What you’re setting up (and why it matters)
TikTok advertising setup has three practical goals: (1) the right legal/business entity is attached to the account, (2) money can flow (billing and payments), and (3) the right people have the right level of access (roles and permissions). If any of these are wrong, you can end up with rejected billing, locked accounts, messy reporting, or teammates who can’t launch (or worse—can launch too much).
Key components you’ll configure
- Business identity: business name, address, tax/registration details (varies by region), and verification status.
- Business Center: the “container” that owns/controls assets (ad accounts, pixels, catalogs, TikTok accounts) and manages user access.
- Ad Account: where campaigns live; includes currency, timezone, and billing settings.
- Payments: payment method, billing threshold/prepay settings (depends on account type), and invoice details.
- Users & permissions: who can view, edit, pay, or administer.
Account structure: single brand vs. multiple brands/clients
Option A: Single brand (one company, one primary website)
Recommended structure: 1 Business Center → 1 Ad Account (or a small number by region) → campaigns/ad groups/ads.
- When to use: one brand, one finance team, one product line (or a few), centralized reporting.
- Benefits: simpler permissions, consistent naming, easier billing and reporting.
- Common variation: separate ad accounts by region (e.g., US vs. EU) if you need different currencies/timezones or different legal entities.
Option B: Multiple brands under one parent company
Recommended structure: 1 Business Center → multiple Ad Accounts (one per brand) → brand-specific campaigns.
- When to use: separate budgets, separate reporting, separate teams, different websites.
- Benefits: clean reporting by brand, fewer accidental cross-brand edits, clearer billing allocation.
Option C: Agency or freelancer managing clients
Recommended structure: Your Business Center manages your team; each client ideally has their own Business Center and shares access to their Ad Account/assets with you (or you are added as a partner/admin depending on the setup available in your region).
- When to use: you manage multiple unrelated businesses.
- Benefits: client retains ownership; you reduce risk if you stop working together; billing and permissions stay clean.
- Rule of thumb: avoid running multiple clients through one shared ad account—reporting, pixels, and billing become tangled fast.
Step-by-step: Business Center and Ad Account setup (minimum viable)
Step 1: Create/confirm your Business Center
- Enter business details exactly as they appear on official documents (legal name, address, website).
- Choose who will be the Business Center Admin(s) (ideally 2 people: primary + backup).
- Enable security basics (strong passwords, 2FA for all admins).
Practical tip: use a role-based email (e.g., ads@company.com) for ownership where possible, and add individuals as users. This reduces risk when staff changes.
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Step 2: Create the Ad Account with correct currency and timezone
- Set currency to match how you want to be billed and how finance reports (often cannot be changed later).
- Set timezone to match the team’s reporting cadence and business day (often cannot be changed later).
- Name the ad account clearly (see naming conventions below).
Practical example: If your team reports daily performance at 9am New York time, set timezone to America/New_York. If you set it to UTC by mistake, “yesterday” in reports won’t match your internal dashboards.
Step 3: Add billing and payment method
- Complete billing profile: company name, billing address, tax info (if required).
- Add payment method: card or other supported method in your region.
- Confirm spend limits/thresholds if applicable (some accounts use automatic billing thresholds; others use prepaid balance).
Practical tip: use a payment method that won’t frequently fail (corporate card with high limit, or a dedicated card for ad spend). Payment failures can pause delivery and disrupt learning phases.
Step 4: Set up users, roles, and access control
Permissions should follow least-privilege: give people only what they need to do their job.
| Role type | Should be able to | Who typically gets it |
|---|---|---|
| Business Center Admin | Manage users, assets, security, ownership | Owner/marketing lead + backup |
| Ad Account Admin | Create/edit campaigns, manage settings | Performance marketer/lead |
| Ad Account Operator | Build/edit campaigns (limited settings) | Media buyer |
| Analyst/Viewer | View reporting only | Stakeholders, finance, client contacts |
| Finance/Billing (if available) | Manage payment methods, invoices | Finance team |
Practical workflow: Give creators/partners Viewer access to performance dashboards rather than edit access. Give finance billing access without campaign edit permissions.
