No ad account, no payment method, no access

1. The three things Meta needs from you

1. A Facebook Page for the business. The ad runs as the Page — it is the name and photo people see.
2. An ad account. The thing campaigns are created inside, and the thing Meta bills.
3. A payment method on that ad account. Without one Meta accepts the campaign and then never delivers it.

Settings tells you which of the three you are missing, and each one has a button that takes you to the exact screen. This page is the longhand.

2. A business portfolio

A business portfolio (Meta used to call it Business Manager) is the folder your Page and your ad account both sit in. If you have ever run a boosted post you probably already have one.

1. Go to business.facebook.com and sign in with the personal Facebook account you use for the business.
2. If you land on a portfolio, you have one. If you are asked to create one, use the legal business name, your name, and your business email.
3. Meta may ask you to verify the business later with a document. Do it when asked — an unverified portfolio hits limits sooner.

3. Creating an ad account

1. In the portfolio, open Settings › Accounts › Ad accounts.
2. Add › Create a new ad account.
3. Name it after the business. Set the time zone and currency to yours.
4. When asked who the ads are for, choose my own business.
5. Add yourself as an admin of it if you are not added automatically.

Back in the app, Settings › Refresh accounts re-reads the list from Facebook. The new account appears there.

4. Adding a payment method

A brand-new ad account has no card on it. In the app the button next to No payment method on that ad account opens the billing page for that exact account, so you do not have to find it.

1. Open Payment settings for the ad account.
2. Add payment method. A business debit or credit card is the usual choice; PayPal and, in some countries, direct debit also work.
3. Set it as the primary payment method.
4. Back in the app, Refresh accounts. The blocker clears.

5. Why your card sees several small charges

Three things stop that happening:

• Pre-load the account. Where Meta offers it, add a prepaid balance and let the spend come out of that instead of the card.
• Raise the billing threshold. In Payment settings, a higher threshold means fewer, larger charges. Meta raises it on its own over time, but you can ask for it up front.
• Tell your bank. One sentence — "I am starting Facebook advertising, expect small repeat charges from Meta" — is usually enough.

The app shows you this same warning on the work order before your first ad, once, and then stops nagging.

6. Getting into your own Facebook Page

This is the case we cannot help with and cannot work around: the ad runs as a Page, and a Page with real posts on it is a genuine requirement, not our rule. What we can do is tell you which situation you are in.

• There is no Page. Create one from your personal Facebook account, give it the business name, a profile photo and a cover, and post a handful of real things before you advertise. A Page created this morning with nothing on it converts badly and draws more review.
• The Page exists, but a former employee or an old agency owns it. Ask them to add you as a Page admin — it takes them thirty seconds. If they will not, or you cannot reach them, use Facebook's request access to a Page flow from your business portfolio, and if that fails, their Page claim process. Both need proof the business is yours.
• You cannot get into the Facebook account itself. Recover the personal account first (Facebook's account recovery), then the Page. Nothing else can be done until that is sorted.

7. Being allowed to advertise as the Page

Seeing a Page is not the same as being allowed to run ads as it. If the app says You cannot run ads as that Page yet, whoever administers the Page has to grant you the advertise task.

1. Page › Settings › Page access.
2. Find your name under people with access, or add it.
3. Turn on ads (and content if you also post).
4. Back in the app, Refresh accounts.

8. Instagram

Optional. If a professional Instagram account is linked to the Page, your ads run on Instagram too and the app picks it up on its own. If nothing is linked, ads run on Facebook only and nothing is broken. Link it from the Page's settings if you want both.

9. Back in the app

1. Open Settings.
2. Refresh accounts — this re-reads everything from Facebook.
3. Pick your Ad account and Facebook Page if they are not filled in already.
4. Anything still missing is listed right there with the button that fixes it.

When Settings has nothing left to say, the publish screen will let you sign the work order. See Publishing to Meta.