How to Create a Meta Business Account and Portfolio (2026)

Previously known as Business Manager accounts, Meta has streamlined them into business portfolios. We’ll show you how to create a Meta Business account and a business portfolio so you can run ads, reply to direct messages and comments, and manage multiple business profiles seamlessly. 

🔗 Related article: How to create a Facebook Ad account

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What is a Meta Business Account?

A Meta Business Account, sometimes used interchangeably to refer to a Meta Business Portfolio or a Meta Business Suite account. It is where you keep and manage your Facebook pages, Instagram profiles and other business assets. The older version, Business Manager, has been phased out and integrated into Meta Business Suite.

It’s also where you can give and revoke user permissions for those assets. It's completely free to create a Meta business account with your personal Facebook account, whether you have an actual business or not.

How it works: You can create a Meta Business account by logging in to Meta Business Suite with your personal Facebook account. We’ve got all the steps listed below. 

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Difference between a Meta business account and a Meta business portfolio

There’s no longer a clear distinction between a business account and a business portfolio. All your Meta assets are housed under business portfolios. You can think of them as organizing folders for your accounts. 

You’ll be guided to create your first business portfolio during the signup process (see section below). 

🔗 Related article: Meta Business Suite vs. Meta Business Portfolio: What’s the Difference?

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Before You Start

This is a checklist of what you’ll need to create a free Meta Business account: 

1. A personal Facebook account (or a Managed Meta account)
2. Business name
3. Business email address

🔗 Related article: How to Create and Optimize a Facebook Page for Your Business (or Clients)

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Desktop: How to create a Meta Business account

It’ll only take a few minutes to create a free Meta Business account.

Step 1: Go to business.facebook.com using a desktop browser and log in with your Facebook or Managed Meta Account

Step 2: Fill in your official business name, your name, and business email address. Then click ‘Submit’

Step 3: Check your inbox for the confirmation email. You're now ready to use Meta Business Suite!

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How to create a new Meta Business Portfolio

If you already have a Meta Business account and want to create more business portfolios for different clients or businesses, this is how you do it.

💡 Pro Tip: New business suite accounts may be limited to creating up to two portfolios, but you can be added or given permissions to manage other business portfolios.

Step 1: In Meta Business Suite (https://business.facebook.com/), hover over and click on your profile picture in the left-hand menu, right under the Meta logo.

Step 2: Click 'Create a business portfolio.'

Step 3: Enter basic contact details, then click 'Create.':

• Business Portfolio name: this should match your company’s public name, as it will be visible on Meta’s platforms. Avoid using special characters.
  
• Your full name: The name of the person setting up the portfolio.
  
• Business email address: Meta will use this email to contact you about your account. It won’t be shown to customers.

Step 4 (Optional): Meta may ask you to add business assets such as Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts to the new portfolio. Select the relevant assets and click "Next," or click "Skip" to add them later.

For detailed instructions, see:

• How to add a Facebook Page to your Business Portfolio
• How to add an Instagram account to your Business Portfolio

Connecting eligible Facebook and Instagram assets is also required when applying for Meta Verified for a business.

Step 5: (Optional) Add people from your team, marketing agency, freelancers, or partners that will help you manage this business portfolio.
There are three levels of access:

• People: Individual employees or freelancers who need access to your Meta assets. 

• Partners: Marketing agencies or other external businesses that manage aspects of your Meta assets. 

• System Users: Non-human accounts created to interact with the Meta APIs like software and servers.   

Invited users will receive an email with a link for them to accept the invite. 

Step 6: Final step. Review and confirm your choices, then click 'Confirm'. That's all! 🙌

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🛠️ Troubleshooting: Unable to create Meta Business Account

If you're seeing the error message telling you 'Unable to access Meta Business Suite with this account' while you're trying to make any of the steps above, you can resolve it by simply creating a Business Facebook Page first.

On the error message screen, click 'Create a Business Page'. You can follow along the steps above to finish the set up.

💡 Pro tip: You can just create a dummy Page if you are not ready to set up a business Page yet. Doing so will remove the error message, and you have time to continue creating business assets and portfolio in the meanwhile.

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👉 If you don’t have a Facebook Page yet, here’s how to create and optimize your Facebook Business Page before moving forward.
👉 If you already have a Facebook Page, you might be asked to verify your account before you can proceed. Do so to secure your account!

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What's next after creating a business account and portfolio?

Apart from Facebook Pages, business portfolios can also house other business assets (Instagram accounts, ad accounts) so they can be managed together. Here are some next steps you can take:

• Create a Facebook ad account
• Link your Instagram account to a Facebook Page

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How to add other assets to your Meta Business Portfolio

Step 1: Go to 'Settings'

Step 2: Select from the dropdown—Pages, ad accounts, business asset groups, apps, Instagram accounts, and WhatsApp accounts.

Step 3: Click the blue '+ Add' button and follow the on-screen instructions to select and confirm.

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How to delete a Meta Business Portfolio

Step 1: Go to Meta Business 'Settings' → 'Business info' (https://business.facebook.com/latest/settings/business_info).

Step 2: In the top right corner, click 'Permanently delete business.'

Step 3: The confirmation pop up explains what happens when you deleta a Business Portfolio—you may lost some accounts tied into it, so double check before you proceed. Click 'Delete portfolio' if you are certain.

That's all! You have 24 hours to change your mind if this was done by mistake.