Explainer
How to create a Meta Ads Manager account, and what a Facebook ad agency account is
You do not create a Meta Ads Manager account separately: Meta says every Facebook account is given an ad account by default, and you open it by going to facebook.com/adsmanager. Extra ad accounts are created inside a business portfolio, one at first and more after a confirmed payment. A "Facebook ad agency account" is not a Meta product. An agency normally works in the client's own ad account through partner access, and Meta's policies prohibit selling, renting or buying administrative access.
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How to create a Meta Ads Manager account
There is nothing to create. Meta's article on creating an ad account in Ads Manager says that when you sign up for Facebook you are given an ad account, with its own ad account ID, by default. So if you are searching for how to create a Facebook Ads Manager account, the answer is the same: the personal ad account already exists, and Ads Manager is the tool you view it in. All pages cited here were read on 13 October 2026.
Meta lists two things you need before that account can run an ad:
- A Facebook Page, or an admin, editor or advertiser role on someone else's Page.
- A valid payment method on the ad account.
How to open Meta Ads Manager for the first time
Go to facebook.com/adsmanager and log in with your own Facebook login. Meta says that if you have only one ad account, it is selected by default.
- 01
Open Ads Manager
Type facebook.com/adsmanager in the address bar. Our post on Ads Manager, Business Suite and business portfolios explains why to type it and what to check if the account does not appear. - 02
Check the currency and time zone before anything else
These are in Payment settings, under Business info. The next section explains why. - 03
Add a payment method
Meta's payment method article gives the route: open Billing and payments, choose Payment settings, click Add payment method, select one and follow the instructions. You need admin permission on the ad account, or full control of it if it sits in a business portfolio. - 04
Create your first campaign
Meta says you cannot publish an ad until a payment method is added. From there, our guide to publishing ads on Meta takes over.
Currency, time zone and country: set them once
Meta's pages say a new currency or time zone closes the ad account and creates a new one, so get them right at the start.
| Setting | What Meta says | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Currency | It can be changed once every 60 days if there is no current balance. Doing so creates a new ad account; the old one is closed and its ads stop. With monthly invoicing the currency cannot be changed at all. | Choose the currency your card and your accounts are in. The payment methods on offer depend on it. |
| Time zone | Changing it closes the existing ad account, which cannot be reactivated, and creates a new one. The default for new ad accounts is Pacific Standard Time. | Check it before your first campaign. |
| Country | In some countries, such as Brazil, India and Poland, the business country and currency must match. An account created with a country other than Brazil cannot be changed to Brazil later. | Enter the country your business is registered in. |
The first two columns come from Meta's articles on changing the currency and changing the time zone. The third column is our reading.
How to create a Facebook Business Manager account and add an ad account to it
Business Manager is now called a business portfolio, and you create one at business.facebook.com. Meta's instructions are: log in, open the drop-down menu below Home at the top left, click Create a business portfolio and enter the business's public name. Meta says one person can create up to two portfolios.
You need a portfolio once you want more than the one personal ad account, or want to share an account with staff or an agency. Meta's page on adding an ad account to a business portfolio gives these steps for a new one:
- 01
Open Ad accounts in Settings
In Meta Business Suite, go to Settings, select Accounts in the left-hand menu, then Ad accounts. Click + Add and select Create a new ad account. - 02
Enter the name, time zone and currency
These are the settings from the table above. Click Next. - 03
Say whose business it is for
Choose the portfolio, then My business, or Another business or client if you will advertise on behalf of someone else. - 04
Confirm and add payment details
Agree to Meta's terms and Advertising Standards, click Create ad account, then Add payment info, or Done to add it later.
Two things on that page are permanent. An ad account created in a portfolio cannot be deleted or moved to another one, and claiming an existing ad account may move it into the portfolio for good. Only someone with full control of the portfolio can do either.
How many ad accounts you can have
- One to start. Meta's ad account limits page says a business begins with a creation limit of one until it makes a confirmed payment. The add-an-ad-account page puts a number on the next step: a new portfolio's limit goes up to three once a campaign has delivered and a payment has been made.
- More with use. Meta's troubleshooting article says it generally adjusts the limit based on historical spending and how existing ad accounts are used.
- Closed accounts still count. A deactivated ad account stays in the portfolio and counts towards the limit, as do accounts disabled after 60 days without use or spend.
- Limits on people. One person can manage up to 25 ad accounts, and an ad account can be assigned to up to 25 people.
Someone with full control can see the current number in Settings, under Business info.
What is a Facebook ad agency account?
