How to give access to a Facebook ad account: partner access for agencies, per-account access for your team
By Matheus Mello, founder of Ads Editor and owner of YEP Agência · Published · Updated · 7 min read
To give access to a Facebook ad account the right way, you are solving two separate problems: how the client gives your agency access, and how you give each person on your team access to only the accounts they work on. Mixing them up is how an intern ends up able to edit every client's budget.
Quick answer
To give access to a Facebook ad account, the client adds your agency as a partner in Business settings using your Business Portfolio ID, then shares the ad account, Page, pixel and audiences. Inside the agency, give each person their own login limited to their accounts, require two-factor authentication and keep a log of every action.
Summary
- Client to agency: the client adds you as a partner in their Business Portfolio and shares the Page, Instagram, pixel, audiences and ad account. Not as a person, not as an admin.
- Agency to team: each person gets a personal login limited to specific ad accounts and screens, and no one is handed a Facebook password.
- Permissions only count if the server enforces them, not just the interface.
- Two-factor authentication, signing out other sessions on password change and an action log close the loop.
- The Ads Editor team history pulls together what was done in Ads Editor, in Meta Ads Manager and in Google Ads: who, what, when and in which account.
In this article · 6 sections
How should a client give an agency access to their ad account?
Through partner access, not by adding you as a person. Jon Loomer's recommendation matches how we work: the agency and the client each keep their own Business Portfolio (formerly Business Manager), the client adds the agency as a partner, and then shares the assets you need: Facebook Page, Instagram account, WhatsApp and commerce accounts, datasets including the pixel, custom conversions, custom audiences and the ad account. Being added as an admin on a business you consult for exposes you, the client and your other clients to problems you do not control.
The steps, in order
- The agency sends its Business Portfolio ID. You will find it in your own Business settings, under business info.
- The client adds the agency as a partner. In the client's Business settings, under partners, they add a partner using that ID.
- The client shares each asset and picks the access level. Ad account, Page, Instagram, pixel and audiences, each with full control or partial access.
- The agency assigns its own people. Inside the agency's portfolio, the shared ad account is assigned only to the people who work on that client.
Menu names change
Meta renames these screens from time to time (Business Manager became Business Portfolio). If a label does not match, look for partners in the client's Business settings: the logic of sharing assets with a partner business has stayed the same.
How do you limit each team member to their own accounts?
Once the agency has access, the next question is internal: who on your team touches which client. In Ads Editor, the owner connects Meta and Google once. Each member gets their own login, with name, email and role (admin or collaborator), and works through the owner's connection without ever seeing the access token. What each member can reach is set along three axes.
| Axis | What you define |
|---|---|
| Screens | Which parts of the platform the member can open: manager, bulk publishing, audiences, reports, rules and others |
| Meta accounts | Which Meta ad accounts they can see and edit |
| Google accounts | Which Google Ads accounts they can see and edit |
Are permissions enforced on the server, or only in the interface?
On the server, and that is the line between real permissions and decorative ones. In Ads Editor, if a member tries to act on an account outside their list, by any path, the action is denied and logged. Leaving the account list empty means access to every account, which is useful for a partner and risky for an intern.
How do you protect access with 2FA and an action log?
- Two-factor authentication with an authenticator app, plus backup codes.
- Changing the password signs out every other open session.
- The team history shows who uploaded each creative and who changed what.
The rest of the security facts, from the Facebook login to data deletion, are in is Ads Editor legit?.
How many team members you can add depends on the plan: 1 on Starter, 3 on Pro, 5 on Business and unlimited on Scale. Current limits are on the pricing page.
Can you see what each person did in Meta, Google and Ads Editor?
Yes. The Team screen has a team history that pulls three sources into one list: what was done inside Ads Editor, what was done directly in Meta Ads Manager and what was done directly in Google Ads. Each row shows the date and time, who made the change, the ad account, the activity, the details of the change (for a budget, the value before and after), the item changed and where the action happened.
| Where the action happened | What shows up in the history |
|---|---|
| Ads Editor | Pausing and activating, deleting, duplicating, budget and bid changes, creative uploads and new campaigns, with the name of the member who did it. Actions the automation took on its own are tagged as AI |
| Meta Ads Manager | The ad account's own activity log, with the name of the Facebook user who made the change. Automatic Meta events, such as ad approved or delivery started, are left out |
| Google Ads | Changes made in the web interface, the mobile app, Google Ads Editor, automated rules and scripts, with the email of whoever made them. They usually show up a few minutes later and stay in the history beyond the 30-day window during which Google shares this change data with connected tools |
You can filter by person, platform, account, activity and date range, and search by account, action or item name. Repeated actions in a row, like 40 ads paused within a few minutes, collapse into a single row that expands to list the items. A media buyer who has no Ads Editor login yet and works straight in Meta or Google still appears in the person filter, and when their Meta name matches a team member, both are treated as the same person.
Only the account owner and an admin the owner has allowed on the Team screen can see the history; regular collaborators cannot. With no account filter set, the Meta side shows the accounts you currently have selected; to see any other account, filter by it. Google changes made by other connected tools are not included.
What about AI assistants with access to the accounts?
The same rule applies to an AI assistant connected through MCP: it should reach only the accounts its user can reach, with every action logged. How that works with Claude and ChatGPT is in Meta Ads MCP for Claude and ChatGPT. For the bigger picture around permissions, read how to manage multiple Meta Ads accounts.
Frequently asked questions
Should a client add me as a person or as a partner?
As a partner. Each business keeps its own Business Portfolio and shares specific assets, which limits exposure on both sides. The client adds your agency using your Business Portfolio ID.
Do I need to add every employee to the client's Business Portfolio?
No. With partner access, the agency assigns the shared assets to its own people. In Ads Editor, the member works through the owner's connection, limited to the accounts you grant, without access to the Business Portfolio itself.
Can I see what each team member did?
Yes. The Ads Editor team history records who performed each action, including who uploaded each creative. Changes made directly in Meta Ads Manager show the Facebook user's name, and changes made in Google Ads show the email of whoever made them.
Does a team member see the Facebook access token?
No. The token stays encrypted on the server and never reaches the browser.
Glossary
- Business Portfolio
- Meta's current name for Business Manager, where a business owns and shares Pages, pixels and ad accounts.
- Partner access
- Sharing assets from one Business Portfolio with another business, instead of adding individuals.
- Two-factor authentication
- A second login step, usually a code from an authenticator app.
References
- Have Advertising Clients Add You as a Partner (Jon Loomer). Supports: Agency and client should each have their own Business Portfolio; the client adds the agency as a partner and shares Page, Instagram, WhatsApp, datasets, custom conversions, audiences and ad account; consultants should not be added as people or admins.
The claim supported by each source is shown above.
About the author
Matheus Mello, founder of Ads Editor and owner of YEP Agência. Runs client ad accounts at YEP Agência and built Ads Editor so his own agency could stop publishing ads one at a time. Usage numbers quoted on the blog come from the product activity log. Instagram: @theusm
