---
sourceDocument: Yokohama Governance, Risk, and Compliance
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/yokohama/governance-risk-compliance

 Release :

    - yokohama

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Yokohama Governance, Risk, and Compliance

ft:clusterId :

    - grc

bundleId :

    - grc

workflow :

    - Technology


---

# Explore entities

# Exploring the entities {#ariaid-title1}

* Release version: Yokohama
* 
* Updated July 31, 2025
* 
* ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read

Entities are one of the most fundamental and crucial elements for using Governance, Risk, and Compliance. Entities can be people, processes, departments, applications, or objects
that are examined for risks.

To effectively maintain the risk and compliance universe of your organization, you have to
define entity types, entity classes, and entity tiers. A risk universe refers to a list of risks
that your organization either faces or might face in the future. The list contains a description
of each risk's criticality and frequency.

Entities are used within all offerings of GRC such as GRC: Policy and Compliance Management, Audit Management, GRC: Privacy Management and GRC: Regulatory Change Management.
* **[Entities in GRC](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/88W~isqRYmJ3RJ9tUjJBiw)**   
  In Governance, Risk, and Compliance, an entity can be a person, process, department, application, or object, whose exposure must be managed. These entities have controls that are defined to view the status.
* **[Composite entity in Governance, Risk, and Compliance](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/qMenhX1KvqIdyq1uxObdyw)**   
  Composite entity in Governance, Risk, and Compliance is a combination of two or more entities created from different entity classes. The Composite Entity Management application enables you to create multidimensional entities and manage them in a more granular level.
* **[An entity in the workspace view](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/N8ACjvFhCqksrHWjozQbPQ)**   
  The Entity form in the workspace provides a complete view of an entity across your organization. The Entity form is listed under the Library menu of the List view in the workspace. Select an entity in the list view so that you can display its overview, details, hierarchy, entity types, or downstream risks.
* **[Functionality enhancements for the entities](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/yB5K3HsU0yUThCRkmFiPiA)**   
  You can configure some functionality enhancements for the entities as part of the GRC updates.
* **[Entity scoping in GRC](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/Ho2zpocUxY4AjzNuKb0XJQ)**   
  Entity scoping is permitted in each of the core GRC applications. Scoping provides a way to allocate risks and controls at different levels. Dependencies are created using the dependency map in the GRC Workbench.
* **[Entity classes](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/2eRNxGuEOFMN8ANj~62LbQ)**   
  Entity classes are used to add a conceptual information about the entity or to tag the entity. They are used to classify the entities and they represent a collection of entities that have the same attributes.
* **[Entity class rules](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/dnrZT7Xa2dPgD5p1H8ZBlA)**   
  Entity class rules help to assign classes to the entities at the table level. Any new entity created on the table gets that entity class automatically. Entity classes are used to tag your entities.
* **[Entity types](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/tZhnooTxgU3UdlpsChtATQ)**   
  Entity type is a grouping of the entities that match a set of filter conditions. You can create a hierarchy of the entity types within the entity classes. The Entity types option is displayed under the Lists view in the workspace. Click an entity type to display its details.
* **[Create an entity filter in the Core UI](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/VFvG5_5LeCGgXt1qqAtK7g)**   
  Create an entity filter under an entity type in the classic user interface. The entity filter defines the table from which data is pulled into each entity type for display. If the entities belong to an application, the users who have access to the entity class that is associated with the entity can only view those entities.
* **[Entity tiers](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/lHsypjH1LVz8Zrp~1jut5Q)**   
  When you create entity tiers, you can apply a level or hierarchy to the entity classes. This level applies to all the entities that are associated with the entity classes. Entity tiers enable you to select and view the status of the most critical items in the business.