Create a Meta ad account

David TouzetUpdated on 24 September 20266 min read

This account is used by your Paid Search Agent, your Web Marketing and Leads Agent and your Growth Hacking Agent. It is the engine behind your Facebook and Instagram ads. The account and the payment card stay yours, we receive partner access that you cut off in 1 click. Allow 20 minutes, with your payment card to hand.

Step 1 · Open your Meta business portfolio
Step 2 · Complete your business information
Step 3 · Create the ad account
Step 4 · Add your payment method
Step 5 · Attach your Page and your Instagram account
Step 6 · Grant partner access to your agency
Step 7 · When the agency invites you
Step 8 · Settings before the first campaign
Step 9 · Changing Page or account without losing everything
Step 10 · The 3 security steps from the start

Step 1

Open your Meta business portfolio

Go to business.facebook.com and log in with the Facebook account that administers your Page.

Meta keeps your business assets in a business portfolio, the former Business Manager. Both names coexist depending on the screen. It holds your Page, your Instagram account and soon your ad account.

If you have already linked Instagram to your Facebook Page, this portfolio exists.
If not, click Create account and enter your company name, your name and your work email, then click the link in the confirmation email.

On a computer. Some settings screens exist only in a browser. From a phone, request the desktop version of the site.

Open Meta Business Suite

Step 2

Complete your business information

The direct shortcut is business.facebook.com/settings/info. Through the menus, Settings, then Business info.

Fill in the exact registered company name, the postal address and the website. These are the fields Meta relies on the day it asks you to verify your business. Use the registered company name exactly as it appears on your official company record, letter for letter, a spelling difference drags the verification out by several days.

Note the portfolio ID, the string of digits at the top of the screen. You will be asked for it every time you contact Meta support, and to open partner access.

Step 3

Create the ad account

The direct shortcut is business.facebook.com/latest/settings/ad_accounts. Through the menus, Settings, then Accounts, then Ad accounts. Click Add, then Create a new ad account.

3 pieces of information are asked for.

The account name, your company name is enough.
The time zone, Paris for a business in France.
The currency, the euro.

Read the time zone and the currency back before confirming, Meta sets them once and for all.

Meta finally asks what this account is for. Choose the option for your own business, not the one for a client.

If a label differs. Meta renames its screens several times a year. Trust the meaning of the action, or search for the word ad in the settings search bar.

The ad accounts screen in the Meta settings, with the Add button at the top right

Step 4

Add your payment method

With no payment method, the account delivers nothing. Sort it now, not on the morning of the launch.

The direct shortcut is business.facebook.com/billing_hub/accounts, the billing area. Add a payment card, a PayPal account or a direct debit. Check that the country and the currency match your choices.

Your invoices are downloaded from the same place, your accountant will ask for them.

Meta sometimes takes 1 or 2 euros to test the card, refunded within a few days. Finally, check that the payment method is marked active, not merely saved.

Step 5

Attach your Page and your Instagram account

2 screens to open, Pages and Instagram accounts. On each, click Add and select yours.

Check that the Page, the Instagram account and the ad account live in the same portfolio. That is what lets one ad go out on both networks in 1 campaign. If your Page does not exist yet, create it first.

Create your Facebook business Page

Step 6

Grant partner access to your agency

An agency is not added as a user, it receives partner access. It works from its own portfolio, without entering yours or knowing your credentials. Giving an AI read access to your campaigns follows another route, the official MCP connector between Claude and Meta Ads goes through your own Facebook login, and you choose which tools it is allowed to use.

Our portfolio ID and the permissions to tick are in the guide on how to share your Meta Business account with an agency.

Share your Meta Business account

Step 7

When the agency invites you

The other way round, the agency sends you an invitation that you accept. It first needs these 3 numbers.

Your Page number. Open the Pages screen and click your Page. The number appears under its name, around 15 digits.
Your ad account number. Open the ad accounts screen. If it starts with act_, send only the digits that follow.
Your portfolio number. Open the business info screen. The number is at the top of the screen.

The invitation arrives in 2 places. By email, at the address on your Facebook account, junk folder included. And inside Meta, at the top of the left-hand column of the portfolio settings, under Invitations or Requests.

It has an expiry date. Once it has lapsed, ask for a new one, nothing is erased.

The message to copy

Hello,

Here are my 3 numbers for access.

Facebook Page number ...........
Ad account number .............
Business portfolio number .....

Email address that receives enquiries ....
Contact person and phone number ..........

I look forward to your invitation.

Step 8

Settings before the first campaign

1. Put some content on your Page. Publish 3 or 4 posts with real photos. An active Page reassures Facebook when it reviews your ads.

2. Show your contact details. Phone, email address, town. It is a trust signal for Facebook as well as for your visitors.

3. Check your payment method. In the billing area, it must be marked active.

Step 9

Changing Page or account without losing everything

What cannot be recovered. A Facebook Page does not merge with another, the new one starts at 0 followers, 0 reviews, 0 history. Nor does an ad account, the new one goes back into the learning phase, with weaker results for around 2 weeks.

What can be recovered. The pixel, which recognises people who have already visited your website. It does not depend on the ad account, it can be shared, and the audiences built on it stay usable.

⚠ Do not delete the old ad account straight away, it is the one holding the pixel. Share the pixel with the new account, check that it appears there, then close the old one.

Keep the old Page online while the new one takes over, closed too soon it takes unread conversations with it.

Attach Instagram to the new Page. Your Instagram account stays linked to the old Page until you unlink it. The steps, from unlinking to the new link, are in our guide on how to unlink Instagram and link it to your new Page.

For day-to-day running from here, everything happens in Meta Business Suite.

Step 10

The 3 security steps from the start

1. Confirm your identity. Go to facebook.com/id and send in an official document. 5 minutes, processed in 1 to 2 days. Meta can then hand control back quickly if you lose access to your account.

2. Switch on two-factor authentication. On your profile and on the portfolio, from the Security Center. Meta requires it to delegate access to an agency.

3. Add yourself to your portfolio. It is the most common oversight, the portfolio is an entity separate from your Facebook profile. Add yourself as an admin from the users screen.

Useful links

Links to keep to hand

Keep this page open while you work.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Who pays for the ads?

You do, directly to Meta, with your own payment method. All spending appears in your account, day by day.

Can I change the currency or the time zone later?

No, Meta sets them once and for all when the account is created. Read them back before confirming. Euro and the Paris time zone for a business in France.

Meta has taken a few euros, is that normal?

Yes. It is a card validity check, refunded within a few days. It is not an advertising invoice.

Do I have to verify my business with Meta?

Not always at the start, but Meta asks for it as spending grows. Filling in the registered company name, the address and the website from the beginning avoids getting blocked.

Do I have to give you my Facebook password?

No, never. We ask for partner access to your ad account, a delegation from one business to another. You remove us whenever you like.

How many ad accounts can I create?

Meta caps the number per portfolio. The cap rises with your spending, and verifying your business raises it too. The figure is shown in your portfolio information. In most cases, 1 account is enough.

These guides belong to you. Metabacklinks writes them so that you stay in control of your accounts and understand every step taken on your behalf. Nothing is done behind your back. That is how we work as a provider, and what makes a partnership last. They are open to everyone, clients or not. You are not buying a one-off service, but a whole ecosystem, made simple, that saves you time and money. See all the getting-started guides.

Where to start?

A straight conversation. No sales patter.

We build your site bespoke, and our AI agents keep it alive. Updates, content, search visibility, security, it all runs without you having to think about it once. You settle the broad direction, the AI carries it out. And you get your evenings back.

Talk to us now