Step-by-Step Guide: How to Add Users to Facebook Business Manager and Meta Business Suite

Why Adding Users to Facebook Business Manager the Right Way Matters

To add users to Facebook Business Manager, follow these steps:

1. Go to business.facebook.com and open Business Settings
2. Click People under the Users section
3. Click Add and enter the person’s work email address
4. Select their role (Admin or Employee)
5. Assign the specific assets they need (Pages, Ad Accounts, Pixels, etc.)
6. Click Invite — they must accept within 14 days

If you’re running Facebook and Instagram ads for your e-commerce brand, you’ll eventually need to bring in team members, contractors, or an agency. That means you need to add users to Facebook Business Manager — Meta’s central hub for controlling who can access your Pages, ad accounts, pixels, and more.

Get it wrong and you risk giving someone too much access, locking yourself out, or leaving former employees with the keys to your ad account.

Over 10 million businesses use Meta Business Suite to manage their assets. With the right permissions setup, your team can move fast without creating security risks.

I’m Samir ElKamouny, founder of Fetch and Funnel, and I’ve helped hundreds of e-commerce brands properly add users to Facebook Business Manager as part of building secure, high-performing ad operations. In this guide, I’ll walk you through every step — from prerequisites to best practices — so your team gets access without the headaches.

What is Meta Business Suite and Why Use It for Access Control?

Before we dive into the step-by-step process, it is important to understand the tool we are working with. Meta uses two terms that often confuse advertisers: Meta Business Suite and Facebook Business Manager.

Essentially, Meta Business Suite is the modern front-end interface designed to manage your organic social media presence, messages, and overall business portfolio. Facebook Business Manager (specifically accessed via Business Settings) is the robust backend control panel where you handle data sources, developer tools, and precise user access. For a detailed comparison of these interfaces, you can read Hootsuite’s guide on Meta Business Suite.

Using this centralized system for access control is non-negotiable for growing brands. Instead of sharing a single login (which is a massive security risk and can get your account flagged by Meta’s security algorithms), you can grant individual access to your business portfolio. This centralized control ensures that:

• You maintain ultimate ownership of your business assets.
• You can assign granular access—meaning a copywriter doesn’t accidentally change your billing details.
• You can instantly revoke access when a contractor or employee leaves your team.

For a deeper dive into navigating Meta’s advertising platform, check out our comprehensive guide on the Facebook Ads Manager. To learn more about how Meta structures these tools, you can read the official Meta guide About Meta Business Suite and Meta Business Manager.

Prerequisites Before You Add Users to Facebook Business Manager

To ensure a smooth onboarding process, you need to have a few things ready. Setting these up beforehand prevents the common “Why isn’t this working?” errors that plague many advertisers.

Here is what you need before you begin:

1. Full Control (Admin Access): Only users with full control of the business portfolio can add people and assign business assets. If you are an Employee-level user, you will not see the options to invite others.
2. The User’s Work Email: We strongly recommend using the person’s professional work email rather than their personal email. This keeps your business logs clean and secure. The invited user will still link this invite to their personal Facebook account for identity verification, but your system records their work email.
3. An Active Facebook Account: The person you are inviting must have an active, personal Facebook account to verify their identity when accepting the invitation.
4. An Asset Checklist: Know exactly which Pages, Ad Accounts, Pixels, and Instagram accounts this person needs access to, along with their required permission levels.

For official details on account requirements and identity verification, you can consult the Facebook Help Center.

Step-by-Step: How to Add Users to Facebook Business Manager

Let’s walk through the actual process of inviting a new team member to your business portfolio.

For a complete overview of setting up and scaling your campaigns from scratch, refer to our Facebook Ads Management Complete Guide.

If you prefer to jump straight to the settings, follow these steps to initiate the process:

Step 1: Navigate to Business Settings and Initiate the Invite

1. Go to Meta Business Suite and ensure you have selected the correct business portfolio from the top-left dropdown menu.
2. Click on Settings (the gear icon) in the bottom-left corner.
3. Select Business Settings to open the advanced backend dashboard.
4. In the left-hand sidebar, expand the Users menu and click on People.
5. Click the blue Add People (or Invite People) button.
6. Enter the work email address of the person you want to add.
7. Choose their temporary business-level role:
   • Partial Control (Employee): This is the default and recommended setting. They can only work on the specific assets you assign to them.
   • Full Control (Admin): Use this sparingly. Admins can view settings, change settings, add or remove people, and delete the business portfolio entirely.

For more information on setting up your business structure, you can read the official guide on how to Add People to Your Business Manager.

Step 2: Assign Roles and Add Users to Facebook Business Manager Assets

Once you have entered the email and selected the base role, Meta will prompt you to assign specific business assets. This is where you apply the principle of least privilege.

1. Select Asset Types: In the left column of the pop-up window, you will see asset types like Pages, Ad Accounts, Pixels, Catalogs, and Instagram Accounts.
2. Choose Specific Assets: Click on an asset type, then check the boxes next to the specific assets the user needs access to.
3. Assign Task Permissions: In the right-hand column, toggle the exact permissions they need. For example, for an Ad Account, you can toggle “Manage Campaigns” (Advertiser access) or “View Performance” (Analyst access).
4. Review and Send: Double-check your selections and click Invite.

The user will receive an email invitation containing a link to join your business portfolio. To review the official step-by-step instructions from Meta, check out Add People to a Business Portfolio and Assign a Business Asset.

Managing Roles, Partners, and Updating Permissions

As your brand scales, managing user permissions becomes a continuous task. Let’s look at how to structure your team’s roles, how to work with external agencies, and how to keep your access lists clean.

