Business Portfolio, Ad Accounts and Permissions
Before any campaign can run, a business needs the right account structure. This guide covers the Business Portfolio, ad accounts, the people and partners who can access them, and how billing works.
- Container
- Business Portfolio (formerly Business Manager)
- Holds
- Ad accounts, Pages, Instagram accounts, pixels, catalogs, apps
- Access model
- People with roles, plus partner businesses
- Billing
- Per ad account, with payment methods and thresholds
- Verification
- Business verification for some features and higher limits
On This Page
Business Portfolio
A Business Portfolio is the container for everything a business uses on Meta. It holds Pages, Instagram accounts, ad accounts, pixels, catalogs and apps. Meta introduced the Business Portfolio name for what was previously called Business Manager, and older documentation uses both names for the same thing.
A business should own its own portfolio. Agencies are added as partners with specific permissions, which keeps ownership with the client.
Ad Accounts
An ad account is where campaigns live and where spend is billed. One portfolio can hold several ad accounts, which is useful for separating brands, markets or currencies. Each ad account has its own currency, time zone and payment settings, and these cannot be changed once set, so they should be chosen carefully.
People, Roles and Partners
People are added to the portfolio and then assigned to assets with task-based permissions, such as managing campaigns or viewing performance. Partners are other businesses, such as an agency, that are granted access to specific assets. Partner access can be removed at any time without affecting the asset itself.
Billing and Payment Settings
Each ad account needs a payment method. Meta charges either when a billing threshold is reached or on a monthly billing date, depending on the account's payment setup. Account spending limits can cap total spend across all campaigns. Payment issues are one of the most common reasons ads stop delivering, so a backup payment method is recommended.
Business Verification
Some features and higher limits require business verification, which involves submitting documents that confirm the legal business. Verification is managed in Business Settings within the portfolio.
Putting This to Work
Insist that the ad account sits inside a Business Portfolio you own, with your agency added as a partner. If you ever change agencies, you keep the account, the history and the data that makes future campaigns cheaper.
In Practice
A fitness studio changed agencies and discovered its ad account belonged to the old agency. It had to start from zero, with no history, audiences or pixel data. A portfolio in the studio's name would have prevented this.
Giving an agency admin access to the entire portfolio is more than most engagements require. Grant access to the specific assets involved.
Key Terms
- Business Portfolio
- The top-level container for a business's Meta assets, formerly Business Manager.
- Partner
- Another business granted access to specific assets.
- Billing threshold
- The spend level that triggers a charge to the payment method.
- Account spending limit
- A cap on lifetime spend for an ad account.
Key Facts
- Currency and time zone are fixed for an ad account after creation.
- An agency working inside a client's own ad account keeps the account, data and history with the client.
Sources
- Meta Business Help Center www.facebook.com
- Business Portfolio and Business Settings, Meta Business Help Center www.facebook.com
- Meta Blueprint courses www.facebook.com
- Search Engine Journal, paid social www.searchenginejournal.com
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