How to give an agency access to your Facebook ad account

First: keep everything in your own portfolio

The most expensive mistake happens before any access is given: the agency creates the ad account or the pixel in its own business portfolio. Meta can’t move either one later:

If you create a new ad account in a business portfolio, it will permanently be a part of that portfolio. This means the ad account can't be deleted or transferred from the portfolio.

The pixel is the same — you can’t delete a dataset or transfer it to another business portfolio (source). When the agency leaves, the ad history, the audiences built on the pixel and the account’s learning stay with the agency.

So the business creates its own portfolio, ad account, pixel and Page, and the agency works in them as a partner. Creating a portfolio is free; one person can create up to two, and Business assets can only belong to 1 business portfolio. (source)

How to give an agency access, step by step

You need full access to your business portfolio and two-factor authentication turned on. Ask the agency for its business portfolio ID — it is under the portfolio name in its Settings → Business portfolio info (source). Then (source):

1. Open Settings for your business portfolio in Meta Business Suite.
2. Click Partners in the Users section. If you don’t see it, you don’t have full access to the portfolio.
3. Click Add, then Give a partner access to your assets.
4. Enter the agency’s business portfolio ID and click Next.
5. Choose the assets — ad account, pixel, Page — and the level of access. For partial access, pick the tasks.
6. Click Assign assets. Someone else with full access may need to approve it.

The agency then assigns the access to its own people. It can only pass on what you gave it: you can only assign permissions for the specific tasks your business was assigned (source). Meta renames these menus from time to time, so if a label differs, look for the same step nearby.

If you are the agency: ask for access

You can start from your side instead (source):

1. In your portfolio’s Settings → Partners, click Add and choose Ask a partner to assign you their assets.
2. Enter the client’s email and business portfolio ID, choose your roles, the asset types and permissions you need.
3. Click Send request. The client can approve or deny your request, or change which asset types and permissions to share.

For a single ad account, use Settings → Accounts → Ad accounts → Add → Request access to an ad account in another business portfolio, with the ad account ID. The account’s owner or someone with full access to its portfolio approves it (source). Ask only for the tasks you need; a client who sees “full access” in a request has a reason to hesitate.

Access levels: full or partial

Meta has two levels: full access and partial access — full access was called “full control” until recently (source). For an ad account, partial access means picking tasks (source):

Don’t give a contractor full access to the whole portfolio. Business portfolio permissions override all others. (source) Someone with full access to the portfolio can claim or remove assets and people.

Sharing the pixel

Ad account access doesn’t include the pixel. Share it separately: Settings → Data sources → Datasets → choose the dataset → Assign partners → the agency’s business portfolio ID → the level of access (source). The first time, Meta asks you to declare the business relationship and confirm its terms.

• Use events dataset (partial): View data, view analytics and create conversion ads with this dataset.
• Manage events dataset (full): adds settings, events, user access and create audiences (source).

An agency that only runs conversion ads needs the first. One that builds website audiences or sets up the Conversions API needs the second — see Conversions API for CRM.

The Page and the leads

To run ads for a Page, the agency needs partial access with the Ads task on it; add Content, Messages or Insights only if it posts, replies or reports. Even with full access, a partner can’t delete the Page or remove it from your portfolio (source).

Leads from instant forms are separate. Until the business sets up leads access, all Page admins or people with messaging permissions can download leads; once it does, new people, CRM systems or partners need to be added manually. (source)

1. Go to Settings → Integrations → Leads access (the first time, click Customize access and confirm).
2. Choose the Page and open Partners, then Assign partners.
3. Pick the agency from the partners connected to the Page.

Only the business that owns the Page can assign leads access permissions to partner businesses or agencies. (source) If the agency connects its CRM to your forms, this is the step that makes it work. Leads stay downloadable for 90 days only, so decide who collects them — see lead quality.

Who pays

Keep your own card on your own ad account. If the ad account is in a business portfolio, then you need full control of the ad account to edit a payment method. (source) An agency with partial access can spend the budget you set but can’t change the card — which is the point. Set an account spending limit if you want a hard ceiling; our guide to spending limits and failed payments explains it.

If the agency runs ads from its own portfolio on your behalf, Meta has an “advertise on behalf of another business” option. It shows your business in “Why am I seeing this ad?”, but The business you advertise on behalf of can't see the ad account unless you grant it permission. (source) Ask for that permission in writing.

Without a business portfolio

An ad account outside any portfolio can only be shared from Ads Manager, with three roles: admin, advertiser and analyst — and You also need to be Facebook friends with the people you add to the account. (source) The same page reminds that sharing a Facebook login is against Meta’s terms. For working with an agency, create a portfolio first; it takes a few minutes and the ad account can be claimed into it.

When the agency leaves

1. Remove the partner: Settings → Partners → the agency → Options → Remove from business portfolio → Remove partner (source).
2. Check leads access and the pixel’s partners for the agency, and remove what is left.
3. Clean up people: Meta suggests you Remove people who haven't logged into the portfolio within the past 90 days, especially those with full control of the portfolio.
4. Review credit lines and the businesses they are shared with, and keep at least two of your own people with full access (source).

Removing a partner is a different step from removing a person: an agency employee you added directly under People needs removing there.

How Variafy works with agency access

Variafy uses the access you already have. When you connect, it lists the ad accounts your business portfolio owns and the client accounts shared with it, and reads which tasks you were given: with “View performance” it reads and reports, with “Manage campaigns” it can also prepare changes, each shown with its effect on spend before it runs. The client doesn’t need to add anyone new.

For a new client, start with our audit checklist, and use the weekly report to keep them informed.

Add https://www.variafy.com/mcp to your assistant. Variafy is in private beta: join the waitlist.

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Related guides

• Facebook ads audit checklist: a new client’s ad account in 30 minutes
• Facebook ads report for clients: what to send every week
• Facebook ads payment failed or spending limit reached: how to fix it