Create a Meta ad account

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. That is the new name for Business Manager, Meta has renamed it and you will still come across both names depending on the screen. It is the same space. It holds your Page, your Instagram account and soon your ad account.

• If you have already linked Instagram to your Facebook Page, this portfolio already exists, Meta created it along the way.
• If not, click Create account and enter your company name, your name and your work email. A confirmation message goes to that address, so confirm it.

This step is done on a computer. The portfolio settings are far more complete in a browser, and some screens exist only there. If you only have a phone, open business.facebook.com in your mobile browser and request the desktop version of the site, it works fine.

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

Fill in the exact registered company name, the postal address and the website. These fields look secondary. They are not. They are what 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 single spelling difference is enough to drag a verification out over several days.

While you are there, note the portfolio ID, that long string of digits shown at the top of the screen. You will be asked for it every time you contact Meta support, and to open partner access. Copy it into a notebook or a note on your phone right now.

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

3 pieces of information are asked for.

• The account name, your company name is enough.
• The time zone, the one where you trade, London for a business in the UK.
• The currency, the one you invoice in, pound sterling for a business in the UK.

Take 30 seconds to read the time zone and the currency back before confirming. Meta sets them once and for all, and they determine the time on your reports and the money on your invoices. Chosen well from the start, you will never come back to them.

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

If the labels do not match exactly. Meta renames its screens several times a year. Trust the meaning of the action, here creating an ad account, and use the settings search bar with the word ad.

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

The direct shortcut is business.facebook.com/billing_hub/accounts, Meta's billing area. Add a payment card, a PayPal account or a direct debit, whichever suits you. Check that the country and the currency shown match what you chose.

It is also from this screen that you will download your invoices each month. Keep the address, your accountant will ask for it.

Meta sometimes takes a small amount to test the card. It is a simple validity check, refunded within a few days.

Your payment method does not leave your side. An agency runs the campaigns and the budget, it never sees your card number.

An ad account on its own does not know who it is speaking for. It needs your accounts.

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

Then check that the Page, the Instagram account and the ad account all live in the same portfolio. That gathering is what lets one ad go out on Facebook and Instagram in a single campaign. If your Page is not created yet, start with the guide on how to create a Facebook business Page.

Last step, and it is the one that sets everything in motion. You do not add an agency as a user, you grant it partner access. That is not the same thing and it changes everything.

The difference is far from a detail. A partner works on your accounts from its own portfolio, with its own tools, without ever entering yours or knowing your credentials. You remove that access in 1 click, at any time, without touching your campaigns.

The full method, with our portfolio ID and the permissions to tick, is in the guide on how to share your Meta Business account with an agency.

From then on, your agents build your audiences, write your ads and follow your results. You keep the ownership, the budget and the final word.

There are 2 directions to this process. Spot yours in 10 seconds and you will go straight to the point.

The direction described above. You add the agency as a partner by pasting in its business ID. You are the one going to fetch it.

The opposite direction, just as common. The agency sends you an invitation and all you have to do is accept it. That is simpler for you, but it needs your numbers first to aim at the right place.

The 3 numbers to send over, and where to find them.

• 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 message to copy, so nothing is forgotten.

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.

The invitation arrives in 2 places. By email, at the address on your Facebook account, and do check your junk folder. And directly inside Meta, at the top of the left-hand column of the portfolio settings, under Invitations or Requests. If you see nothing in your inbox, the second place is bound to have it.

It has an expiry date. If you let it lapse, simply ask for it to be sent again. It takes 10 seconds and it erases nothing you have already done.

These 3 points take 20 minutes in total. Done in advance, your ads start without a hitch on launch day.

1. Get your payment card approved. Facebook takes a test payment of a few pence, which it refunds. Then open the billing area and check that the payment method is marked as active, not merely saved. That one small word makes the difference.

2. Put some content on your Page. Publish 3 or 4 posts with real photos before launching a campaign. Facebook trusts a living Page far more readily, and your ads clear review first time.

3. Show your contact details on the Page. Phone, email address, town. It is what someone discovering you looks at, and it is a trust signal for Facebook too.

The right habit. Sort these 3 points before asking your agency to prepare the campaigns. Everything will be ready at the same time, and you will launch on the day planned.

A common case, you are starting again on a new Page or a new ad account. Here is what carries over and what does not.

What cannot be recovered, and you have to accept it. A Facebook Page does not merge with another. The new one starts at 0 followers, 0 reviews, 0 history. An ad account does not merge either, the new one goes back into learning, which gives slightly weaker results for around 2 weeks.

What can be recovered, and it is the most precious part. The pixel, in other words the measurement that recognises people who have already visited your website. It does not depend on the ad account, it can be shared. All the audiences built on it stay usable.

⚠ So do not delete the old ad account straight away, it is the one holding the pixel. First share the pixel with the new account, check that it appears there, and only then close the old one.

And keep the old Page online while the new one takes over. Enquiries in progress still land there, and a Page closed too soon takes unread conversations with it.

For day-to-day running from here, everything happens in Meta Business Suite. And if you need to grant access the other way round, we set out sharing a Meta Business account.

15 minutes up front, and your account is protected for good.

1. Confirm your personal identity. Go to facebook.com/id and send in an official document. It takes 5 minutes and processing takes 1 to 2 days.

Why now rather than later. It is what lets Meta hand control back quickly if you lose access to your account. With a confirmed identity, recovery is settled in a few days instead of dragging on.

2. Switch on two-factor authentication. On your profile and on the portfolio, from the security centre. It is the most effective protection for the time it takes, and Meta requires it anyway before you can delegate access to an agency.

3. Add yourself to your own portfolio. It sounds odd, and yet it is the most common oversight. Your business portfolio is an entity separate from your Facebook profile. Add yourself as an administrator from the users screen, and you will finally see everything it contains.

And a practical point about access. Do not send your credentials to anyone, it is never necessary. The portfolio exists for exactly this, everyone comes in with their own account and receives what they need. You remove an access in 1 click, without changing anything else.

The number of ad accounts. Meta often grants just 1 at the start, and that is quite enough to get going, even with several campaigns. The cap rises as you spend, and verifying your business raises it too. The figure is shown in your portfolio information.