---
title: Manage an escalated case or account
description: Manage and document the progress for an escalation using the case or account escalation record.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/customer-service-management/manage-escalated-case-account.html
release: australia
topic_type: task
last_updated: "2026-03-12"
reading_time_minutes: 1
breadcrumb: [Case and account escalation, Manage cases, Use, Customer Service Management]
---

# Manage an escalated case or account

Manage and document the progress for an escalation using the case or account escalation record.

## Before you begin

Role required:

-   sn\_customerservice\_agent or sn\_customerservice.consumer\_agent to escalate a case.
-   sn\_customerservice\_agent, sn\_customerservice.consumer\_agent sn\_crm\_escalation\_admin, or sn\_crm\_foundation\_admin, to escalate an account.

## About this task

Perform tasks such as changing the escalation severity \(which may trigger a different SLA\), update the escalation trend, add or remove users from the watch list, and add comments.

-   **Case escalations**: When managing a case escalation, the customer service agent typically performs most of the problem resolution work directly in the case record and the escalation record is primarily used for status reporting purposes. For example, updating the escalation trend and comments to escalation stakeholders. All updates to the case escalation record are automatically replicated to the case record as work notes. The escalation SLA is also associated with the case record rather than the escalation record because that is where the agent provides regular updates.
-   **Account escalations**: For account escalations, the escalation record takes on a more important role because account escalations are more serious and are often associated with multiple underlying cases. An account escalation is typically assigned to an account escalation manager who works closely with multiple case owners to resolve the customer escalation. The account escalation manager can consolidate the status across the underlying cases and provide regular updates using the escalation record. Therefore, the SLA is associated with the escalation record.

## Procedure

1.  Navigate to the list of case and account escalation records by selecting **All** > **Customer Service** > **Escalations** > **All**.

2.  Select the desired case or account escalation record.

    The **Source Record** field provides information about the related case or account.

3.  Update the fields on the escalation form as needed.

    For example, you can change the escalation severity, which may trigger a different SLA, and update the escalation trend. You can also add users to the watch list and add comments about the progress of the escalation. For more information about these fields, see [Case and account escalation form](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/customer-service-management/case-escalation-form.md).

4.  Click **Update**.