Understanding User Roles and Permission Levels

To maintain security, you must understand the exact permission hierarchy in Meta Business Suite. Here is a breakdown of the standard roles you can assign:

Business Role	Asset Level Role	Best For	Typical Permissions
Admin (Full Control)	Admin	Business Owners, CMOs	Full access to billing, users, and all assets.
Employee (Partial Control)	Advertiser / Editor	Media Buyers, Content Creators	Create and edit ads, publish content, view reports.
Employee (Partial Control)	Analyst	Finance Teams, Stakeholders	View-only access to performance reports and data.
Employee (Partial Control)	Developer	Tech Teams, Webmasters	Manage pixels, Conversions API, and integrations.

By mapping out your team’s responsibilities to this matrix, you avoid granting unnecessary power over your account. For more strategic insights on structuring your advertising operations, read our Facebook Ads Strategy Complete Guide. You can also read Meta’s official documentation About Business Manager Roles and Permissions.

How to Add a Partner or Agency to Your Business Portfolio

If you are hiring an agency (like us here at Fetch and Funnel!) to manage your advertising, you should never add individual agency employees as “People” in your Business Manager. Doing so creates a messy user list and makes offboarding incredibly difficult.

Instead, you should add the agency as a Partner. This allows the agency to manage their own team internally while you retain ultimate ownership of your assets.

To add an agency partner:

1. Ask the agency for their Business ID (a 15-digit number).
2. Go to your Business Settings > Users > Partners.
3. Click Add and select Give a partner access to your assets.
4. Enter the agency’s Business ID and click Next.
5. Assign the specific Pages, Ad Accounts, and Pixels they need to do their job, then click Save Changes.

This clean separation of assets is a cornerstone of our approach to Facebook Ads for Lead Generation. For additional details on managing Page-level access specifically, see How do I give someone access to my Facebook Page?. You can also refer to WordStream’s guide on Facebook Business Manager for more tips on agency collaboration.

How to Edit, Update, or Remove User Access

People change roles, projects end, and contractors move on. Regularly updating your user list is critical to account health.

• To Edit Permissions: Navigate to Business Settings > Users > People. Click on the user’s name, select the asset you want to adjust, change the toggles, and save.
• To Revoke Access Entirely: Click on the user’s name under People and click the Remove button in the top-right corner of their details pane. This instantly cuts off their access to all associated business assets.

If you are running a highly technical setup involving multi-tier integrations, you might also look into advanced developer options like the Add a User to the Child Business Manager – Business Management APIs.

Best Practices and Troubleshooting for Meta Access Management

Operating a secure Meta Business Manager account goes beyond just knowing where to click. It requires establishing strong internal guardrails.

Security Best Practices for Adding Users to Facebook Business Manager

To keep your ad spend and customer data safe, we recommend enforcing these security protocols:

1. Enforce Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Go to your Security Center in Business Settings and set 2FA to “Required for Everyone.” This is the single most effective way to prevent unauthorized access.
2. Apply Least-Privilege Access: Always start new users with the absolute minimum access required to do their job. You can always grant more access later if needed.
3. Use Work Emails Only: Insist on professional email addresses. It makes auditing your user list much simpler.
4. Conduct Bi-Monthly Audits: Every 30 to 60 days, review your People and Partners lists. Remove anyone who no longer requires access.
5. Protect Your Pixel: Your pixel holds highly valuable customer data. Only grant pixel management access to trusted developers or senior media buyers. For more on pixel data strategies, check out our guide on Facebook Ads Audience Research.

Troubleshooting Common Invitation and Access Errors

If you run into issues while trying to add users to Facebook Business Manager, don’t panic. Here are the most common errors and how to solve them:

• The user didn’t receive the invitation email: Check their spam folder. If it’s still missing, go to Business Settings > People, select their pending name, and click Resend. You can also copy the direct invitation link and send it to them via chat or slack.
• The invitation link is expired: Invitations expire after 14 days. If they didn’t accept in time, you will need to cancel the pending invite and send a fresh one.
• Email address mismatch: Ensure the email you invited is the one they use when logging into their personal Facebook account to accept. If there is a mismatch, have them log out of Facebook entirely, open the invite link in an incognito window, and sign in with the correct credentials.
• The “Add” button is greyed out: This means you do not have Admin (Full Control) permissions in the business portfolio. You will need to ask the business owner to upgrade your access level first.

Frequently Asked Questions About Meta User Access

How long do Facebook Business Manager invitations last before they expire?

All invitations sent from Facebook Business Manager or Meta Business Suite expire exactly 14 days after they are sent. If the recipient does not accept within this window, the admin must resend the invitation.

Can I add someone to an ad account without adding them to my business portfolio?

Yes, you can add someone directly to an individual ad account via the Ad Account Settings in Ads Manager, provided the account is not restricted by strict business portfolio settings. However, we highly recommend adding them through your central Business Manager to maintain clear records and security logs.

Why can’t I see the option to add people in my Meta Business Suite?

This almost always occurs because you lack Admin permissions. Only users with Full Control of the business portfolio can view the “Add People” button and assign business assets. Contact your account’s primary administrator to verify your permission level.

Conclusion

Properly managing your Meta Business Suite is the foundation of any successful digital marketing strategy. By taking control of your permissions, enforcing 2FA, and utilizing the partner portal for agency collaboration, you protect your brand’s data and ensure your marketing team can execute campaigns flawlessly.

At Fetch and Funnel, we specialize in helping e-commerce brands scale profitably through full-funnel advertising, high-converting creative, and data-driven optimization strategies. Based in Boston, MA, our team handles the complexities of Meta’s advertising ecosystem so you can focus on growing your business.

Ready to take your digital marketing to the next level? Scale your brand with our Facebook Ads Agency today and let our experts drive the ROI your business deserves.