It is not something Meta offers: we found no Meta help or policy page that defines an "agency ad account". What is a Facebook ad agency in Meta's terms? A partner, meaning another business with its own business portfolio that you give access to yours. Three arrangements are possible.
| Arrangement | Who owns the ad account | What Meta's pages say |
|---|---|---|
| Partner access to your ad account | You do. | Someone with full control of your portfolio goes to Settings, Partners, Add, then Give a partner access to your assets, enters the agency's business portfolio ID and chooses full control or partial access. Even with full control, a partner cannot share the asset with another business. |
| The agency creates an account on your behalf | The agency. It sits in the agency's portfolio permanently. | Agencies can mark an account as used for another business or client. Meta says that link cannot be removed or switched to another client, and that when the relationship ends the account becomes inactive and stays in the agency's portfolio. |
| A bought or rented account | Someone else. | Meta's Advertising Standards say you must not sell, rent, buy or exchange site privileges such as administrative access, and prohibit helping anyone evade enforcement. |
The first two rows come from Meta's articles on giving a partner access, partners in Business Suite and the on-behalf-of feature (about, steps). Meta's Advertising Standards also require anyone managing ads for others to keep each client in a separate ad account and never to change the client attached to an established one.
Our reading: for a small business the first arrangement is the safer default, because the account, its payment method and its history stay with you. Under the second, Meta's own rules mean the account cannot follow you if you change agency.
What Meta says about buying or renting ad accounts
Searching for an agency ad account also turns up third parties offering accounts to buy or rent. Meta's pages do not use that term, so here is the wording that does exist and, separately, how we read it.
- The Advertising Standards, quoted in the table above, also say advertising accounts must be associated with a legitimate business or individual.
- The Spam section of the Community Standards does not allow selling, buying or exchanging platform assets such as accounts and Pages, or site privileges such as admin roles, whether attempted or completed.
- On 26 February 2026 Meta said it had sent cease-and-desist letters to eight former Meta Business Partners whose services included "renting access to trusted accounts" that helped clients evade its enforcement systems.
None of these rules mentions ad accounts by name, and the Spam wording covers selling, buying and exchanging but not renting. Our reading is that paying a reseller for access to an ad account is paying for administrative access, which the Advertising Standards prohibit, and that an account rented to get round a restriction falls under the enforcement-evasion wording. The practical risk is plainer: your spend and results would sit in an account someone else controls. This is general information, not legal advice. If your own account is restricted, the route Meta provides is a review request, covered in our post on scam ads and advertiser checks.
Sources
All pages were read on 13 October 2026. Meta's help and policy pages carry no publication date.
- Meta Business Help Centre, "How to create an ad account in Meta Ads Manager", undated
- Meta Business Help Centre, "Add an ad account to your business portfolio in Meta Business Suite", undated
- Meta Business Help Centre, "Create a business portfolio in Meta Business Suite", undated
- Meta Business Help Centre, "Ad account limits", undated
- Meta Business Help Centre, "Find your business portfolio's ad account limit", undated
- Meta Business Help Centre, "Troubleshoot issues with creating a new ad account in your business portfolio", undated
- Meta Business Help Centre, "Change the currency that you use for Meta ads", undated
- Meta Business Help Centre, "How to change the time zone for your ad account in Meta Ads Manager", undated
- Meta Business Help Centre, "Add a payment method to a Meta ad account", undated
- Meta Business Help Centre, "Give a partner access to business assets in your business portfolio", undated
- Meta Business Help Centre, "About partners in Meta Business Suite", undated
- Meta Business Help Centre, "About advertising on behalf of another business", undated
- Meta Business Help Centre, "Advertise on behalf of another business in Meta Business Suite", undated
- Meta Business Help Centre, "Deactivate an ad account that's in a business portfolio in Meta Business Suite", undated
- Meta Transparency Centre, Introduction to the Advertising Standards, read 13 October 2026
- Meta Transparency Centre, Community Standards: Spam, read 13 October 2026
- Meta Newsroom, "Meta Takes Legal Action Against Scam Advertisers", 26 February 2026
Questions people ask
How to create a Meta Ads Manager account?
You do not create one separately. Meta's Business Help Centre says every Facebook account is given an ad account and ad account ID by default, and you reach it by going to facebook.com/adsmanager. Before you can run an ad you need a Facebook Page, or a role on one, and a payment method on the ad account.
How to open Meta Ads Manager for the first time?
Go to facebook.com/adsmanager and log in with your own Facebook login. Meta says that if you have only one ad account it is selected by default. Check the account's currency and time zone in Payment settings before adding a payment method, because Meta says changing either later closes the ad account and creates a new one.
What is a Facebook ad agency account?
It is not a Meta product. In Meta's Business Help Centre an agency is a partner: a business with its own business portfolio that you give full or partial access to your ad account, which stays yours. Meta's Advertising Standards say administrative access must not be sold, rented, bought or exchanged, so in our reading accounts rented from resellers fall outside what Meta permits.
How many Meta ad accounts can I have?
Meta says a business starts with an ad account creation limit of one until it makes a confirmed payment, and that a new business portfolio's limit rises to three once a campaign has delivered and a payment is made. After that Meta says it generally adjusts the limit based on spending history and use. Closed ad accounts still count towards it.
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Mockingbird is an independent product from Onwards Analytics and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Meta. Meta, Facebook, Instagram, Meta Ads Manager and the Meta Ad Library are trademarks of Meta Platforms, Inc. Meta changes its tools often; check Meta's own help pages for the current detail before you rely on it.