How to set up a Facebook Ads account

Step 1: Create a Meta Business Manager portfolio

Everything in Meta advertising hangs off a business portfolio, the container that holds your Pages, ad accounts, datasets, and people. Even a one-person business should run ads through a portfolio rather than a personal ad account, because it separates business assets from any individual's Facebook profile and makes it possible to grant and revoke access properly.

Go to business.facebook.com and choose to create a business portfolio. Enter your legal business name exactly as customers know it, your own name, and a business email address you control. Meta emails a confirmation to that address from [email protected]; confirm it, then open Settings in Business Suite and complete your business information, including address and website.

While you are in settings, visit the Security Centre. Two things matter here: turn on two-factor authentication (Meta requires it for business portfolios), and start business verification if the option is offered. Verified businesses are noticeably less likely to suffer random ad rejections and account restrictions. Add a second admin as a backup so a lost phone or locked profile does not lock the whole business out.

• Go to business.facebook.com and create a business portfolio
• Use your real business name and a business email address, then confirm the verification email
• Complete your business info in Business Suite settings
• Enable two-factor authentication and begin business verification in the Security Centre
• Add at least one backup admin

Step 2: Connect your Facebook Page (and Instagram) to the portfolio

Ads on Meta run from a Facebook Page identity, so the Page must live inside your portfolio before you can advertise. In Business Manager settings, open Pages under Accounts, click Add, and choose to add an existing Facebook Page, then select yours. If you do not have a Page yet, the same menu lets you create a new one; give it your business name, category, and contact details before moving on.

If you plan to run ads on Instagram, connect your Instagram account the same way: find Instagram accounts in the left-hand menu, click Add, and log in with the account's credentials. Once connected, your ads can serve across Facebook and Instagram from the same campaigns, which is how most NZ small business budgets get the best reach.

• Business settings, then Pages, then Add an existing Facebook Page
• Create a new Page from the same menu if you do not have one
• Optionally add your Instagram account under Instagram accounts

Step 3: Create the ad account, and get time zone and currency right

Now create the ad account itself. In business settings, go to Ad accounts under the Accounts section, click Add, and choose to create a new ad account. Name it after your business, then set the time zone and currency. For a New Zealand business that is the Auckland time zone and NZD.

Stop and check those two settings before you continue, because they are permanent. An ad account's time zone and currency cannot be changed after creation; the only remedy is closing the account and starting a fresh one, which throws away spend history and learning. When asked who the account is for, select your own business, accept the terms, and create the account.

One more constraint worth knowing: new business portfolios are limited to one ad account at first, with more unlocked over time as you spend and stay in good standing. That is fine for almost every SME, but it is another reason to set this first account up correctly.

• Business settings, then Ad accounts, then Add, then Create a new ad account
• Time zone: Auckland; currency: NZD (permanent once set)
• Select that the account is for your own business and accept the terms

Step 4: Add a payment method

An ad account with no payment method cannot deliver ads, so sort billing straight away. From business settings or Ads Manager, open Billing and payments, choose your ad account, and click Add payment method. Enter a business credit or debit card, confirm your billing country and GST details where prompted, and save.

Meta bills automatically as you spend, charging when you hit a billing threshold or on your monthly billing date. It is worth setting an account spending limit while you are here, especially if you are new to the platform; it acts as a hard ceiling that stops a misconfigured campaign from spending beyond what you intended.

Use a card attached to the business rather than a personal card, and keep it current. A failed payment pauses every campaign, and repeated failures can flag the account for review.

Step 5: Set up the Meta Pixel and Conversions API

The Pixel, which now lives inside what Meta calls a dataset, is what connects your ad spend to real outcomes on your website: enquiries, purchases, bookings. Without it, Meta can only optimise towards clicks and views, and you can only report on the same. Set it up before you launch anything.

In business settings, open Data sources, then Datasets, and click Add to create a new dataset. Name it after your business and create it. From the dataset you can set up the Pixel on your website: either install the base code directly in your site header, add it through your website platform's built-in integration (Shopify, WordPress, Squarespace and most NZ site builders have one), or deploy it via Google Tag Manager.

Alongside the browser Pixel, Meta strongly encourages the Conversions API, which sends events from your server or platform directly to Meta and recovers data lost to browser privacy controls and ad blockers. Most commerce platforms can enable it with a toggle in the same integration. Once installed, define the events that matter, such as Lead or Purchase, and test them with Meta's test events tool before spending.

• Business settings, then Data sources, then Datasets, then Add
• Install the Pixel via your website platform integration, Tag Manager, or the base code
• Enable the Conversions API through your platform integration where available
• Set up standard events for your key actions and verify them in the test events tool

How do you give an agency or partner access safely?

If someone else will manage your campaigns, never hand over your login. Business Manager has a partner system built for exactly this: in business settings, open Partners, click Add, and choose to give a partner access to your assets. Enter the partner's business ID, which any legitimate agency will supply, and send the invitation.

Once the partner accepts, assign them the specific assets they need, typically the ad account, the Page, and the dataset, with the appropriate level of control. The crucial point is that access flows from your portfolio outwards: you own everything, you can see everything they do, and you can revoke access in two clicks if the relationship ends. If an agency instead offers to run your ads from an account they own, walk away, because you would lose the account history, the Pixel data, and the audiences if you ever left.

• Business settings, then Partners, then Add, then Give a partner access to your assets
• Enter the agency's business ID and send the invitation
• Assign the ad account, Page, and dataset with appropriate permissions
• Revoke partner access from the same screen whenever you need to

What are the most common Facebook Ads setup mistakes?

The same handful of setup errors show up again and again when we audit Meta accounts for Auckland and wider New Zealand businesses. Most of them are invisible on day one and expensive by month three.

The pattern behind nearly all of them is launching before the foundation is finished. The fix is equally simple: treat verification, two-factor authentication, correct account settings, and a tested Pixel as prerequisites, not follow-ups. An hour of setup discipline saves months of unmeasurable spend.

• Boosting posts from a personal profile instead of building a business portfolio and ad account
• Wrong currency or time zone on the ad account, which can never be corrected
• Launching campaigns with no Pixel or with events that were never tested
• Skipping business verification and two-factor authentication, then losing the account to a restriction or hack
• A single admin holding all access, with no backup when they are locked out or leave
• Letting an agency own the ad account and Pixel instead of granting partner access from your own portfolio

Related services

Sources and further reading

• Meta Business Help Centre
• Meta Business Suite
• Meta Ads (About advertising)