Setting Up Your Ad Account
Two of the settings you pick here can never be changed. Get them right the first time and you avoid the single most common “I have to start over” mistake in Meta ads.
By the end of this lesson you'll know
- How to create the ad account inside your portfolio
- The two settings that are permanent
- India payment methods, GST and your GSTIN
- How to set a safety spending limit
Where to create it
Inside your portfolio, open Business Settings → Accounts → Ad accounts → Add → Create a new ad account. Because it's created inside your portfolio, your business owns it from the start — exactly what you want.
The two settings you can never change
When you create the account, you choose a currency and a time zone. These are permanent. To change either one later, you'd have to create a whole new ad account and start building history from zero.
| Setting | What it controls | For an India business |
|---|---|---|
| Currency | How you're billed and how spend is reported | INR (₹) |
| Time zone | When each “day” starts for budgets & reporting | Asia/Kolkata (IST) |
| Account name | Just a label | Editable anytime |
Beginners often leave the time zone on a US default or pick the wrong currency, then discover their daily budgets reset at the wrong time and reports don't match their day. You can't fix it in settings later. Slow down and choose correctly now.
Adding a payment method
Go to Payment Settings and add how you'll pay. In India you can typically use a credit or debit card, net banking, UPI, or a prepaid (manual) balance you top up in advance. Prepaid is a useful way to hard-cap spending if you're nervous about a card being charged automatically.
India: GST, GSTIN and TDS (the short version)
For accounts with the business country set to India, ads are billed in INR by Facebook India, and 18% GST is added on top of your spend. If you're GST-registered, add your GSTIN in Payment Settings so you can claim Input Tax Credit. TDS also applies under Indian law even though it doesn't show on the invoice.
I'm not a tax advisor, and neither is Meta. The tax treatment depends on your registration and which Meta entity invoices you. Add your GSTIN if you have one, keep every invoice, and let your CA handle GST/TDS filing correctly.
Set a spending limit
You can add an optional account spending limit — a hard ceiling across the whole account. It's a good safety net while you're learning, so a mistake in a campaign budget can't quietly run away with your money. You can raise or remove it anytime.
Currency = INR, time zone = IST, payment method added, GSTIN entered (if registered), and a modest account spending limit set while you find your feet.
Key takeaways
- Create the ad account inside your portfolio so the business owns it.
- Currency and time zone are permanent — INR and IST for an India business.
- India accounts pay 18% GST; add your GSTIN for input credit and keep invoices.
- Set an account spending limit as a safety cap while learning.