Step 5: Establish a clean naming system (before you launch anything)
Good naming conventions prevent reporting chaos. Your goal is that anyone can answer: What is this? Who is it for? Where is it running? What creative is it? without clicking into settings.
Naming convention template
Pick a standard and document it. Here’s a beginner-friendly structure that scales:
- Campaign:
[Objective]_[Geo]_[Product/Offer]_[Prospecting/Retargeting]_[YYYY-MM] - Ad Group:
[Audience]_[Placement/Optimization]_[Bid/CostControl]_[CreativeAngle] - Ad:
[Creator/UGC]_[Concept]_[Hook#]_[Edit#]_[Length]_[CTA]
Example:
Campaign: CONV_US_SkincareStarter_PROS_2026-01
Ad Group: Broad_AEO_AutoBid_BeforeAfter
Ad: UGC-Jamie_3Mistakes_Hook2_Edit1_18s_ShopNowPractical tip: keep names consistent and short enough to scan. Avoid special characters that can break exports (stick to letters, numbers, underscores).
Readiness checklist (launch only when all are green)
1) Business and verification status
- Business details completed (legal name, address, website).
- Verification submitted/approved if required for your region or spend level.
- Two admins added (primary + backup).
2) Payment readiness
- Payment method added and verified.
- Billing profile matches finance records (address, tax info).
- Spend limit/threshold understood by the team (who gets notified, what happens on failure).
3) Currency and timezone settings
- Currency confirmed with finance (cannot usually be changed later).
- Timezone confirmed with reporting owner (cannot usually be changed later).
- Internal reporting “day” definition documented (e.g., 00:00–23:59 local time).
4) User roles and access control
- Admins limited to 1–2 trusted people.
- Operators can launch/edit but not change ownership/security.
- View-only access for stakeholders.
- Offboarding process defined (remove access immediately when someone leaves).
5) Naming conventions and hygiene
- Campaign/ad group/ad naming template documented in a shared place.
- Default UTMs (if you use them) standardized across the team.
- Test campaign created to confirm naming, reporting, and access works.
Common setup mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Mistake: Wrong timezone
What happens: daily performance looks “off,” dayparting decisions become confusing, and finance reconciliation gets messy.
How to avoid: decide who owns reporting (marketing ops/analyst) and set timezone to match the business day they use. Confirm before creating the ad account.
Mistake: Wrong currency
What happens: budgets don’t match finance expectations; conversions and CPA targets get misread; currency often can’t be changed.
How to avoid: align with finance first. If you operate in multiple currencies, create separate ad accounts per currency/region.
Mistake: Messy naming (e.g., “Test 1”, “New Campaign”, “Ad Group 3”)
What happens: reporting becomes manual, learning is lost when you can’t compare like-for-like, and teams duplicate work.
How to avoid: enforce a naming template from day one. If you must test, use structured test labels like TEST_HookAngle_2026-01-17 so it’s searchable.
Mistake: Unclear permissions (too many admins, shared logins)
What happens: accidental edits, security risk, and no accountability for changes.
How to avoid: no shared logins; assign individual users; keep admins minimal; use viewer roles for stakeholders; document who can change billing.
Mistake: Billing failures and surprise pauses
What happens: ads stop delivering mid-campaign; performance resets; learning phases are disrupted.
How to avoid: use a stable payment method, set internal alerts, and ensure finance knows expected monthly spend. Keep a backup payment method if your region supports it.
Mistake: Mixing brands/clients in one ad account
What happens: reporting and access become tangled; harder to audit; higher risk when relationships end.
How to avoid: one ad account per brand/client whenever possible. Use Business Center to manage access across accounts cleanly.
