How to set up a Meta business portfolio properly (and keep control of your ad account)

Quick answer: Set up your Meta business portfolio under your own business, with two admins, two-factor login and partners given access rather than ownership.

Meta’s business portfolio is what used to be called Business Manager. It’s the container that holds your Facebook Page, Instagram account, ad accounts, pixels (datasets), product catalogues and the people who can access them. Setting it up properly is boring, but it’s the difference between a clean handover when you change marketers and a lost ad account with years of data in it.

The structure in plain terms

• Business portfolio: owned by your business. One per business is ideal.
• Assets inside it: Facebook Page, Instagram account, ad account(s), dataset (pixel), WhatsApp account, catalogue.
• People: you and staff, each with full or partial access.
• Partners: agencies or freelancers, who get access to specific assets through their own business portfolio.

Step by step

1. Create the portfolio from the owner’s own profile

Go to business.facebook.com and create a business portfolio using the business owner’s personal Facebook profile. Don’t let a staff member or marketer create it on their profile. Whoever creates it starts as the admin.

Use your legal business name, a business email on your own domain, and your business address.

2. Add a second admin you trust

If the only admin loses access to their personal Facebook account (hacked, disabled, forgotten password), the whole portfolio can be stuck. Add a second full-control person, such as a business partner or senior staff member.

3. Turn on two-factor authentication

In Settings → Security centre, require two-factor authentication for everyone. Compromised personal profiles are the most common way businesses lose their pages and ad accounts.

4. Add your Page and Instagram account

Claim your existing Facebook Page and connect your Instagram professional account under Accounts. If an agency or old staff member’s portfolio owns your Page, ask them to transfer ownership or request access through Meta’s process.

5. Create the ad account inside your portfolio

Create the ad account within your portfolio, with the right time zone and currency (AUD). These can’t be changed later. Add your business’s own payment method. If a marketer pays the ad bills through their account, you don’t control the account’s spending history.

6. Create the dataset (pixel) in your portfolio

Create the Meta pixel / dataset under Data sources in *your* portfolio and connect it to your ad account. Then install it on your website, ideally with the Conversions API as well. See Meta pixel vs Conversions API.

7. Verify your business

Business verification (in the Security centre) confirms your business is real using documents such as an ABN registration. It’s required for some features and helps if you ever need support or an account review.

8. Give partners access, not ownership

When you hire an agency or freelancer, add their business portfolio as a partner and share the specific assets they need, with the right permission level. They keep their own login. When the work ends, you remove the partner in one click and everything stays with you.

Common mistakes

• Letting a marketer own the ad account or pixel. If you part ways, you may lose the account and its history. See who should own your ad accounts.
• Several portfolios for one business, created by different people over the years. Consolidate where possible.
• Personal ad accounts. Running business ads from a personal profile’s ad account mixes personal and business, and you can’t share access properly.
• Old staff still with access. Review People and Partners every few months.

If you already have a mess

Many businesses have old portfolios, unused ad accounts and duplicate pixels. You can’t always delete them (Meta keeps accounts with spend history, connected pixels or payment methods), but you can:

• Remove people and partners who no longer need access
• Remove payment methods from unused ad accounts
• Rename unused assets clearly, such as “OLD – do not use”
• Close ad accounts you no longer need

Sources and further reading

• Meta Business Help Centre – search “create a business portfolio” and “business verification”
• Meta Business Suite
• Meta Business Support Home