In this guide · 7 sections
Short answer
Create the portfolio at business.facebook.com using your business email and the company's public name, add two people with full access with 2FA or passkeys, move your Page, Instagram, ad account and Pixel into it, and give agencies partner access to assets instead of making them owners.
Business Manager is now a business portfolio
Meta's help centre now uses the terms business portfolio and Meta Business Suite. The old roles have new names too. From Meta's business portfolio access article:
| Old name | Current name (Oct 2026) | What it allows |
|---|---|---|
| Business Manager | Business portfolio | Container for your Pages, Instagram, ad accounts, pixels and people |
| Admin (full control) | Full access | Everything: settings, people, partners, assets, deleting the portfolio |
| Employee | Basic (partial access) | Work only on assigned assets; the default for new people |
| Developer | Apps and integrations | Conversions API, events, apps and access tokens |
| Finance roles | Finance access (advanced option) | View or manage invoices, spend and payment methods |
Meta also offers temporary access, which gives basic access for 3 to 75 days and removes the person automatically when it expires. That is useful for a freelancer or an intern.
Create the portfolio in the company's name
Meta's create a business portfolio article sets out the steps. Do it from the business owner's or a director's profile, not a junior staff member's.
Go to business.facebook.com
Log in with your Facebook profile (or a managed Meta account if your organisation uses one).
Choose Create a business portfolio
Click the dropdown below Home at the top left and select Create a business portfolio.
Use the business's public name
Meta says the name should match your business's public name, is visible across Meta and cannot contain special characters.
Enter a business email you control
Use a company address such as admin@yourcompany.sg, not a personal Gmail. Meta sends a confirmation email to it.
Confirm and note the portfolio ID
After you confirm, you have full access. Note the business portfolio ID in Settings; agencies will ask for it.
Meta says each person can create up to two business portfolios, but can belong to any number. If an old portfolio already exists, use that rather than creating a duplicate.
Add your Page, Instagram, ad account and Pixel
Once the portfolio exists, add the assets from Settings in Meta Business Suite. Meta lists Facebook Pages, Instagram accounts, ad accounts, apps and Meta Pixels as assets you can add.
| Asset | How to add it | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Facebook Page | Settings > Accounts (Pages) | If someone else's portfolio owns it, they must approve or release it |
| Instagram account | Settings > Accounts (Instagram accounts) | Use the Instagram professional account linked to your Page |
| Ad account | Settings > Accounts > Ad accounts > + Add | New ad accounts stay in the portfolio permanently |
| Meta Pixel / dataset | Settings > Data sources (pixels and datasets) | Create it in your portfolio, not the agency's |
Meta's ad account article says a new ad account created in a portfolio cannot be deleted or transferred, and a new portfolio can create only one ad account at first, rising to three once a campaign delivers and a payment is made. Claiming an existing ad account may also move it permanently, so make sure you claim it into the right portfolio. If you sell on Shopify, our Meta Pixel and Conversions API guide covers the tracking setup.
Give agencies partner access, not ownership
If an agency or freelancer runs your ads, the right setup is that you own the assets and they get access. Meta's partner access article explains how to share specific assets with their business portfolio.
Partner access (recommended)
- You keep the Page, ad account, Pixel and ad history
- Grant only the tasks they need, such as managing ads
- Remove access in one step when the contract ends
- Partners cannot re-share your assets with another business
Agency owns the assets (avoid)
- Leaving the agency can mean losing the ad account and its history
- Pixel data and audiences stay in their portfolio
- You may not see invoices or spend directly
- Disputes over ownership take weeks to resolve
To share: in Settings, open Partners under Users, choose Add, then Give a partner access to your assets, enter the agency's portfolio ID and pick the assets and tasks. Only people with full access to your portfolio can do this, and another full-access person may need to approve it.
Security: admins, 2FA and regular clean-ups
Hijacked Meta business accounts are a common way scammers run ads on someone else's card or impersonate a brand; see our guide to fake ads impersonating your business. Meta's portfolio security best practices recommend these steps:
Business portfolio security checklist
The same principles apply across your other systems; our admin account best practice guide explains why admin logins should be separate and protected.
Do it yourself or get help?
A clean, new portfolio with assets you already own takes under an hour. It gets harder when an old agency or ex-employee owns the Page or ad account, or when the Pixel and conversion tracking also need setting up.
IT Sorted is a Singapore-based team of developers with over 10 years of experience. Meta Ads Setup (Facebook & Instagram) (S$590) sets up the business portfolio in your name with your Page, Instagram, ad account and Pixel, admin access and tracking. Your ad budget is paid to Meta directly, and results are never guaranteed.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Meta now calls Business Manager a business portfolio, managed in Meta Business Suite. The roles were renamed too: admin is now full access, employee is basic (partial) access and developer is apps and integrations. The purpose is the same: one place for your Pages, Instagram accounts, ad accounts, pixels and people.
Meta recommends at least two active people with full access, so a second person can approve sensitive actions and take over if one account is compromised. It also recommends limiting full access to people who need it, ideally 10 or fewer. Everyone else should have basic access to the assets they work on.
It is better if the ad account is created in your own business portfolio and shared with the agency as a partner. Meta says a new ad account stays permanently in the portfolio where it was created, so an account created in the agency's portfolio stays with them, along with its history.
Each business asset can only belong to one business portfolio. If an agency or former employee's portfolio owns your Page, they need to remove it so you can claim it, or share it with your portfolio. Ad accounts created inside a portfolio cannot be transferred at all, so you may need a new one.
Meta says you need access to Meta Business Suite with either your Facebook profile or a managed Meta account. Most small businesses use the owner's or a director's own Facebook profile with two-factor authentication. Your personal profile is not shown to customers; the business email you enter is used for Meta's contact about the portfolio.