice questions plus up to five unscored, with a 68% pass mark on the English version.
Are Veeva credentials tied to my company?
No. Veeva says they are held by individuals, not companies, but you must stay eligible and renew each year.
Sources
- official — Veeva Education Services — Certification (products, prices, FAQ)
- official — Veeva — Certification Program and Policy Guide 2026 (PDF)
- official — Veeva — Vault Platform Administrator Certification Exam Guide (PDF)
- official — Veeva — Vault CRM Administrator Certification Exam Guide (PDF)
- official — Veeva — Vault CRM Associate Certification Exam Guide (PDF)
- official — Veeva — Quality Associate Certification Exam Guide (PDF)
- official — Veeva — EDC Study Builder Certification Exam Guide (PDF)
- official — Veeva — DQS Clinical Data Programmer Certification Exam Guide (PDF)
- official — Veeva — Education Services Training Guide and price list, Sep 2026 (PDF)
- official — Salesforce — Certified Platform Administrator exam guide
- reported — igmGuru — Veeva training page (reported; see corrections)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
