Which feature should a system administrator use to display the account credit status on opportunities?

Using a cross-object formula field is an effective way to display the account credit status on opportunities. A cross-object formula field allows information from a related object—in this case, the account—to be displayed on the opportunity record. By leveraging this feature, the administrator can create a formula that fetches the credit status from the account object and presents it in real time on the opportunity record.

This approach is beneficial because it provides real-time data visibility without duplicating information or requiring additional updates. It helps the sales team to have an immediate understanding of the credit status without needing to navigate away from the opportunity record.

The other options do not provide the same level of functionality. A lookup field would create a relationship between the opportunity and the account but would not display the credit status directly. A roll-up summary field would summarize data from child records, which does not apply in this case since the relationship here is not parent to child but rather across different objects. Finally, a workflow field update is used for automating changes to fields based on specific criteria but does not facilitate real-time data display, making it less suitable for this requirement.